Sight Singing

Sight Singing is the ability to sing music by sight, rather than imitating what you hear. When moving from one note to another the pitch will either repeat (stay the same), move by step (up or down) or leap (up or down)

Solfeg

When sight singing it is common to use the Solfeg system for identifying pitches. Each note of a scale (we will look at scales in detail in Level 2) is sung using a specific solfeg syllable. Below is an example of how the solfeg syllables apply to the C major scale.

If you use the solfeg system regularly, you will become accustomed to the "feel" of each note in the scale.

To review clefs and note names go to The Treble Clef and The Bass Clef.

Repeating a Pitch

When a written note repeats, you simply sing the same pitch again.

Moving by Step

When a pitch moves by step it will change from a note on a space to a note on a line or visa versa.

Moving by Leap

There are many different ways to find the next note when the music moves by a leap:

1. Memorize the sound of different size leaps (intervals).
2. Recognize the leap as part of a pattern of which you are familiar with the sound.
3. Recognize the leap as part of a repeating pattern.
4. Remember the pitch from earlier in the music.
5. Remember the 'feel' of certain pitches in a scale or chord. This is where solfeg can be helpful.
6. Remember how certain pitches 'feel' or sound with your voice. (A person who can sing exact pitches without any help from a previous reference pitch or instrument is said to have perfect or absolute pitch.)

Do, Re, Mi

This level will limit the pitches to the first three notes of a C major scale so that you can become familiar with the sound of the first three notes of the scale and how they relate to each other.

• Do is the most stable pitch in the scale. All other pitches in the scale "feel" like they want to go back to Do. Most melodies begin and/or end on Do.
• Re sounds as if it wishes to go back to Do or up to Mi. It sounds unstable as if it has to move to another note. The strongest pull is back to Do.
• Mi is another stable pitch. Both Re and Fa can resolve to Mi. Mi has a weak pull back to Do.