Is Fixed Do automatically learned when you learn Movable Do Solfege, but not the other way around?

Question

From what I understand, for example, if I perceive the Tonic note as "C" instead of "G" in a G major song such that I would sing "Do" on the note "C" instead of the note "G", without transposing the song itself, then I would be using Fixed Do Solfege. So the only difference I can tell between the 2 Solfege systems is if I decide to shift the Tonic in accordance with the key of the song or not.

So in other words, learning Movable Do automatically teaches you to also sing in Fixed Do since it's just Fixed Do with the extra step of perceiving Tonal centers, but learning Fixed Do doesn't automatically teach you to use Movable Do. Is this statement correct?

Answer 1

These two ways of thinking of notes are complementary.

With movable Do you naturally get information of what scale degree you're singing or which notes are non diatonic. It is also easier to find harmony – all this for as long as there is not too much modulation.

With fixed Do you know exactly what notes you're sing, which helps to translate sung music to instruments, or to know how the notes fit in the vocal range. Fixed Do is much more practical when there are many key changes.

For good understanding of music you need to know both what the absolute notes are, and how they relate to the key. You don't really learn one method automatically by learning the other, though knowing one certainly helps to learn the other one.

Answer 2

Your question is confusing. I'm not sure how to answer it as asked. What I can do is show you the difference between the 2 systems with a simple example.

To sing a melody in G major using moveable Do, you'd use the syllables do re me fa so la ti where G is do.

To sing a melody in G major using fixed Do, you'd use the syllables so la ti do re mi fi where G is so. (Because it could easily be missed, note that I've used fi, not fa. fi is the raised form of fa, which in fixed do is F#, the leading tone in G major.)

In other words, fixed do simply maps do re me fa so la ti do to the note names C D E F G A B, whereas moveable do doesn't care what the actual note names are. One is 'absolute' and one is 'relative'.

I guess to answer your question more directly, no. In fact, I think the exact opposite is true. Fixed do is not learned automatically by learning moveable do, but moveable do is learned when learning fixed do because everything in C major or A minor will be the same.

Answer 3

You are correct. If one can sing in Moveable Do, then one can sing in Fixed Do; whereas the reverse is not the case.