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I only ever learned the basics of the major scale syllables, mostly from the "Doe, a deer" song.

In C Major,

  • Do - C
  • Re - D
  • Mi - E
  • Fa - F
  • Sol - G
  • La - A
  • Ti (or Si) - B
  • Do - C

So how do you augment this framework with the black keys?

I suppose here, I'm referring to a "Fixed Do" anchored to middle C, but I think (hope) it applies to a "Movable Do" as well, relative to the current tonic.

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  • If this is already covered elsewhere on the site, I couldn't find it by searching for "accidental solfage", so I felt a canonical question was in order. – luser droog Jan 8 '15 at 19:19
  • There are a few different traditions here. While there are accidental systems for fixed-do solfege, my impression is that they are not actually used much for singing. Moveable-do is different. Do you want answers to focus on all the permutations in use, or do you want to focus on a specific method and application, like sung fixed-do? – Bradd Szonye Jan 8 '15 at 19:38
  • Well, hmmm. Specifically, I want enough background to understand the distinction between Ti Ta and Te mentioned in this answer. But more broadly, I'd want something actually currently used rather than more academic/historical (although that's welcome, too. I loves me some history). – luser droog Jan 8 '15 at 19:46
  • That answer is a bit confusing if you don’t have solfège background. Essentially it’s trying to tell you that B, B♭, and B♯ all refer to the same scale degree, differing only in color. In fixed-do, you’d call it si, and in moveable-do, you’d call it ti or te depending on whether it’s flat. (Solfège mostly ignores B♯ and C♭.) – Bradd Szonye Jan 8 '15 at 22:51
4

The most standard convention I know of is to change the vowel to "i" for sharping and "e" for flatting. The exception is when flatting "re", in which case you go to "ra".

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  • This looks right for moveable do, but fixed do has different common practices. – Bradd Szonye Jan 8 '15 at 21:24
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    I think in fixed do, there are no alterations (i.e., C, Cb, and C# are all do), right? – Mark Jan 8 '15 at 21:38
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    @Mark Yes, I think that’s the most common way to do it, although there are chromatic variants of fixed do that use alternate syllables. – Bradd Szonye Jan 8 '15 at 22:15

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