Ti – Make a loose fist, but point the index finger upward at about a 45-degree angle with the ceiling. La – Curve the hand gently, with the palm and fingertips facing the floor. Sol – Straighten the fingers so that the hand has the same shape as in mi, but tilt it so that your palm is directly facing you. Mi – Keep the same hand shape, but move your hand so that it is parallel with the ground.įa – Making a loose fist with four fingers (palm facing downward), extend your thumb and point it downward, almost perpendicular with the rest of the hand. Re – Straighten your fingers (keeping them together), and bring your hand up to make a 45-degree angle with the ground. Begin with your hand at about the level of your sternum, and make the following shapes as you sing each note of the major scale:ĭo – Make a fist with your palm facing down. Using the solfege hand signs simply requires keeping one hand free while singing whichever one you like is fine. All of the hand signs can be produced using one hand, and can be helpful for singers who are new to the solfege system. The idea behind the solfege hand signs is simple: each tone of the seven-note solfege system is given a shape for the singer to make with his/her hand while singing. The solfege hand signs (also called the Kodaly hand signs or the Curwen hand signs) were originally developed by John Curwen, but popularized through their use in the Kodaly method. The Kodaly method uses movable- do solfege, which we’ve discussed before, and adds one fantastic tool to the system: the solfege hand signs. One theorist in particular, Englishman John Curwen, gave Kodaly his ideas about solfege. Kodaly borrowed many of his ideas about teaching music from other pedagogues, including theorists in Britain and Switzerland. The Kodaly Method involves many different educational aims and subjects, and was primarily designed to make music education in Hungary’s elementary schools more effective. One of the most popular and well-known music teaching methodologies is the Kodaly Method, developed in the mid-twentieth century by Hungarian composer and music teacher Zoltan Kodaly. Now, why add solfege hand signs? It’s such a helpful tool! You can actually feel the notes physically in your body with the hand signs.The solfege system as we know it dates all the way back to the 1800’s, and makes its way into many different methods of teaching singing and aural skills. How to Use Solfege Hand Signs to Sight Sing Let Maria teach you again with this video: Once you understand how the different notes of the scale behave with solfege, you can transfer that knowledge to any key! “Re” feels like it wants to lead down to “Do.” “Ti” feels like it wants to resolve up to “Do.” “Fa” feels like it wants to lead down to “Mi.” Etc. It doesn’t matter which note is the root, or “Do,” they all work the same way. There are a number of ways why using solfege makes it easier to sight sing than simply singing the words or even the note names.įirst, every major scale has the same pattern of whole and half steps. Why Solfege is Useful for Learning to Sight Sing I always like to use the video of Maria von Trapp teaching the children in The Sound of Music. Let’s use the C Major Scale as an example. There are seven different solfege hand signs, one for each note in the major scale. The Solfege Syllables used in Sight Singing By teaching your children the solfege hand signs, you’ll give them a visual way to remember the notes of the scale. Solfege is a system of naming musical notes with syllables, and each syllable has a corresponding hand sign. One way to teach sight singing is to use solfege hand signs. It’s a valuable skill for any musician, and it can be a lot of fun! Sight singing is the ability to sing a melody on sight, without any prior preparation. If you’re a homeschool mom who loves music, you may be looking for ways to teach your children to sight sing. Today you’ll learn what solfege hand signs are and I’ll give you some tips to learn to sight sing! I had, of course, learned to sight sing when I was growing up in the many choirs I participated in, but I had never seen solfege hand signs until I got to college. Did you know that my first job out of college was as a junior high choir director? Yes! I was the choir teacher in a very musically competitive school district in Texas and taught 7th-9th graders many singing techniques, including how to learn to sight sing with solfege hand signs.
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