Solfege Note Names

by Courtney

Question: Hello, I am a beginner at playing the keyboard and I have just been learning to read notes.

My teacher has given me notes to practice - like quarter notes, half notes, and whole notes.

I am not sure where my fingers go, and he hasn't told me C, D, A, F, etc. He has taught me these ones: Sol, La, Do, Mi, Fa, etc.

How do I read those notes?

Albert's reply: Great question, Courtney. Fortunately the answer is simple: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, and ti (or si) are simply the note names C, D, E, F, G, A and B in French and Italian!

Worldwide, the solfège system is used for singing notes. Using do, re, mi... in place of C, D, E... is standard, and probably easier to sing.

"Do Re Mi" from the Sound of Music is a wonderful song for learning the solfège syllables. You may know the lyrics:

Do - a deer, a female deer
Re - a drop of golden sun...

The song goes up the C major scale, introducing each solfège syllable with its corresponding note!