What is solfa/solfege?
Solfa, (solfege in French), is a method to train the voice to sing on pitch and to identify notes and intervals by sight and ear. Charlotte Mason utilized Solfege in her schools. A simplified version of the method can be glimpsed in the movie The Sound of Music when Maria teaches the Von Trapp children the do-re-mi song. Hand symbols are used to identify each note of the scale, as the notes are sung. (In another version of solfa, music with specially shaped notes is used rather than hand signals.) John Curwen and his son popularized what became known as “The Curwen Method” of solfa hand signal instruction in Charlotte Mason’s era, and it was then widely taught in England’s schools. Interest in the hand signal variety of solfa is again on the rise in the US and in Europe. Shape note solfa singing (more commonly called “Sacred Harp” singing) has been handed down through generations of traditional sacred music enthusiasts in the US, and recently there has been a revival of interest in the
Solfa, (solfege in French), is a method to train the voice to sing on pitch and to identify notes and intervals by sight and ear. Charlotte Mason utilized Solfege in her schools. A simplified version of the method can be glimpsed in the movie The Sound of Music when Maria teaches the Von Trapp children the do-re-mi song. Hand symbols are used to identify each note of the scale, as the notes are sung. (In another version of solfa, music with specially shaped notes is used rather than hand signals.) John Curwen and his son popularized what became known as “The Curwen Method” of solfa hand signal instruction in Charlotte Mason’s era, and it was then widely taught in England’s schools. Interest in the hand signal variety of solfa is again on the rise in the US and in Europe. Shape note solfa singing (more commonly called “Sacred Harp” singing) has been handed down through generations of traditional sacred music enthusiasts in the US, and recently there has been a revival of interest in the
