Movable Do

What it means

In movable Do the syllable do denotes in each case the tonic of the current key. In C major do is C, in G major G, in E♭ major E♭. The syllables thus name no absolute pitches but degrees: ti is always the leading tone, sol always the fifth, fa always the fourth degree.

Musical use

The advantage of this procedure lies in the fact that it makes the function of a note audible and nameable. Whoever sings ti sings a note that strains upward — independent of the key in which it stands. Thereby relative hearing is trained, that is, exactly the ability that matters in ensemble playing: to grasp distances and functions, not to name absolute pitches.

For minor there are two current usages. Either la is used as the tonic, so that the minor scale runs from la to la and the relationship to the relative major is preserved; or do is used with correspondingly altered syllables for the third, sixth and seventh degrees. Both ways are widespread, and one should decide for one.

Altered notes receive syllables of their own that mark the raising or lowering. The system is frequently supplemented by the Kodály hand signs.

Movable Do is to be distinguished from fixed Do, in which the syllables are absolute note names.

Movable Do underlies the Tonic Sol-fa method in England and the Kodály method in Hungary; in Germany it has spread above all as relative solmisation in school music. Its advantage lies in making relationships audible: the syllables show which function a note has in the key, and the same melody is sung the same way in every key. It becomes difficult with modulations and strongly chromatic music, where frequent reinterpretations become necessary.

Performance practice

Decide for one system and keep to it; the change between movable and fixed Do confuses more than it helps. Sing melodies on syllables before you play them, and watch especially the semitone points between mi and fa and between ti and do. And use the system when transposing — the degrees stay the same.