Re

What it means

Re is the second syllable of solmization. With movable do it designates the second degree of the key, which lies a major second above the tonic; with fixed do it is an absolute note name and corresponds to German D.

Musical use

The second degree has a double role in the tonal structure. Melodically it lies between the tonic and the third and is often used as a passing note; harmonically it carries a minor sonority, which in function theory counts as a representative of the subdominant and regularly stands before the dominant in cadences.

In the medieval hexachord system, re was the second syllable of the six-note row; because the hexachords overlapped, the same note could carry different syllables depending on the reference, and mutation regulated the change.

In the Romance-language world, re is the note name for D. At the same time, D is the tonic of the Dorian mode in its presentation on the natural notes — in the old order of the church modes, the first mode, which is why the syllable often appears as a reference point in descriptions of modal music.

In chromaticism, the syllable receives forms of its own for the raised and the lowered second degree; the latter is the characteristic note of the Phrygian mode and lies only a semitone above the tonic.

In the hexachord system, Re was the second syllable. In the Kodály method, Re is represented by a flat hand pointing diagonally upward. In the relative system, Re is the second degree and the tonic of the subdominant's relative. In minor, the scale begins, in relative solmization, on La, so that Re there is the fourth degree and the tonic of the subdominant.

Performance practice

Sing do–re–mi as a basic pattern and take care that re is not taken too narrow — the major second regularly comes out too small. Treat the second degree melodically as a passing note, not as a goal. And impress on yourself the difference between the normal and the lowered second degree; it separates minor from Phrygian.