What is solfeggio and why is it needed?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Pupils and graduates of music schools have an idea that solfeggio is a too complicated science, which not everyone can master. Many believe that it does not need to be mastered at all, since in practice the result is not as obvious as from other musical disciplines. Such judgments are connected with a lack of understanding of what solfeggio is and what it teaches, how to apply it in life.

The result of the lessons of playing any musical instrument is immediately visible - this is the ability to play. The result of this course is far from obvious, although it develops basic musical skills - a sense of rhythm, an ear for music, memory, which, in turn, contributes to a better mastery of other musical subjects.

What is solfeggio?

The word "solfeggio" is an Italian term and literally means "singing from notes". This is a discipline whose goal is to develop musical ear in musicians and vocalists. It is he who allows you to fully enjoy the art of sounds - to compose and perform music.

For any singer and musician, an active perception of sounds is very important, which can be developed through solfeggio lessons. You can't play any music if you don't hit the notes. Active perception is a guarantee of mastering new skills in a short time. That is why the importance of solfeggio lessons for beginner singers and musicians cannot be underestimated.

What does this musical discipline include

Like any discipline, solfeggio includes several important sections.

1. Solfegging - singing in which each note is called. At the same time, it is important to pronounce them intonationally and rhythmically correctly.
2. Musical dictations. The principle of their implementation is similar to writing dictations at school, only instead of letters it is necessary to fix musical signs. The teacher plays a melody (a sequence of sounds) on a keyboard instrument, and the students write everything down with notes, while observing their height and duration, as well as musical pauses (breaks between sounds).
3. Auditory analysis. It is very important for every musician to be able to determine by ear the nature of the heard music, its mode, tempo, rhythmic features and structure.

What skills are acquired through solfeggio lessons?

You can proceed directly to the study of this discipline only after mastering at least musical notation. That is why solfeggio for beginner musicians and singers is to study notes and other musical signs.

Solfeggio lessons helpto master such an important skill as the ability to sing any melody cleanly without prior rehearsal. Thanks to musical dictations, the ability to mentally imagine, pick up on the instrument and correctly record the heard melody with notes develops. You can also learn such a useful skill as the ability to select and play accompaniment to any melody.

Why is solfeggio not popular with beginners?

Undoubtedly, the lessons of "singing from notes" give excellent results, but this discipline is not very popular among beginner musicians. There may be several reasons for this.

Firstly, not everyone understands what solfeggio is and how important skills can be acquired in the process of learning this musical discipline.

Secondly, you need to do special exercises regularly and for a very long time before you can achieve noticeable results, and not all students have the patience.

The third reason is the peculiarities of the program in this musical discipline. It is focused on training professional singers and musicians. Therefore, classes are not limited to dictations and singing from a sheet. Building and singing scales, chords from given notes, intervals, tonality, triad, monophony - solfeggio studies a lot of concepts that no professional musician can do without.

Do guitarists need to "sing from the notes"?

You can, of course, teach a person to play the guitar without knowing the notes. However, solfeggio classes will help to activate the process of deep understanding and awareness of music. How to understand what solfeggio on the guitar is? This is, first of all, the formation in the mind of a musician of stable patterns of various sound combinations, which, as he learns, will become easier and easier to use, mix them and get the opportunity to write new music.

Solfeggio forms a completely new, better vision of the fretboard for the guitarist, allows you to perceive the process of writing new musical compositions, solo parts, accompaniments differently. The playing of young guitarists who have not studied solfeggio becomes one-sided and primitive. Such musicians are almost impossible to relearn, and their playing technique is inelastic.

Do I need a teacher when teaching?

It is clear that the main component of solfeggio is notes. It seems that you can learn the designation of notes, their duration, keys, size, stave on your own. However, everything is not as simple as it might seem - control is necessary in everything, especially at the initial stages of training.

Of course, thanks to modern computer programs, you can learn solfeggio lessons at home, but live control will be much more effective, because a person, unlike a machine, can empathize, feel, enjoy the melody.

Understanding what solfeggio is and why it is necessary is a very important point for every singer and musician. After all, solfeggio is not just boring classes, it is a whole complex of certainknowledge and skills, brought to automatism, allowing you to create your own bright musical masterpieces.