Ear Training and Solfege

Advent 9: Santa Clause is Coming to Town – Using Solfege to Train Your Inner Ear

Now another Maestro Musical Advent Calendar Tutorial: The Benefits of Solfege and How to Train your Inner Ear.

Ear Training, Solfege, The Inner Ear and the Kodaly “Method”

What does ear training and the “inner ear” mean?  Train your mind to hear music clearly, just as Beethoven composed great works when he was deaf.  The result is that you become a much higher level musician and your performances reach the greatest heights.  Solfege is a tool that helps this.  It involves using the do-re-mi syllables and hand signs associated with each note.  Kodaly is a composer who particularly taught with solfege and hand signs.  Some people describe what he did as “The Kodaly Method”, although he never believed he had a specific method.  Inner ear teaching played a significant part of his teaching pedagogy and his students became such advanced musicians that his teaching technique was emulated worldwide.

OPEN THE Santa Clause is Coming to Town ADVENT CALENDAR DOOR

The Process, Ear Training Tips, Enhancing the Inner Ear, Leading to Polished Improvisation

This song is great because the initial melody is a scale from the third degree (Mi) up to the octave (high Do).

• Firstly, let’s explore it in solfege (the Do-Re-Mi system using Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do).

• Secondly, let’s go beyond copying and start to ‘inner hear’ the pitches, to train the musician in our mind.  This means to hear tunes clearly in your head even when they are not sung or performed out loud.

• Thirdly, let’s use the scale feature to practise our scales in a fun Christmassy way! This could be as a singer, pianist or organist.

• Fourthly, it works with just two chords – Chords I and IV, using the notes Do and Fa.  They are also known as the tonic and subdominant.

• Fifthly, create a bass riff and jazz it up!

History – Santa Claus is Coming to Town

This was written in 1932 by Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots, but, apparently, because it was a “kids song” nobody thought it was profitable to record. Coots worked for a radio station and persuaded Eddie Cantor to perform it live on his Radio Show and then it was an instant hit!

First recording, 1934, by Eddie Cantor (see below) You might prefer Bing Crosby, Aretha Franklin or Michael Buble. Whoever you prefer, this must surely be part of your Christmas repertoire!

The Benefits of Solfege and Training the Inner Ear

For pianists and organists, solfege allows you to feel the relationship between notes and the tonic/main key note. This allows you to improvise more readily and transpose with much greater ease. The interesting thing about The Maestro Online Piano Improv Courses and Vocal Improvisation Courses is that you can literally do whatever you like! What do I mean by that? You are taught the skills that entirely free you up to make your decisions because you have the musicianship skills to arrange pieces or improvise on them as a vocalist, pianist or organist, as you wish. All courses use bespoke, more mature Kodaly inspired methodology.

The interesting thing about The Maestro Online Music Courses is that they use solfege to train the inner ear and your musicianship first. With solfege and a perceptive inner ear, you can then literally do whatever you like! What do I mean by that? You are taught the solfege skills that entirely free you up to make your decisions because you have the inner ear skills to arrange pieces or improvise on them as a vocalist, pianist or organist, as you wish.

Take a look at the video as I explain.

I challenge you to a daily Christmas musical journey. Post and share!

Be Your Own Artist, A Real Musician – Don’t Be a Clone

All courses use bespoke, Kodaly solfege inspired inner-ear methodology and develop core musicianship skills rather than simply being “copy me” tutorials. Develop the solfege skills that enable you to play every piece that you want, the way that you want.

Music Courses Online – the affordable solfege way to learn and play.

Click the picture to play my tutorial video and improv:-)