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When using the movable do system in a piece that modulates, is the standard practice to stay with the initial key (i.e., a "locally fixed" do) or to modulate the solfege to match the new key?

(Or is there even a standard practice in this regard? Perhaps solfege is only used to teach simpler kinds of musical material in which modulation isn't a concern?)

Aaron
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    In my fairly limited experience movable do does not move for temporary modulation, but my experience is indeed too limited to post an answer. I suspect that this isn't standardized, though; as we've seen recently through other questions, tonic sol-fa supports reassigning the tonal center, and it would not be very surprising to find that some practitioners of movable _do_ do the same. – phoog Dec 19 '21 at 22:00
  • One further complication of the sol-fa system is that in some countries, e.g. France, Do _is_ C, so it's hard giving names to pitches when the fixed pitches and moveable pitches use the same set of names. – Brian THOMAS Dec 19 '21 at 22:15
  • The following is a polemic in favor of moveable do. It does not answer the question that occurred to me, that is, what to do when it's not clear when a modulation takes place (it may not matter though.) http://icb.ifcm.net/movable-fixed-arent-movable-used-basis-musicianship-training/ – ttw Dec 20 '21 at 01:36
  • @BrianTHOMAS - fixed do stays as fixed do. Even when there's a complete key change, C is always called do. – Tim Dec 20 '21 at 08:37
  • @AlbrechtHügli I really have very limited experience with solfège. I cannot therefore post an answer with a sufficient degree of authority. Someone with more experience or more time to do research is welcome to post a (better supported) answer saying the same thing. – phoog Dec 20 '21 at 12:08
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    My Sol-Fu is pretty strong, but even the briefest of tonicizations outside the key throw me into a tizzy. For a seasonal example, the bridge of "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer," at "...Santa came to say, 'Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight" is probably "...V I | V | V7/V V7." And I find myself singing "fa la so fa mi | so so do re mi Oh crap I mean re re so la oh forget it." – Andy Bonner Dec 20 '21 at 17:20

3 Answers3

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Yes, the syllables of movable do will pivot to a new tonic when the music modulates. (And by "modulate" here I'm using the common scholarly definition—when music reaches a cadence in a new key—to distinguish it from just a temporary tonicization.)

Typically, someone singing a modulating melody in movable do will decide where to pivot the syllables. If G major moves to, say, D major, perhaps "la" will eventually become "re," or "mi" will become "la," etc. I've heard people make this switch immediately on a new pitch (like D in G major being "sol," but the very next E becoming "re" in the new key), I've heard them merge the syllables (like starting with the "l" of "la" but ending with the "e" of "re"), or rearticulating the pitch with the new syllable ("la-re"). By far the most common is the first option.

For just a temporary tonicization, however, most singers will keep the original tonic. A C♯ in G major, for instance, just becomes a "fi" moving to "sol" instead of changing it all the way to a "ti" moving to "do."

Richard
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  • There must be a minimum number of bars for someone to consider that a piece has modulated - or is there..? Surely one or two would mean a change for one person, but not another - causing confusion. – Tim Dec 20 '21 at 08:41
  • I agree with Tim: obviously music theorists aren't agreeing about when the point of a modulation starts or is reached. Eg. Sieglinde Bruhn says in her Analysis of Bachs prelude in d-minor the relative key is reached only in bar 8, in my opinion it starts already in measure 2 and the subdominant of d-minor is already the supertonic of F-major! – Albrecht Hügli Dec 20 '21 at 11:13
  • I also agree with Richard‘s last section: in the temporary move to the dominant I use to stay in the tonic, introducing a *FI* – Albrecht Hügli Dec 20 '21 at 19:19
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I think the point of MOVEABLE do is that it can move!

But when a piece does more than a simple trip to the dominant or relative minor, we need to consider whether tonic sol-fa has run out of usefulness.

Laurence
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    Seems like you're just repeating the question. – Aaron Dec 20 '21 at 00:35
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    Yes, most of the answer WAS contained in the question! – Laurence Dec 20 '21 at 01:15
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    I'd like to precizise your answer: I think the point of MOVEABLE do is that it ***can*** move! It is depending of the individual taste whether we want to relate the syllables to "modulation"in each phrase or only in longer sections. – Albrecht Hügli Dec 20 '21 at 10:39
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I'd want to precizise the answer of Laurence:

I think the point of MOVEABLE Do is that it CAN move! (But it must not - even if it theoretically does!) It is depending of the individual taste whether we want to relate the syllables to "modulation"in each phrase or only in longer sections:

e.g.

In a half-cadence we're ending on the dominant: The melody in C is ending on a G-major chord. Now we can name the leading tone to the root note (F#->G) ti->do. G becomes the new root tone (only for 1-2 measures) or we don't move the Do and remain in C even there is a short modulation to the dominant key and name F#->G as Fe->Sol.

So this depends from your individual taste and personal goal and also from the specific situation in a piece:

I prefer sometimes to keep the Do in the tonic of a piece in purpose not getting lost in the harmony.

Another example are the ascending fifths.

C-D-E-F -> D-E-F#-G -> E-F#-G#-A

you can perform this pattern 3 times as So-La-Ti-Do, but to me it makes more sense to interprete them as what they are: doremifa, remifesol, mefesela.

When I was a beginner in solfege I even replaced the upper tetrachord of the melodic minor scale mifisila by the 2nd tetrachord of the major scale:

la ti do re mi mi-> sol: sol la ti do.

There are now rules or laws. Your personal prferences decide about the labelling: This may depend of ear training, simplicity, clarity, modulation training, harmonic correctness etc.

Edit:

I was using the movable Do even when I had to sing 5 Lieder by Webern when studying solfege! This may explain the best what movable do can be:

A help for ear training (s. my Example of Webern!) - or using for analysis. In the second case it should be accurate - as possible - with the harmonic progression.

Albrecht Hügli
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    I would be interested in specifics, with examples from the score, about how moveable do was used in Webern. – Aaron Dec 20 '21 at 14:17
  • Good question ;) I will look at it to morrow. I migh also demonstrate the different ways of applying it when studying the preludes by Bach on D major and d-minor (wtc 1) – Albrecht Hügli Dec 20 '21 at 19:12
  • Well, it's about 55 years since then. But I remember now that I applied the solfege (doremi) for the 12 tone music in 3 steps: 1. be sure in the fundamental scales. 2. using the syllables for alteration for the chromatic scale: do-di-re-ri-mi ... u and down (do-ti-ta-la-lu ... 2. piling from any tone of the 12 tone scale to any other. 3. singing the circle of fifths counterclockwise e.g.: A-D-G-C-F-Bb-Eb-Ab-Db=C#-F#-B-E-A. Then I used the movable Do when reading tt-music instead of singing the absolute names C,D,E or the interval names. I'll poste an example. – Albrecht Hügli Dec 22 '21 at 18:19