How would you solfege this piece?

Hi, I need help with solfege. It is one of the tests in order to pursue my studies but the piece the conservatory used last year is just insane. 

Fixed Do?

2 hours ago, Monarcheon said:

Fixed Do?

 

Fixed Do? What is that?

Is C always Do (fixed do) or does it change based on a certain tonic (moveable do) ?
I guess Moveable Do doesn't really apply for music like this, but it still can if you analyze it as shifting tonics. I'll assume fixed Do.

For instance, the first few notes would be: Do, Ti, Fa, Fi, Si, Re (x4), Meh, Re, Fi, Ti, Do.
Chromatic alterations are what they're testing here, probably. 

Do you have to sing it? 

1 hour ago, Monarcheon said:

Is C always Do (fixed do) or does it change based on a certain tonic (moveable do) ?
I guess Moveable Do doesn't really apply for music like this, but it still can if you analyze it as shifting tonics. I'll assume fixed Do.

For instance, the first few notes would be: Do, Ti, Fa, Fi, Si, Re (x4), Meh, Re, Fi, Ti, Do.
Chromatic alterations are what they're testing here, probably. 

 

I guess what you are asking for is if I have to sing the tune or only say the notes. For what I have been told I have to sing it doing the intervals. 

3 minutes ago, Jackleaf said:

Do you have to sing it? 

 

Yes.

18 minutes ago, Ivan1791 said:

I guess what you are asking for is if I have to sing the tune or only say the notes. For what I have been told I have to sing it doing the intervals. 

 

No, Monarcheon is asking which school of solfege they are testing you on.  There are two different systems people use called "fixed Do" solfege and "moveable Do" solfege.  Both are used to help you sing the intervals correctly.  We are all assuming they want you to sing the intervals, since that is what solfege is used for.  🙂. It's a skill that takes a lot of practice, so don't expect to learn a quick tip and be great at it, but if you have a little time before you are tested, practicing a little every day will help you improve a little before the test.  

6 minutes ago, pateceramics said:

No, Monarcheon is asking which school of solfege they are testing you on.  There are two different systems people use called "fixed Do" solfege and "moveable Do" solfege.  Both are used to help you sing the intervals correctly.  We are all assuming they want you to sing the intervals, since that is what solfege is used for.  🙂. It's a skill that takes a lot of practice, so don't expect to learn a quick tip and be great at it, but if you have a little time before you are tested, practicing a little every day will help you improve a little before the test.  

 

I personally am not a fan of the system especially for something ambiguously tonal like this. If it's supposed to help with exact scale degrees, then in something like this there's no difference between, say, Ri and Meh.

Anyway, Ivan1791, it may be an arbitrary question but different places like different things... So it's always good to be specific.

12 minutes ago, pateceramics said:

No, Monarcheon is asking which school of solfege they are testing you on.  There are two different systems people use called "fixed Do" solfege and "moveable Do" solfege.  Both are used to help you sing the intervals correctly.  We are all assuming they want you to sing the intervals, since that is what solfege is used for.  🙂. It's a skill that takes a lot of practice, so don't expect to learn a quick tip and be great at it, but if you have a little time before you are tested, practicing a little every day will help you improve a little before the test.  

 

I have no idea how the want me to solfege this. I'm from Spain and I have never used the chromatic variations of do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si. 

4 minutes ago, Monarcheon said:

I personally am not a fan of the system especially for something ambiguously tonal like this. If it's supposed to help with exact scale degrees, then in something like this there's no difference between, say, Ri and Meh.

Anyway, Ivan1791, it may be an arbitrary question but different places like different things... So it's always good to be specific.

 

They don't give a lot of information about how they will test me. I can't understand how they give us such a difficult score to solfege, I simply have no idea how I will do to pass that test. 

1 minute ago, Ivan1791 said:

I have no idea how the want me to solfege this. I'm from Spain and I have never used the chromatic variations of do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si. 

 

I'm assuming (again, ask) that C is Do, and they want you to use the chromatic alterations:

http://openmusictheory.com/chromaticSolfege.html

Just now, Monarcheon said:

I'm assuming (again, ask) that C is Do, and they want you to use the chromatic alterations:

http://openmusictheory.com/chromaticSolfege.html

 

 

I will try to ask them but they don't answer questions like this very often. Thank you for the information.

Definitely ask someone at the conservatory which system they prefer.  They will be delighted that you care enough to ask and that you are asking so that you can practice.  Wanting to practice is a GOOD thing.  Conservatories like that.  🙂

1 minute ago, pateceramics said:

Definitely ask someone at the conservatory which system they prefer.  They will be delighted that you care enough to ask and that you are asking so that you can practice.  Wanting to practice is a GOOD thing.  Conservatories like that.  🙂

 

Yes but the difficulty of what they gave is pretty high. There is no way I can sing that well because I don't have perfect pitch or anything that guides me. 

5 minutes ago, pateceramics said:

Definitely ask someone at the conservatory which system they prefer.  They will be delighted that you care enough to ask and that you are asking so that you can practice.  Wanting to practice is a GOOD thing.  Conservatories like that.  🙂

I almost want to backpedal and just say do fixed Do, but there is a pretty clear tonic change in section 2 of the excerpt, so it's probably worth asking still. 

4 minutes ago, Ivan1791 said:

Yes but the difficulty of what they gave is pretty high. There is no way I can sing that well because I don't have perfect pitch or anything that guides me. 

I'm not a professor, but using that as an entrance exam seems like one of those things they do just to see if anyone can do it well, as opposed to actual quality. This is easily (at least in North America) stuff you would be doing in Year 2 or maybe late Year 1. You're right: it is hard. Take the metric modulation at the tempo change. Most musicians don't even know what that is, let alone use it for an entrance exam. So either they're asking as a diagnostic exam, or they're being pretentious, and I give them the benefit of the doubt.

Perfect pitch is rare.  Solfege is the thing that will guide you to sight sing something like this... once you learn how to do it.  They want to see if you can do it already or if you need to learn it while you are at conservatory.  Being able to sight read well up to tempo is a skill that separates professionals from good amateurs, so they want to see how much of that skill you already have.  If you are an instrumentalist, they won't be too worried if you can't do this thing well, because normally you would be sight reading with your instrument in front of you, not singing solfege syllables.  If you are applying as a singer it becomes more important and is worth some practice time.  

10 hours ago, Monarcheon said:

I almost want to backpedal and just say do fixed Do, but there is a pretty clear tonic change in section 2 of the excerpt, so it's probably worth asking still. 

I'm not a professor, but using that as an entrance exam seems like one of those things they do just to see if anyone can do it well, as opposed to actual quality. This is easily (at least in North America) stuff you would be doing in Year 2 or maybe late Year 1. You're right: it is hard. Take the metric modulation at the tempo change. Most musicians don't even know what that is, let alone use it for an entrance exam. So either they're asking as a diagnostic exam, or they're being pretentious, and I give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

My composition saw it and he told me that if he had that score for his solfege test in order to get a fixed work place he would sh*t his pants because is way too hard.

10 hours ago, pateceramics said:

Perfect pitch is rare.  Solfege is the thing that will guide you to sight sing something like this... once you learn how to do it.  They want to see if you can do it already or if you need to learn it while you are at conservatory.  Being able to sight read well up to tempo is a skill that separates professionals from good amateurs, so they want to see how much of that skill you already have.  If you are an instrumentalist, they won't be too worried if you can't do this thing well, because normally you would be sight reading with your instrument in front of you, not singing solfege syllables.  If you are applying as a singer it becomes more important and is worth some practice time.  

 

I will study piano an composition, I won't study singing in the conservatory. That's why I believe the difficulty is ridiculous. 

4 minutes ago, Ivan1791 said:

I will study piano an composition, I won't study singing in the conservatory. That's why I believe the difficulty is ridiculous. 

I have to agree with you there. I passed my music theory exam and my classical guitar audition for a music conservatory, but did not pass my singing exam, even though I had no interest in singing. They invited me to retake the singing exam, but I was too discouraged to continue. I decided to study Journalism at college instead, and it sent me down a totally different path in life. 

The singing aspect may be important for many people, and I respect that. But I personally believe it is an outdated barrier to entry for many who would otherwise be serious students of music performance, theory, and composition.

37 minutes ago, Noah Brode said:

I have to agree with you there. I passed my music theory exam and my classical guitar audition for a music conservatory, but did not pass my singing exam, even though I had no interest in singing. They invited me to retake the singing exam, but I was too discouraged to continue. I decided to study Journalism at college instead, and it sent me down a totally different path in life. 

The singing aspect may be important for many people, and I respect that. But I personally believe it is an outdated barrier to entry for many who would otherwise be serious students of music performance, theory, and composition.

 

The main problem is that at least here they teach you singing until the 4th year of the professional grade and then you are 2 years without singing a single note. I also lost 2 years of my life due to depression so I haven't sung in more than 4 years.

The Superior Conservatory is demanding way more than what we are taught during the professional degree so only people that sing or have good perfect pitch can do well in that test. 

Is this your equivalent of high school to undergrad, undergrad to grad, or precollege prep (like CEGEP in Quebec) to undergrad? 

10 minutes ago, Monarcheon said:

Is this your equivalent of high school to undergrad, undergrad to grad, or precollege prep (like CEGEP in Quebec) to undergrad? 

 

No idea, here in Spain it is 4 years of Elementary, 6 years of Professional and 4 of Superior. Then you have Masters. I will do the tests in order to study the Superior of Composition.