Estimated reading time 3 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
“How do I switch from minor key shaped notes to standard notation?” Sight singing minor keys in standard notation can be challenging. Because it can be difficult to figure out if you’re in a major key or the relative minor. Read more to learn how to transition from shaped notes to standard notation for minor keys.
First, find out the key of the song. From there you can figure out the song’s mode. The previous post in the series shows you how to find the key:
This post uses music terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the article.
The Process of Switching from Singing Minor Key Shaped Notes to Standard Notation
“How do I switch from minor key shaped notes to standard notation?” As we talked about in the link above, by design shaped noteheads tell you what solfege syllable to sing. Standard notation won’t do that for you:
- This means you’ll need to figure out the key of the song before you can try to sight sing the piece.
- The post at the link above shows you how to do just that.
- However, relative major and minor scales us the same notes (mostly).
- This can make it difficult to know the mode of the song.
Nevertheless, you can look for specific clues that’ll tell you the song’s mode:
- Figure out the key of the song. The music example in the next section has two flats. We know from the info in the part 1 post that the example below is in the key of Bb.
- Next, figure out the mode. In a homophonic arrangement, look at the last note in the melody. If the last note of the song is the first scale degree of the major scale (Bb or La), you’ve got a major key song. If the last note is the 6th scale degree of the major scale, you’ve got a minor key song.
- If you have an SATB arrangement, the last note of the bass part will give you the best indication of the song’s modality.
- The final clue comes from the fifth scale degree of the major scale (F or Sol). If you start seeing a lot of sharps on this note (F# or See), that will be a strong hint that the song’s using the harmonic minor scale.
Puer Natus in Bethlehem and Switching from Singing Minor Key Shaped Notes to Standard Notation
“How do I switch from minor key shaped notes to standard notation?” After you’ve figured out the mode, you need to decide whether you want to use either the relative minor or the parallel minor solfege syllables. For more information on how to choose, read:
The following example shows a song (Puer Natus in Bethlehem which I borrowed from another post) that uses the harmonic minor scale:
- It employs the relative minor solfege syllables, which would be what you’d want most of the time.
- Notice that the phrase ends with La, and that we sing the syllable See instead of Sol. This puts the song in the harmonic minor.
To hear what the song sounds like, click on the soundtrack button below.
Mobile users: for best results reading the music, tilt your screen 90o to the right.
Puer Natus in Bethlehem:
Final Thoughts on “How do I Switch from Minor Key Shaped Notes to Standard Notation”
“How do I switch from minor key shaped notes to standard notation?” This sums up the process:
- Figure out the key.
- Figure out the mode.
- Decide on whether to use relative or parallel minor solfege syllables.
Beginners can write the syllables in the score. However, you should work toward learning the syllables for each key.
Have fun singing!
© 2023 Geoffrey Keith
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Glossary
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