Estimated reading time 3 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Have you gotten down sight singing major melodies, but want to be able to sing minor melodies? You have come to the right place. Read more to learn about singing shape note solfege minor melodies.
Up to this point, we have looked at shape note solfege in the major mode. Now, you will learn about the minor mode.
If you want to go over basic shape notes, read:
For a talk about rhythm, see:
In Western music, people think of major as happy and minor as sad. Many non-Western peoples have happy minor music and sad major music. Therefore, labeling the major mode as bright and the minor mode as dark helps describe the music outside of cultural boundaries.
This article uses technical musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
The G Natural Minor Scale and Singing Shape Note Solfege Minor Melodies
Mobile users: for best results reading the music, tilt your screen 90o to the right.
G Natural Minor Scale:
The minor mode uses all the same solfege syllables as the major mode. However, it starts on the syllable La rather than Do. Also, notice that the minor mode syllables have the same shapes as they did in the major mode.
When you go from La-to-La it changes the relationships of the notes. La-to-La sounds darker than Do-to-Do. The minor mode has three versions of the minor scale: natural, harmonic, and melodic. Today you will sing the natural minor scale.
Music teachers call La-to-La scales La-based solfege. This is how Jesse B. Aikin taught shape note minor melodies in The Christian Minstrel.
Try singing the shape note solfege minor scale. Pay attention to the sound of the minor mode as you sing with the specially selected tuning in the sing-along soundtracks. This helps develop your melodic tuning skills.
The song tracks use synthetic voices rather than actual voices. Research has shown that this will help with the ability to identify and produce absolute pitch information. For more information, read Why Use a Synth Voice Instead of Real Voices.
Puer Natus in Bethlehem and Singing Shape Note Solfege Minor Melodies
Puer Natus in Bethlehem:
The Latin hymn tune “Puer Natus in Bethlehem” dates back to the 14th century. Notice that the song has only three beats per measure, not four as we have had in prior songs.
Singing the shape note solfege minor scale before you try “Puer Natus in Bethlehem” will help orient your ear to the sound of the minor mode.
Be sure to sing the rhythmic syllables above each note in the score. Then, sing the solfege syllables beneath each note.
Singing Shape Note Solfege Minor Melodies: Quiz
Once you have “Puer Natus in Bethlehem” down, try the quiz. Once again, sing the rhythmic syllables first. Then, sing the shape note solfege minor melody.
Concluding Thoughts for Singing Shape Note Solfege Minor Melodies
Singing in the shape note solfege minor mode will greatly expand the types of music you can sing. Therefore, daily practice with the sing-along songs will help you get the sound of the minor mode in your ear.
La-based solfege is easier to read. So, the La-based solfege approach remains especially important for young children as well as for LD, ASD, ADD, and other special needs students. The shape notes enhance the solfege, creating a multisensory experience for the students.
In this post you learned the natural minor mode. In the next Shape Notes and Solfege post, you will learn the harmonic minor mode while singing the rest of “Puer Natus in Bethlehem.”
© 2021 Geoffrey Keith
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Glossary
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