Crash Course in Sight Singing

Let’s dive in . . .

“What’s that tune . . . ?!”

You love to sing and want to join a choir or help out at church. Maybe you’ve got an audition, but they’re going to ask you to sight sing a selection of music. Ouch! Or, maybe you’ve already gotten into that super choir you’ve been wanting to, but they’re performing Bach–no easy stuff! And, by the way, have you actually looked at the choir part of Handel’s Messiah?! Just because it’s popular, doesn’t mean it’s easy! Don’t you wish you’d had that sight singing course in college?

YouTube to the Rescue!

Don’t despair! Here are three videos from YouTube that taken together form a kind of “crash course“ in sight singing. Before getting a tutor, try viewing these videos first. If, after that, you are still having trouble with sight singing, you can contact a tutor or join a class.

Sight Singing Starter Pack

But, I’m betting you won’t need to. With these three videos under your belt and some practice, you’ll probably be just fine singing in the choir. Don’t forget to listen at least twice to each video before moving on to the next. Why? The common wisdom is that if you repeat a lesson before proceeding, your comprehension improves by as much as 60%. So, go slow with each video before moving on. Good luck! You’ve got this!

Solfeggio Basics

The first video is a basic primer on solfeggio, the system in which the seven distinct notes of the major scale were given syllables to represent them: doh re mi fa sol la ti doh (or, in the case of this video, the numbers 1–7). It explores the relationship of the notes to each other—the “feel” of them as you sing. The video is about 18 minutes long. It will not be wasted time!

Musical Notation Sampler

This second video is a review of the basics of reading music: keys, key signatures, meter signatures, and reading the lines and spaces of the treble and bass clefs in music. It is very clearly and succinctly presented — it will not be root canal to go through this! As with the first video, try to watch it twice through before proceeding to the next. You’re making progress…

Deepening Solfeggio Techniques

The third and final video is a slightly more advanced primer on sight singing (incidentally, by the same author as the first video). Again, carefully study this video twice and then begin to practice on “real-world” musical examples. You may find that you are a lot farther along than you thought!

Solfeggio on Wheels!

Here is the iconic number from The Sound of Music by, Rodgers and Hammerstein where the von Trapp kids are learning how to sing using solfeggio (this is the full scene, audio only.)

Here is the final part of that same scene from The Sound of Music. Watch when they’re jumping up and down a set of stairs, physically demonstrating the solfeggio of the song they are singing–so clever! I have never seen sight singing so clearly represented! Who knew sight singing could be so much fun!

“Who invented solfeggio? . . .”

Read about Guido d’Arezzo, the Benedictine monk who got us all sight singing better!