Where doh sits, in every key.
Tonic solfa and jianpu name the steps of the scale, not fixed pitches. Pick a key to see what d r m f s l t and 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 sound as there.
In tonic solfa the first degree of any major scale is doh
(d), and in jianpu it is 1. Which pitch
that is depends on the key: change the key and every syllable moves
with it, which is what makes a hymn easy to move into a range the choir
can sing. The table gives doh for all twelve major keys.
The twelve major keys
| Key | Doh (1) | d r m f s l t | Staff signature | Relative minor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C major | C | C D E F G A B | no sharps or flats | A minor |
| G major | G | G A B C D E F♯ | 1 sharp (F♯) | E minor |
| D major | D | D E F♯ G A B C♯ | 2 sharps (F♯, C♯) | B minor |
| A major | A | A B C♯ D E F♯ G♯ | 3 sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯) | F♯ minor |
| E major | E | E F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D♯ | 4 sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯) | C♯ minor |
| B major | B | B C♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ A♯ | 5 sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯) | G♯ minor |
| F♯ major | F♯ | F♯ G♯ A♯ B C♯ D♯ E♯ | 6 sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯) | D♯ minor |
| D♭ major | D♭ | D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ C | 5 flats (B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭) | B♭ minor |
| A♭ major | A♭ | A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G | 4 flats (B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭) | F minor |
| E♭ major | E♭ | E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C D | 3 flats (B♭, E♭, A♭) | C minor |
| B♭ major | B♭ | B♭ C D E♭ F G A | 2 flats (B♭, E♭) | G minor |
| F major | F | F G A B♭ C D E | 1 flat (B♭) | D minor |
The keys run round the circle of fifths: each is one sharp more (or one flat fewer) than the one before, and soh of each key is doh of the next. F sharp major and D flat major are printed under the names most hymnbooks use; G flat major and C sharp major sound the same.
Questions people ask
Is do always C?
Not in tonic solfa or jianpu. Both are movable do: doh (1) is the first note of whatever key the music is in, so it is C in C major, G in G major and B flat in B flat major. Only fixed-do solfege, the convention in France, Italy, Spain and parts of Latin America, keeps do on C.
How do I find doh for a key?
Doh is the note the key is named after: in D major doh is D. In a piece written in staff notation, the last sharp in the key signature is ti, so doh is the next note up; with flats, the last flat but one is doh (and with one flat, F major, doh is F).
How is the key written in solfa and in jianpu?
Solfa writes a key line at the start, such as Key G or Doh is G. Jianpu writes 1 = G at the top left. Neither writes sharps or flats for the key itself: the syllables and numbers are already relative to doh.
Going further
- The tonic solfa primer: the syllables, octave marks, rhythm and the altered notes.
- The jianpu primer: the numbers, octave dots and underlines.
- Movable do and fixed do, and why solfa singers move doh.
- Transposing a hymn in solfa, by changing one key line.
- The solfa converter, which shows a melody in solfa and staff side by side and moves it to a singable key.
Related pages
- ToolsOnline Pitch Pipe (Free) for Choirs and SingersA free online pitch pipe. Pick a key and tap to hear each SATB part's starting note, or sound the whole chord. No sign-up, and it keeps working offline on a phone.
- LearnHow to Write a Minor Key in Jianpu (6 = A)Jianpu states a minor key as 6 = A, not 1 = C. Here is what that means, how the five Chinese modes 宫商角徵羽 work, and how to write them in a free online editor.
- GlossaryFixed doA solfege convention where 'do' always means the pitch C, whatever key the music is in. The opposite of the movable do that tonic solfa and jianpu use.
- LearnHow to Transpose a Hymn in Tonic SolfaTransposing hymns in tonic solfa is trivial, the syllables stay the same, only the key changes. A 5-minute guide for choir directors moving hymns into singable ranges.