13 guides · free
LearnRead the notation, then write your own.
Plain-language guides for the people who actually sing this music — choir directors, teachers, students. Start at the d r m f s l t and 1 2 3 basics; work up to SATB arranging, transposition, and turning staff scores into solfa. Every guide opens in the free editor, so you read and try in the same place.
Start here
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Tonic solfa primer →
The movable-do system African choirs and hymnbooks read natively — d r m f s l t, explained in about nine minutes.
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Jianpu primer →
Read a whole melody from just 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. Octave dots, underlines, rhythm — then write your first score in the browser.
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Minor keys & Chinese modes in jianpu →
Why a minor piece is written 6 = A and not 1 = C, the five modes 宫商角徵羽, and how to tell which one you are in.
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Movable do vs fixed do →
Two solfège systems, one set of syllables. Which to learn for choir, sight-singing, conservatory, or composition — settled side by side.
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Curwen hand signs →
The seven hand shapes for do re mi fa sol la ti, as used in Kodály and tonic solfa classrooms. Diagrams, history, drills.
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Tonic solfa questions and answers →
The questions students are set, answered in a sentence or two: the first degree of the scale, the highest syllable, the symbols, the minor scale, where it came from.
Choral & SATB
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SATB basics →
Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass — what each voice covers, the harmony rules that matter, and voice-leading, with a worked example.
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SATB arranging in solfa →
Turn a melody into four parts in tonic solfa: voice-leading, doubling, the parallel-fifths check, and the range each voice sings in solfa degrees.
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Aligning lyrics under solfa →
One syllable per note, held notes, and stacking multiple verses — the rules for setting hymn lyrics under solfa, with examples.
Compose & transpose
Related pages
- GlossaryA glossary of tonic solfa, jianpu, and choral music terms, concise definitions with worked examples, written for singers and composers learning the notation.
- DomiSol manualHow to use DomiSol: write solfa and jianpu notation, hear it played back, add lyrics and parts, then share or export your score.
- Tonic Solfa and Jianpu in Every Key: Where Doh IsWhere doh (1) sits in all twelve major keys, for tonic solfa and jianpu: the scale in each key, the key line, the staff key signature and the relative minor.