solfege

/soʊlˈfɛʒ/

In music class or in movies about music, you may have heard singing that uses solfege, a series of syllables starting "do, re, mi." These syllables can be used for the notes of the scale in any key.

Solfège is French, from the Italian word solfeggio. Solfeggio is made up of sol + fa, two of the syllables used for the notes of the scale, plus the suffix -eggio indicating that it is a method or system. The international solfege syllables in order are do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do. In English, so is routinely used for the fifth note. Solfege allows people to learn the notes of a melody without worrying about the lyrics or what key it’s in.

Definitions of solfege

1. noun

   (music) the system of using the solfa syllables do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, and ti to name the notes of the scale in any key, often for sight-singing
   synonyms: solfeggio, solmisation, solmization

   type of:

   singing, vocalizing

   the act of singing vocal music
2. noun

   (music) a voice exercise in which scales are sung using the solfa syllables do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti
   synonyms: solfeggio

   type of:

   singing, vocalizing

   the act of singing vocal music