ABC's and Do Re Mi

[Ish.Rivera]

I have always assumed that the Do Re Mi nomenclature came first and the ABC's second. But I'm not sure. I do recongnize the need for a short hand for notes and chord. Just imagine Sol#m for G#m.

1) However why are they offset? Do Re Mi => C D E and not A B C.

2) What are the origines of these system?


(I'm just curious.)
Thanks

[CSchlegel]

I have always assumed that the Do Re Mi nomenclature came first and the ABC's second.
"Do Re Mi" is called solfege. This wiki page contains info on it's origin & history:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solfege

For our purposes here, "Do Re Mi" refers to the notes of any & all major scales. So "Do" can be any of the 12 possible chromatic music notes (A through G#). It's merely the formula you apply once you decide on a starting note.

So, it can line up with the notes from the C major scale:

C (do) 1st
D (re) 2nd
E (mi) major 3rd
F (fa) 4th
G (so) 5th
A (la) major 6th
B (ti) major 7th
C (do) 8th

Likewise, if you put the Do on D it can line up with the notes from the D major scale:

D (do) 1st
E (re) 2nd
F# (mi) major 3rd
G (fa) 4th
A (so) 5th
B (la) major 6th
C# (ti) major 7th
D (do) 8th

And so on with all the possible letters! I discuss major scales (and mention solfege) in the GF2 course, Intro to C major scale for beginners tutorial:

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=363

Hope this helps! Have fun. :)

[Victory Hil]

Great clarification. Your response helps me out as well. Maybe I missed this in GF2.

Thanks!

[Ish.Rivera]

Is this a matter of different philosofies in the music world. I recall my early days when I started to learn music, I would have been nailed if I would have answered anything other than "Mi" for a note on the bottom line of the pentagram, or played anything other than an "E" note (4th string 2 fret).

Any documentation I find for spanish composers always talk in terms of Do Re Mi, not A B C. Yet when you look at the notes Do Re Mi they are C D E.

[CSchlegel]

Is this a matter of different philosofies in the music world.
Yes, it is a matter of different schools of thought on the matter. This is all covered in depth on that wiki page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solfege

It sounds like you were taught Fixed Do system; as opposed to Movable Do.

I find it more useful to use the movable system because the solfege is mostly valuable as a means of concretizing the sounds of any major scale regardless of root note. This means you can use the solfege to conceptually relate to scale degrees.

Any documentation I find for spanish composers always talk in terms of Do Re Mi, not A B C. Yet when you look at the notes Do Re Mi they are C D E.
It's apparently all the Romance languages, not only Spanish. The movable system is more Germanic in origin & historical usage.

Anyway, if you start the movable do system on the note A, you never get A-B-C. You would get:

A (do) 1st
B (re) 2nd
C# (mi) major 3rd
D (fa) 4th
E (so) 5th
F# (la) major 6th
G# (ti) major 7th
A (do) 8th

FWIW, when Julie Andrews sings it in the movie The Sound Of Music, it is in B-flat. :)

Hope that helps clarify the issue!