"Every Good Boy..."and Kodaly disaster
Read the book Russian Spanish
“What are the notes for the bass clef? I know treble is "Every Good Boy Does Fine", and FACE. What about Bass?
I want to learn the piano, but I only know the treble clef, which means I can only play the right hand. Which, of course, poses a problem. I'll take any other advice you may want to give. Thank you.”
Question from answers.yahoo.com
Music and piano teachers like to use the mnemonic statement “Every Good Boy Does Fine,” or other words that start with the same letters to help beginners memorize the layout of the music staff. To this day, it is treated as an illustrious discovery in music education. In reality, this hint causes more harm than good.
Music and speech have a different logic behind the use of symbols. While words and phrases are strictly tied to their meanings and grammatical rules of sentence construction, musical sounds aren’t limited to any specific sequence. The tying of the letters of music notes to a sequence of words prohibits the freedom of the sounds.
By tying the notes to the first letters of words, we give the student a false support. He is, after all, not prepared to read out the sequences of “Fine Does Boy Good Every,” or “Every Does Boy Fine Good,” as that would be nonsense! Having learned the mnemonic hint, the student finds himself on a very short leash, skidding in place while attempting to read sheet music. And a slow reading of the text hinders the development of all other skills.
A moveable “Do” is just as nonsensical in the science of music as a moveable “A” is in the alphabet, when each letter that we start from could be “A.”
Once, the Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodali (1882-1967) invented a system of relativity for choir education. The system allowed illiterate people to learn to sing in choirs without having to waste time on learning all of the notes and their tonalities. Kodali applied the very beginning of learning, the sounding-out stage, but limited it to the very minimum in order to simplify things. Instead of notes, he implemented seven hand signals for the conductor’s use. It was as if he reduced music to the simple relationship between the seven steps of harmony. This system, as there wasn’t any better, was embossed into good practice specifically for people who didn’t have access to musical literacy.
Unfortunately, Kodali’s invention, originally created for a strictly utilitarian purpose, was carried over into music classes in countries that use the Alphabet System, thus worsening music education. Singing in Solfeggio has been assigned to only one scale – that of “Do!” No matter what tonality music actually sounds in, the Tonic is called “Do.” It has become impossible to sing Solfeggio in any other tonalities. Solfeggio’s connection to Kodali’s system hasn’t improved it, but has reduced it to the singing of seven notes. Ever since, all other tonalities have been studied without practical application, exclusively with the help of the Alphabet System and without vocal sounding.
There is a simple solution to this problem: take away the moveable “Do,” but keep the most important element of Kodali’s system – familiarization of tune with the assistance of hand signals. Of course, starting music education with the one simplest tonality, Do Major, should be allowed. The use of Do Major to teach the relationship of the different steps to each other is entirely justified. But the singing of real music comprises of all of the notes in Solfeggio in all 24 tonalities, and should be a crucial stipulation of any music education.
Soft Mozart school in Portugal. The boy on the left is learning how to apply the Music Alphabet TM to line and spaces of Treble Staf (vertical view).
Having graduated school, college, and music university, and having taught music for more than 30 years, I have never met a colleague that seriously taught children the Music Alphabet. This is unbelievable!
We teach children the alphabet of our language long before they ever go to school. In the U.S., for example, every toddler knows the “Alphabet Song.” Having learned the names of the letters, children easily add their visual representations to memory. On this foundation, the phonetic sound they make when read is also added. With this preparation, it isn’t difficult to form syllables and words from the letters. And only when the child is familiar with all of this comes the time to work on grammar and rules. Through this method, the alphabet ties the sound of letters with their written representation. It obviously serves the fundamental familiarization of any language. Yet with music, everything is topsy-turvy! We start with grammar, teach the notes one at a time, and for some reason, we don’t teach the alphabet at all.
What is the music alphabet? In form, it is a sequence of notes of the musical system that can be spoken aloud. But in essence, the music alphabet is the fundamental base of music reading, crucial to the comprehension of the interrelatedness of music sounds, and the tie between speech and music logic. This alphabet is not simply speech, but not quite music. It doesn’t require singing by pitch yet, but already calls for music logic in sounding out and articulation. It is the natural bridge from speech to music.
Resources for the development of hearing and voice are embedded into the Music Alphabet. This is the key to reading melodies, intervals, and chords. It is at the foundation of procurement of sound from an instrument, because in any instrument, the sound apparatus is organized in a set pattern.
At the moment, educators try to tie the memorization of notes to the lines of the music staff, ignoring the notes’ context in a united space, such as the Grand Staff. This is unreasonable because:
- Each note is a part of a united whole. It doesn’t exist all on its own, but is connected to all of the other notes in a music context. One must know not only one note’s location on the music staff, but must be familiar with all of the space that surrounds it. Ideally, one should be able to internally hear the note’s harmonious constructions, possible melodic paths and possibilities. Playing each note, a musician should be able to name it, sing it out loud or in his head, and trace it forward by several bars. This is what constitutes firm music logic, and knowledge of the Music Alphabet helps to understand the logic of the language of music.
- Notes of the alphabet follow a specific order. An alphabet is an orderly and symmetric system. It helps one to understand the visual logic of the language of music: music notation.
- The use of the Music Alphabet prepares the student for the spatial regularity of music. Knowledge of the order of the notes transfers to the keys, where he will understand that “Do” is three keys away from “Sol,” etc. Later this helps to quickly play the jumps in melody, double and triple notes, and chords. Work with the music alphabet prepares the hands of a person for music reading.
- The auditory memorization of speech is one of the most stable and innate skills. With the help of the articulative memory, a child learns to speak. To leave out this prized skill is simply stupid. In my classes, there are children with very poor music hearing. At first, they effectively memorize music pieces depending on articulation (the naming of the notes). Articulation becomes music, and the music tugs out the development of hearing and memory. The music alphabet helps to develop music memory through articulation.
The music alphabet expresses the logic behind the language of music. Many think that this means that the 7 notes should only be expressed in their ascending order: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, and Ti. This is not so. First of all, in music there isn’t only one direction of movement. This means that the true music alphabet should be: Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do, Do Ti La Sol Fa Mi Re Do. Secondly, each note in the music alphabet can appear first. Because of this, we must know seven sequences of notes. The music alphabet includes all of these sequences combined:
Cycle 1:
Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do – Do Ti La Sol Fa Mi Re Do
Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do Re – Re Do Ti La Sol Fa Mi Re
Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do Re Mi – Mi Re Do Ti La Sol Fa Mi
Fa Sol La Ti Do Re Mi Fa – Fa Mi Re Do Ti La Sol Fa
Sol La Ti Do Re Mi Fa Sol – Sol Fa Mi Re Do Ti La Sol
La Ti Do Re Mi Fa Sol La – La Sol Fa Mi Re Do Ti La
Ti Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti – Ti La Sol Fa Mi Re Do Ti
My students are encouraged to recite this entire cycle, forwards and backwards from each note in 14 seconds, and they enjoy competing to see who can recite it most quickly. When reading, a speedy reaction is essential. Therefore, the ability to quickly recite the alphabet is at the foundation of fluent sight-reading.
Throughout the innumerable amount of note combinations and intonations, their relationship with each other always follows a concrete order. The Music Alphabet expresses the fundamental relationship between notes, accepted in all western music notation.
- Notes can be positioned skipping a step. This sequence of thirds orients the second cycle. This helps to see and read a music staff where notes are positioned either on lines, or in the spaces between them. Here, the structure includes triads and sevenths, making reading much more simple.
Cycle 2:
Do Mi Sol Ti Re Fa La Do – Do La Fa Re Ti Sol Mi Do
Mi Sol Ti Re Fa La Do Mi – Mi Do La Fa Re Ti Sol Mi
Sol Ti Re Fa La DO Mi Sol – Sol Mi Do La Fa Re Ti Sol
Ti Re Fa La Do Mi Sol Ti – Ti Sol Mi Do La Fa Re Mi
Re Fa La Do Mi Sol Ti Re – Re Ti Sol Mi Do La Fa Re
Fa La Do Mi Sol Ti Re Fa – Fa Re Ti Sol Mi Do La Fa
La Do Mi Sol Ti Re Fa La – La Fa Re Ti Sol Mi Do La
Notes can be arranged by skipping two steps. These sequences of fourths comprise the third cycle. Knowledge of these sequences helps to read melodies that “skip” along the Grand Staff and aids with chord inversion. It is much easier to memorize the fourths-fifths cycle of tonality and the positioning of flats and sharps.
Do Fa Ti Mi La Re Sol Do – Do Sol Re La Mi Ti Fa Do
Fa Ti Mi La Re Sol Do Fa – Fa Do Sol Re La Mi Ti Fa
Ti Mi La Re Sol Do Fa Ti – Ti Fa Do Sol Re La Mi Ti
Mi La Re Sol Do Fa Ti Mi – Mi Ti Fa Do Sol Re La Mi
La Re Sol Do Fa Ti Mi La – La Mi Ti Fa Do Sol Re La
Re Sol Do Fa Ti Mi La Re – Re La Mi Ti Fa Do Sol Re
Sol Do Fa Ti Mi La Re Sol – Sol Re La Mi Ti Fa Do Sol
- All other combinations of notes are derived from these three sequences, known as musical inversions.
As you can see, learning the Music Alphabet, even without singing it, is a very important aid to music development. The alphabet is a matrix for the voice and hearing, a foundation for quick reading from sheet music, and the framework for understanding music theory. This is the concentrate of the entire system of music. Learning the language of music without it is impossible.
One can learn the alphabet in different ways: it can be laid out in the form of flashcards, or recited in a rap with some neutral musical accompaniment. I have developed a computer game named Note Alphabet that trains the student to fit the notes into the proper sequences through a Tetris-style interface. All three cycles should be taught until they can be recited automatically. The student should be able to recite it starting from any point, and in a very quick tempo. The result is an ability to quickly name a note that is next to a step, over a step, or two above/below.
With the aid of the alphabet, music sounds can be perceived on a stable level similar to that of human speech. The person gets used to not only hearing sounds, but also to guessing their names. The sounds that we hear are gradually decoded into their names and symbols (notes), which we can sing, play, and write down on paper.
Sincerely yours,
Hellene Hiner