Advanced Solfege Practice- Me & Se

Are you ready to take your solfege practice and sight singing to the next level? This tutorial is designed to help you hear and sing the solfege syllables “Me” and “Se”.

Solfege Practice- “Me” & “Se”

If you haven’t already, now would be a great time to check out the other tutorials in this series-

To be able to hear “Me” and “Se”, you first need to be able to sing the chromatic solfege scale.

The chromatic solfege scale is a 12 note scale that covers all of the notes on the piano. This scale is a great fine tuning exercise for your ear. The intervals are small and require a higher level of precision to execute.

The chromatic scale uses different syllables for the notes going up and coming down. Think of the ascending notes as sharps (#) and the descending notes as flats (b).

The solfege syllables for the ascending scale are Do- Di- Re- Ri- Mi- Fa- Fi- Sol- Si- La- Li- Ti- Do

The solfege syllables for the descending scale are Do- Ti- Te- La- Le- Sol- Se- Fa- Mi- Me- Re- Ra- Do

“Me” and “Se” are the same notes as “Ri” and “Fi”. If the note is being lowered, use “Me” or “Se”, if the note is being raised use “Ri” and “Fi”. For example-

Essentially, “Me” is “Mi flat” and “Se” is “Sol flat”. “Ri” is “Re sharp” and “Fi” is “Fa sharp”.

How To Practice

Practice singing “Do-Me-Se” in all twelve keys. Here is the exercise written out in the key of C-

Then, write out a chart (or print mine out above) and practice moving around the major solfege scale with the addition of “Me” and “Se”. These pitches aren’t in the major scale, so they are harder to hear. Practicing this ear training exercise will help you become a top notch sight reader. This isn’t easy stuff, but it can be mastered with enough practice.

Enjoy your solfege practice!