As we learned in the previous two lessons on scale structure, both the Number System and Solfege can be used to describe the very same musical stuff…
Do=1, Re=2, Mi=3, Fa=4, So=5, La =6, and Ti =7.
Which begs one to ask two questions:
- Why two systems and not just one?
- Which system should I learn?
And the answer is: You should learn both systems, for at least five reasons…
- Both systems are widely-used to describe, communicate, and analyze musical patterns such as scales, melodies, and chord progressions.
- Neither system is perfect. Each has its pros and cons, capabilities and limits.
- Both conventions will be used throughout the Piano-ology website as appropriate.
- The Number System will be be used to define chord structure (independent of tonality), as you will see when you study chords.
- Solfege will be used to analyze and do ear training for scales and melodies.