39 Moderately-difficult Solfèges

The 2019 Italian law reforming State Conservatories changed their curriculums and syllabuses.

The main change regarding the subject I teach (i.e. Musical Theory, Rhythm and Perception) is about rhythmic reading (commonly called ‘solfège’). Indeed, the reading is no longer in treble clef and in all clefs (treble, bass and alto) on a single staff but rather in double staff (violin and bass) and, at the discretion of the Conservatory, in all clefs.

I was taken aback, like all the teachers of this subject, I guess. We tried to solve the problem by changing the currently available material in treble clef adding some bass clef here and there.

Then, one day, stimulated by my students, I thought I could write the solfèges in double staff myself, trying to condense all the rhythmic difficulties (irregular groups, syncopation, etc.), the ornaments (turns, mordents, etc.), the graphic difficulties (abbreviations), and the metric difficulties (sudden rhythm changes and the use of composite rhythms) in the few bars of an exercise.

While writing these 39 moderately-difficult solfèges that are difficult on a double staff, I also took into account their harmonic and melodic structure as much as possible.

My students, to whom I dedicate this work of mine, were the first to read and study them.

As a result, I noticed that they improved their ability to cope with and overcome the most complex rhythm sections and that they studied with more enthusiasm.

This publication can therefore be useful to students who are about to take the final exam in Musical Theory, Rhythm and Perception.

Flavio Quali

“As regards his solfèges, he did a huge and complicated job: many solfèges are often very difficult, and performing them well is often hard, especially during sight reading. The rhythms are really very complex: bravo!” (Maestro Guido Pipolo)