Sol Mi La Sol Mi
by Teresa Jennings
"Sol mi la sol mi" are the solfege syllables for the natural "call of childhood" that every kid knows. We have set this piece in a rock 'n' roll format in the hopes of making it more appealing to your students to work with solfege. We have also built in a bit of flexibility so you can use it however you like. For example, the right hand piano part could be played by Orff or keyboard or mallet instruments. Non-pitched rhythm instruments could join in with the claps. Bells or Boomwhackers® could also play along with either the chords or the melody. In fact, with all of these possibilities, you might choose not to use singers at all. But if you do, we have options for you on the recording. The full performance version offers the usual demonstration with our singers performing. For the instrumental tracks, however, there are two versions. One per usual, the other a bit slower. The slower one can be used to work with learning the solfege syllables and even with using solfege hand signs. It can be used as a rehearsal tool until students are ready for the faster tempo. Another option would be to let students sing the piece a cappella, working up to tempo at their own pace. Maybe have half of them sing and half of them sign, then reverse.
In this issue, you will find a reproducible student part for this piece. You will note that it has no lyrics. This is so that your students can practice their solfege without seeing the words. We have left room for them to write in the syllables as well, if you like. A version of the student part with lyrics is published in the reproducible student parts (available separately).
Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.