Changing the Tonic—Singing

Let’s compare the letter name, scale degree name, and solfège syllable of each note in the D major scale.

When we sing in the key of D, our tonic note is D, which becomes “Do.”
In “Jingle Bells” below, the scale of this piece is D major; therefore the tonic is D, and D becomes “Do,” E
becomes “Re” and so forth. The piece begins on F sharp which is the third degree of the D major scale, or “Mi.”
We call this singing “in D major” or singing “in D”.

149

MAJOR SCALE

Number Letter name Scale degree name Solfège syllable

1 D Tonic Do
2 E Supertonic Re
3 F Mediant Mi
4 G Subdominant Fa
5 A Dominant Sol
6 B Submediant La
7 C Leading tone Ti
8 D Tonic Do

Solfège:

D E F ##G A B C D

Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8