Do Re Mi: Solfège Syllables and Kodály Hand Signs

Do re mi fa so la ti do – in UK tonic sol-fa, doh ray me fah soh lah te doh – are the solfège syllables for the eight notes of a major scale. In movable doh, doh is the key note: C in C major, G in G major. Kodály hand signs show each syllable, from a fist at the waist (doh) to one at eye level (high doh).

Updated 1 November 2026 · By the Classfern Music Department

UKUSWorks in the UK and the US. This version uses UK words and school years (bar, stave, crotchet, KS2, Year 4); the US version uses measure, staff, quarter note and grades. · US version of this page

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Key facts

• The syllables, as sung in UK tonic sol-fa: doh ray me fah soh lah te doh′ (US: do re mi fa sol la ti do; many UK teachers also write do re mi fa so la ti).
• Movable do: doh is always the key note, so the syllables fit any key. Fixed do (France, Italy, Spain): do is always C.
• The semitones in a major scale fall at me–fah and te–doh′.
• John Curwen (1816–1880) added the hand signs to his tonic sol-fa method in England; Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967) adapted them for his method.
• Guido of Arezzo named ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la in the 11th century from the hymn Ut queant laxis.

What does do re mi mean?

Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la and ti are solfège syllables: names for the seven notes of a scale that you can sing. In the common movable-do system, do is the key note, re the second note, mi the third, and so on up to ti, with do again at the octave. They help singers hear and read the shape of a tune in any key.

The syllables are about a thousand years old. In the 11th century the monk Guido of Arezzo used the first syllable of each line of the Latin hymn Ut queant laxis – ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la – because each line started one note higher. Ut later became do (in deference to the Italian theorist Giovanni Battista Doni), si was added for the seventh note, and in 19th-century England Sarah Glover changed si to ti so that every syllable starts with a different letter. (The 1959 show tune “Do-Re-Mi” is still in copyright, so its words are not printed here; the syllables themselves are centuries old.)

Solfège player and echo game

Pick a key, then press a syllable to hear it and see its hand sign. In the echo game you hear a short pattern: sing it back with the hand signs, then check.

Key (where doh is) C major (doh = C4)D major (doh = D4)E♭ major (doh = E♭4)F major (doh = F4)G major (doh = G3)A major (doh = A3)B♭ major (doh = B♭3)

dohraymefahsohlahtedoh′

Play the scale up and down

Echo game

Self-assessed Sing the pattern back, then press “Show the answer” and mark yourself honestly.

Level Level 1: soh and meLevel 2: soh, me and lahLevel 3: doh, ray and meLevel 4: the pentatonic notesLevel 5: the whole scalePlay a pattern

Sounds are made in your browser. This tool never uses the microphone, and nothing is recorded, saved or sent.

What are the solfège hand signs?

Solfège hand signs (Curwen or Kodály hand signs) give each syllable a hand shape: doh is a fist, ray a hand slanting up, me a flat hand, fah a fist with the thumb down, soh a flat hand facing you, lah a drooping hand and te a finger pointing up. Each sign is made a little higher than the one before.

The shapes carry meaning: te points up because it wants to rise to doh′, and fah’s thumb points down because it tends to fall to me. Making the signs while singing helps children feel how high or low a note is, and lets a teacher “conduct” a tune silently for the class to sing.

What is the Kodály method?

The Kodály method is a way of teaching music through singing, developed in Hungary in the mid-20th century by the composer Zoltán Kodály’s colleagues and students, and taught in Hungarian schools from 1945. It starts with simple folk songs and singing games, uses movable-do solfège with hand signs for pitch, and rhythm names such as “ta” and “ti-ti” for rhythm, so children sing and read music before they play an instrument.

Kodály teaching usually starts with the two notes soh and me (the “cuckoo” call), then adds lah, then doh and ray to make the five-note pentatonic scale, before fah and te. The echo game above follows the same order. It is widely used in UK primary schools (KS1 and KS2).

What is the difference between movable do and fixed do?

In movable do, do moves with the key: it is C in C major and D in D major, so the same syllables always mean the same place in the scale. In fixed do, used in France, Italy, Spain and much of Latin America, do always means the note C, re always D, and so on, like letter names.

For minor keys, Kodály teachers usually use “lah-based minor”: the minor key note is lah, so A minor runs lah te doh ray me fah soh lah. Some American teachers prefer “do-based minor” with changed syllables (do re me fa sol le te do). For sharpened notes, US solfège uses di, ri, fi, si and li; for flattened notes ra, me, se, le and te.

How do you practise solfège?

Practise solfège a little every day: sing the major scale up and down on the syllables with the hand signs, then sing short patterns such as doh–me–soh and soh–lah–soh–me, and finally sing simple tunes from notation using syllables instead of words.

1. Find doh: play the key note (the player above does this) and hum it before you start.
2. Scale with signs: once up and down, slowly, making each sign at its own height.
3. Leaps from doh: doh–me, doh–soh, doh–doh′ and back, checking each with the player.
4. Echo: play the echo game at the level you can do easily, then one level harder.
5. Read: sing a tune you know, such as “Hot Cross Buns” (me ray doh), on syllables before the words.

Solfège quiz

Marked by Classfern 5 multiple-choice questions on the Classfern lesson engine. Your answers stay on this device.

Start the quiz

Classroom idea: sing and sign soh and me

A 15-minute first solfège lesson for Reception to Year 3 (ages 4–8). Use the player above in C, so soh is G and me is E.

1. Hello song (3 minutes): sing “hel-lo” on soh–me; the class echoes.
2. Add the signs (3 minutes): soh is a flat hand facing you at chest height, me a flat hand palm down a little lower.
3. Silent conductor (4 minutes): sign short patterns without singing; the class sings what you show.
4. Pupil leaders (3 minutes): volunteers sign a pattern for the class.
5. Check (2 minutes): Judged by a teacher or parent (rubric) sings soh and me in tune; shows the right sign; can lead a pattern of three notes.

Classfern’s free solfège player is part of the Classfern Music Department at lessonplanner.info. The notes are played on the Classfern piano in your browser; the microphone is never used.

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