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Hi Albiku. Actually, in the US mostly we use what is called "movable do." We don't assign the solfege syllable to specific pitches (letters) but to the steps of the scale. So "do" is the first note of any scale, no matter which pitch name it is. Then re is the second note, and so on. If you switch to a different key, then the first note of that new scale is "do" (hence, movable). What this does is give us the relationships between the steps of a scale instead of letter names.

Then we also add the half-steps (semi-tones) using do-di-re-ri-mi-fa-fi-sol-si-la-li-ti-do. I don't know if Europeans do that also.

I can never keep track of quavers, semi-quavers, etc. I know the UK uses that nomenclature, but I don't know about the rest of Europe. We use different names for rhythms in the US.[/quote]

Thanks, music teacher Holst, for clarifying the difference between solfege in Europe and the US. The little I knew about the system, it was used to teach melodies and harmonies to people who didn't read music and didn't have formal music theory background. With that "movable do" system, the teacher could say, "Mary, sing do. Jane, sing mi, and John, sing the sol below do." Voile, you have a chord, no matter what the key.

That is why albiku, I was confused when you asked to identify notes by solfege. Music may be universal, but how we identify it, categorize it and describe it varies more than I realized. Fun to learn new stuff.

Wow, thanks guys, I am learning so much. So many ways to describe the same thing.

And thanks Cassie for your response to my BE question.
I don't think that people are actually aware how unusual it is what Adam is doing, because he makes it sound so simple.

I always find that trying to sing along with Adam helps to get a healthy respect for what he truly does, but obviously that does not quite work in public - or a concert environment.

Interesting stuff! Music is universal, but its description and notation certainly is not. I started with piano, also, but learned the alphabet names for the keys and the notes on a score. That was engraved on my brain, for good and for bad. I can read the treble and bass clefs easily, but when I tried playing viola with a different clef I would get so confused. Perhaps if I had read the notes as intervals as in solfege instead of absolute notes, it would have been easier to transition.

If you play a C on the piano and then ask me to sing any other note based on that one (i.e. sing the G below, or the Bb above) I can do that without thinking. But if you say "sing the major third, or sing "la", I have to do a mental translation into the letters I know. "Let's see, major third. C, D, E, there you go!" "La, you say? Okay. [hums softly to myself the scale from The Sound of Music... do, re, mi, fa, so la.... oh! You wanted me to sing an A. Why didn't you say so?]

The ability to "hear", sing or identify any pitch after getting a base pitch is called "relative pitch." What is rarer is "perfect pitch"; the ability to identify any pitch without a reference point, or to sing/hum a pitch without a reference point. My ear falls somewhere in between. Relative pitch is a piece of cake. Identifying or singing a pitch with no references I can come close; usually within a quarter or half step if not spot on. Again, this is a blessing and a curse. I'm a pretty fierce sight reader without having to rely on instrumental accompaniment. But, I cannot NOT hear things that are off pitch. and, I cannot read a melody line written in the key of C, for example, but sing it in the key of A (which my church choir director used to do regularly, using his electronic keyboard to alter the key of the song).

Fascinating how we all hear and process music differently, even when we think we are talking about the same experience.

Great question. Several answers. First of all, it is not because they don't have a good enough ear to sing on pitch. Well, let me modify that. Professional, trained singers who reach some acclaim because of their talent and not because they are the pop star for a day, have the ability to hear when something is off pitch.

One reason for pitch problems is a lack of vocal technique and breath support. But, a pro should be beyond that, generally.

However, singing a note on pitch requires very subtle, exact adjustments of muscles in the head, mouth, neck, and torso. It is possible to just miss the mark slightly with those adjustments. When you play the piano, if you hit the right key, the note is automatically on pitch. When you play guitar, if you put your finger in between two frets (bars that contact the strings and determine the note) and if your instrument is in tune, the note is automatically on pitch. With singing, there are no pre-established keys or frets or markers to engage to sing the pitch perfectly. Your body has to know how to make the tiny adjustments of muscles to hit precisely the right pitch. So, if you hear an occasional flat or sharp note with everything else being on, it is probably just a tiny bit too much air, or the vocal cords tightened or loosened just a smidge too much. If the singer is particularly stressed or nervous, or even just distracted, their accuracy can be affected.

A second, less well known reason, is that one's voice sounds different from inside the body and outside. When you change the shape of your mouth, for example, you may change how the pitch sounds to you. You also hear/feel resonance differently from the inside out. So, inside your body, as you sing, the pitch may sound accurate. But, if you later listen to a recording of the singing, it may sound "off." It has something to do with sound wave lengths, harmonics, resonance, etc.

But, the most common reason by far is that the singer cannot hear: either cannot hear the backing instruments they rely on for pitch, or cannot hear their own voice over the loud instrumentation. If you cannot clearly hear the cuing instruments, it is like shooting at a target you cannot see and hoping to hit the bullseye from memory. If you cannot hear your own voice, it is like being unable to see where your shot hits the target.

When Adam has been notably off key, it is almost always because he cannot hear his voice, either in the ear monitors or the stage monitors. This is extremely disturbing for a singer, because it is totally out of their control. There is nothing they can do to "fix" the problem. It is in the hands of the sound technicians or in the quality of the sound equipment. I'm sure you have seen Adam frequently fidgeting with his monitors; taking one or both out, putting them back in, putting them half-way in. When he takes one or both out, it is because he cannot hear his voice in them, and is hoping to hear it better from the stage monitors. (You may also see him do this if he wants to hear the audience. One monitor in for the sound onstage, one out to hear the sound in the audience.) You also will see him motion to the sound tech to change the settings on the stage monitors. if he isn't getting the sound he needs to monitor his own voice. But, if the equipment is faulty or the tech is not capable, Adam is screwed. Since his voice is his trademark and his livelihood, it is no wonder he gets pissed when this happens. The sound tech has to be the worst job in the Adam world. He is meticulous about getting the sound right.

Hope that answers your question?