Defining the Octave
& Solfège
Learn what an octave is, why it sounds the way it does, and how solfège gives every note a singable name — from Do to Do.
Defining the Octave
An octave spans eight note names. The word comes from the Latin octavus (eighth). The higher note vibrates at exactly twice the frequency of the lower one.
From C to the next C — passing through D, E, F, G, A, B before arriving back at C. That's one octave, a 2 : 1 frequency ratio.
One Octave = Eight Note Names
Solfège — Singing the Scale
Solfège gives each note of the scale a singable syllable. It's how musicians around the world learn to hear and reproduce pitches by ear — made famous by "Do-Re-Mi" from The Sound of Music.
Each syllable maps to a scale degree: Do is the first note, Re the second, all the way up to Ti — then Do returns one octave higher. Together they spell out the major scale.
The Major Scale in Solfège
With movable Do, the scale in the key of G major would start on G as "Do." The syllables stay the same — Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do — but the pitches shift. This trains your ear to recognise patterns no matter the key.
Chromatic Solfège — Sharps & Flats
When singing sharps going up, change the vowel to "i" (e.g., Do→Di, Re→Ri, Fa→Fi). When singing flats going down, change the vowel to "e" (e.g., Ti→Te, La→Le, Sol→Se). This gives every one of the 12 chromatic notes its own syllable.