Throughout this course, and in The Choral Musician series, we will use several series of Familiar Patterns in Familiar Order (FPIFO, pronounced “Fuh-Pi-Foh) to build our tonal vocabulary and increase our contextual understanding. The repetition of the patterns, as well as the predictable nature of their familiar order, will aid you tremendously as you learn this new tonal language. Two things to note:

1. We will always begin at the Aural/Oral level with a neutral syllable before we learn the solfege. Why? Because the sound itself is fundamental and should be learned by itself before we name it with a syllable. If you learn the syllables too early, they become and crutch and you won’t ever learn the sound very well.   

2. It is imperative to always learn the new tonal content in both major and minor tonalities so your brain has something to compare. Just as we did in rhythm, we learn best when we are able to make comparisons and learn by contrast. Learning minor will bring more clarity to major, and learning major will bring more clarity to minor. 

Below, you will find video for Tonal Sequence #1 in Major tonality.