Courses and workshops on this website use the rhythm syllables of Edwin Gordon and the tonal syllables developed at the Come Children Sing Institute. These syllable systems speak most directly to the musical mind, mirroring the nature of rhythm and tonal knowing, respectively. Courses are designed so that teachers, like the children, experience the syllables in sound. It is essential that the musical mind rather than the thinking mind be at the forefront with rhythm and tonal syllables. A brief theoretical explanation of each syllable system is provided here to keep your thinking mind happy while you allow your musical mind to absorb the wisdom of these syllable systems. They speak to your audiation and that of your children, mirroring rhythm and tonal audiation and providing a model for better understanding the nature of both rhythm and tonal audiation.

Gordon’s rhythm syllables are based on “beat function” rather than on note values. All meters have macro and macro beats, divisions, and other types of rhythm patterns. Every meter is different, but in each meter, macro beats function as the big beats, and micro beats function as the little beats, with divisions and other types of rhythm patterns equally consistent across meters, whatever the beat groupings. Gordon’s rhythm syllables present “Du” as the macro beat in all meters, while adjusting the syllables of micro beats to accommodate the different meters—“Du de” in Duple meter, “Du da di” in triple meter, “Du be Du ba bi” in Unusual Paired meter, as examples. Divisions in each meter similarly reflect divisions of the micro beats—“Du ta de ta” in Duple meter, “Du ta da ta di ta” in Triple meter, and “Du ta be ta Du ta ba ta bi ta” in Unusual Paired meter.  Gordon’s rhythm syllables capture both the sameness and differences across meters. They capture the sameness in beat function, while capturing the differences between meters.

Similarly, the tonal syllables developed at the Come Children Sing Institute capture both the sameness and differences across tonalities. The syllables are based on “melodic function,” which is consistent across tonalities. Each tonality is different, but the resting tone is prime in all tonalities, with the dominant next in command, and other pitches in relation to tonic and dominant in the same placement across tonalities. This tonal syllable system reflects the differences across tonalities by assigning a different consonant to each tonality, while reflecting the sameness across tonalities with consistent vowel sounds for “melodic function.  For example, presenting the syllables in the pattern of the tonal prep—5 6 5 4 3 2 7 1, Dorian tonality is represented by “Rim Re Rim Ra Ri Ro Ru Rum.”  Mixolydian, “Sim Se Sim Sa Si So Su Sum”. Phrygian, “Mim Me Mim Ma Mi Mo Mu Mum.”  The resting tone and dominant (working tone) have distinctive syllables with the addition of the "m," reflecting the prominence of these pitches in audiation, much like the prominence of macro and micro beats in rhythm audiation.

This tonal syllable system addresses the “whereness” of pitches, just as Gordon’s rhythm syllables address the “whenness” of durations. The two syllable systems embody rhythm and tonal audiation, repectively, and transfer easily to notation. Competence with syllables in each meter propels competence with syllables in every other meter, and rhythm reading competence with each meter will propel competence in rhythm reading with every other meter. Similarly, competence with syllables in each tonality propels competence with syllables in every other tonality, and tonal reading competence with each tonality will propel competence in tonal reading with every other tonality.

It is in sound where these syllable systems make the most sense—musical sense, as they speak directly to the musical mind. Allow yourself to receive them in sound like the children, unencumbered by theory, and you will find answers to many of the questions your thinking mind might be generating about them. More about Gordon’s rhythm syllables can be found in his book, Learning Sequences in Music.  More about the tonal syllable system can be found here. A New Tonal Syllable System.