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UnixReview.com
October 2005
Marcel's Linux App of the Month : GNU Solfege
by Marcel Gagné
When you know the notes to sing, you can sing most anything. If that sounds
like Julie Andrews in the "Sound of Music", then you understand precisely what
I'm going to talk about today. And, yes, as strange as this introduction sounds,
this is Marcel's Linux Application of the Month. I'm just going to take you
on a musical journey.
Most of us take music lessons at some point in our lives. For some, it's whatever your local school curriculum offers. For others, it's something more formal and usually involves some outlay of cash for either yourself or your child. Part of every well-rounded musical instruction involves ear training, Well, if you've ever had to sit through musical ear training exercises, or had to watch, push, and otherwise prod your kids to do so, then today's program is something you need to investigate. It's called GNU Solfege. The term Solfege refers to the technique of assigning syllables to musical notes — Do, Re, Mi, and so on, a technique that goes back centuries. 
GNU Solfege comes with a number of exercise for practicing and recognizing chords, rhythm, melodic, and harmonic intervals (including exercises where you sing the intervals), scales (yes, there is more than one type), even taking musical dictation. The program will also run tests for you and keep extensive statistics so you can track your progress over time. Having used this program on and off for years, I can attest to its usefulness.
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