See-Saw-So
Sight Singing System
A sight system that makes sense!

The systems we use to teach sight singing are often more confusing than valuable. We hang on to these old systems because they do work. As a performing musician, songwriter, singer and teacher for over fifty years, I have noticed that sight singing has a learning curve that is long and difficult. With so many variations many music students just "give up" this valuable tool before they become fluent in its use.
Most Americans discard solfeggio before they actually learn it, because it is full of inconsistencies. Besides, it was invented by Guido D'Arezzo in the eleventh century using a section of Gregorian Chant which, over a course of about three years, taught singers and others a syllable system for note-reading. It also taught good recognition of interval relationships.
Ut queant laxis

It used only six notes, not eight, as in our diatonic systems
This was fine for monks in the abbey singing praise to St. John, but for contemporary learners of music, there are problems.
First of all, how do you sing sharps and flats in a way you always know what's sharp and /or what's flat?
The system widely used in Europe becomes "do, di , re, ri, mi" - there is an inconsistency at this point, because the ee sound used between steps three and four and seven and eight (e and f, and b and c in the key of C major) (indicating half steps) now has to be changed to a different vowel between the notes e# and F#.......
In Guido's time, the note e# wasn't yet a note in any of the scales that were used.
Guido used only a six note hexachord system which was perfect for Gregorian chant, but much too limited for today's musician. As a consequence, changes were made, adding new syllables and notes to fit the "full" diatonic system.
Instead of: Ut, re, mi, fa, so - it became Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, si, do (and once again, another change, in order to avoid two "s" sounds, si became (in some countries) ti (with jam and bread).
All these additions and changes never addressed the original inconsistencies of Guido's system "if it was good enough for our fathers and grandfathers so it must good enough for you" syndrome.
For Guido's musicians there were no inconsistencies because written music was brand new and his system had no predecessors.
Using the chant is fine but somewhat confusing for new students: it is in Latin, and meaningless to those unfamiliar with that language.
Beginners in music usually know the names of the notes. In America this is generally true. As a consequence the system I have worked out is totally consistent for those students.
It uses what's already known (the names of the notes) and that doesn't change for any note name: "c" always has the sound of "see."
I noticed that in the scale, almost all notes had the "ee" vowel present. The only exceptions were "f" and "a."
The next steps were easy. Sharps and double sharps would use different vowels:
flats and double flats would use the others.
Everything sharp would sound like "AH" and everything double-sharped would sould like "EH."
What about the note "A"?
When sharped, it simply becomes "AH" and likewise, when sharped, the note "E" becomes "ee-ah" or more familiarly, "yah" (double sharped = "yeah").
The flats behave in the same manner. All flat notes become "OH" sounding. All double flats become "OO" sounding. Once again, a flat becomes "oh," a double flat becomes "oo."
E flat becomes "yo" and e double flat becomes "you." The only discrepancy is in spelling and pronunciation of the note "G#." Spelled, it looks like "gah - it should be pronounced with the sound of "jaw" "jeh" "jo" and "joo."
The only other helpful suggestion in performing these syllables is to use a slight glottal stop between "g sharp" ("jaw") and "A sharp" "ah."
Normally, "gee"- "ay" sings smoothly and understandably, but "jaw-ah" "jeh-eh" "jo-oh" and "joo-oo" need that small separation.
We do this naturally between the note "d" and "e." (example - say "abcde") That little separation is called a glottal stop.
SeeSawSo

When you hear an "AH" vowel, the note is sharped, and only a single syllable is needed.
When you hear an "OH" vowel, the note is flatted, and only a single syllable is needed.
No need to sing "e sharp" on a sixteenth note or an inconsistent vowel sound as needed in solfeggio.
If the note is c# the sound is "Sah,"
if it is c-flat, the sound is "So" -
the name of this sight-singing system becomes the sounds for the notes "C" "C #" and "C flat."
See - Saw - So.
This system can be used with a moveable "Do" as well
(why anyone would want to do so with this system is beyond me)
but works best with a "Fixed Do." ("Do" being the note "c")
An additional feature is the use of colors:
Sharp note = red,
Double sharp notes = orange,
"Regular" notes = black,
Flat notes = blue,
Double flat notes = green
This additional feature is good for those who are visual, rather than auditory learners.
One other feature which might go unnoticed: students learn key signatures by default - since singing any scale with the correct notes in this system requires singing the sharp and/or flat vowel sounds, the student becomes aware of the number of sharps or flats to be sung in the "correct" scale:
for example E Major: ee, fah, jaw, ay, bee, saw, dah,ee - The four "ah sounding" note/syllables are sharps.
Whenever it sounds "ah" the note is a sharp.
How many sharps in the key of "E"?
Try it for yourself and see if it doesn't make complete sense.
I am aware I have re-invented the wheel, but I think I've outfitted it with a wonderful new set of tires
which run more smoothly and last for a lifetime!
Or, to quote another another cliche - a better mousetrap.