Higher Ground

Hello, Solfa People!

So, courtesy of the 2009 Conspirare holiday album, I've had Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" stuck in my head for days, especially the chorus:

I'm so darn glad he let me try it again,
'Cause my last time on earth I lived a whole world of sin,
I'm so glad now I know more than I knew then
Gonna keep on tryin' 'til I reach my highest ground.

It's a good general walking-around tune for sure, and possibly an even better one for this time of year full of freshly-made resolutions.  I get especially black-and-white about my resolutions sometimes, and one little slip-up on one lofty goal or another causes me to abandon the whole effort.  This is more than a little childish, but I think this happens to everyone -- we get terribly dualistic and hard on ourselves, and we sabotage our own best efforts by believing that we have to be completely successful or completely unsuccessful.

So, this post is especially dedicated to those of you who maybe haven't worked on solfa in months and months, or who did it for awhile and got behind, and even to those of you who have been pretty consistent.  It's ok to miss a day, a week, a month....and even missing more than that doesn't mean that you should abandon any idea of working on your skills between now and July.  You can try it again any time -- falling off the wagon can be just an isolated incident.  It doesn't have to be the end of the world.  Every moment is a new chance to start reaching for your highest ground.  In fact, it is only in each moment that we have the chance.  So, forget about what you didn't do yesterday or last week or last month.  Right now still belongs to you.

All Levels


Seek out your Ottman and your tuning fork, and put them someplace visible -- a coffee table or end table might be a good spot.  Remember, you can get your daily 15 minutes of solfa in during the commercial breaks of an hour-long network television show -- you just have to hit the mute button.

Rising Level 2's


Check out these longish examples, and work through one a day.  Be sure to find the key from your tuning fork, and to work intentionally on any snags:

8.44
8.46
9.3
9.15
9.36
9.37

Rising Level 3's


You have the same marching orders as the 2's, but with these examples instead:

14.26 (the D-sharp is "di")
14.28
14.29
14.31
14.32 (despite its ending, this piece is in D)
14.33

For all examples above, I stay in the same key, but you're welcome to experiment with changing if that helps!

Rising Level 4's


Your instructions are also the same as the 2's, and you also get your own examples to play with:

14.38
14.40
14.41
14.42
14.43
14.44

In each case, the choice of whether to change keys or not is up to you!

Carpe diem, my dear students!  It's time to try again.