soh

IPA/səʊ/
IPA/səʊ/

soh — noun

1. the step that comes fifth when singers count up a major scale using the syllable

1.nounB2
Definition

the step that comes fifth when singers count up a major scale using the syllables do, re, mi, fa, soh, la, ti, do — used mainly in British tonic sol-fa for pitch training

Example

Apinya held the note soh for four beats while the rest of the choir followed her lead.

hold the note soh collocation

The Welsh chapel choir warmed up by singing do, re, mi, fa, soh, la, ti, do before evening service.

do-re-mi-fa-soh sequence in sol-fa scale

Common collocations
  • sing soh
  • the note soh
  • land on soh
  • from doh to soh
  • soh in the scale
Synonyms
  • sol

    American spelling of the same syllable; identical pitch role in the scale, different orthography

  • fifth (of the scale)

    technical music-theory term for the same scale degree; broader and not tied to the sol-fa singing system

  • dominant

    music-theory label for the fifth degree of a major scale; refers to the harmonic function rather than the sung syllable

Usage Note

Spelled this way mainly in British tonic sol-fa teaching (alongside doh, ray, me, fah, lah, te) to keep one syllable per note and avoid confusion with the English word sol. Most American and modern international solfège texts use 'sol' instead.

Common Mistakes

The choir hit a beautiful sew on the last chord.
The choir hit a beautiful soh on the last chord.
'sew' means to stitch fabric; 'soh' is the fifth syllable in the sol-fa scale.
Soh is the third note in the scale.
Soh is the fifth note in the scale.
In tonic sol-fa, the order is doh, ray, me, fah, soh — soh is always position five.

Word family

  • sol-fa
    nounB2
  • solfège
    nounB2
  • doh
    nounB2
  • fah
    nounC1
  • lah
    nounC1
  • te
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

These four terms all point at the same scale step but come from different traditions. 'Soh' is the British tonic sol-fa spelling used in classroom singing and choral teaching, designed so each syllable ends in a vowel sound for easier singing. 'Sol' is the international and American spelling of the same syllable, more common in printed solfège textbooks and on music-theory websites. 'Fifth' is a neutral counting term — it tells you the scale position but does not imply you are singing the note. 'Dominant' is a harmony-theory label for the same degree and is used when talking about chords (the dominant chord built on soh resolves to the tonic on doh). In a primary-school choir, you would hear 'soh'; in a university harmony class, you would hear 'dominant'.

soh ↗sol ↗fifth ↗dominant ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • soh note
  • soh syllable

Phrases

  • do-re-mi-fa-soh-la-ti-do
  • tonic sol-fa
  • soh and doh

Prepositions

  • on soh
  • from doh to soh

Etymology

LatinItalianEnglish

The syllable came into English music teaching through the 11th-century solmization system invented by the Italian monk Guido of Arezzo, who took the first syllables of each line of the Latin hymn 'Ut queant laxis.' The fifth line begins 'Solve polluti' ('cleanse the stained lip'), giving 'sol.' In the 19th century, the English teacher John Curwen reshaped the syllables for British tonic sol-fa, respelling 'sol' as 'soh' so that every syllable in the series (doh, ray, me, fah, soh, lah, te) ended in an open vowel and could be sung clearly by children. The American tradition kept 'sol,' which is why both spellings still exist side by side today.