15 Fun Solfege Games For Music Class Solfege is one of the most powerful music education tools, but it’s not often ignored or underutilized because it’s more complicated than rhythm and other tools. 

It doesn’t have to be complex; it can be a ton of fun! 

I wanted to share 15 of my favorite solfege games that I use regularly in my classroom. These are tested by real kids in real classroom situations. Try some out and let me know which was your favorite! 

Read more: The Busy Music Teacher’s Guide To Solfege

#1 You Can’t Trick Me! 

Sometimes, all it takes to move an activity from an exercise to a “game” is a little competition. Choose your bank of 5-7 targeted solfege patterns. Now, be all dramatic as you tell your students that you’re going to trick them…guaranteed. 

Every pattern (or repetition through the set of patterns) they sing correctly with solfege, hand signs, and don’t get tricked is worth a point. If you trick them, you get a point. First one to 7 points wins! 

If you make this all silly and dramatic, they’ll be way into it. Just like any other game! I often fake crying, drop my markers, etc., as they get them right to engage them with humor even more. 

Do this with echoing, decoding (turning neutral syllables into solfege), reading, or any other normal exercise you do with solfege. It’s amazing how something so simple really gets them focused! 

#2 Sing It – Solfege It – Think It  

Take a well-known song. Make sure it’s one that only uses solfege the students already know. In fact, it’s better if you’ve sung it through with solfege in the past before trying this game. 

Have students a) sing through the song without you, b) sing the solfege and hand sign without you, and then c) hand sign without singing through the song without you. When they can do all three without much difficulty, you’ll know they’re ready. 

Now, tell them that they’re going to sing the song on repeat, but when you hit the (insert your preferred instrument here—I use a triangle), they need to switch to singing solfege. Then, when you hit it again, they switch to thinking. If you hit it again after that, they switch back to singing. 

Start easy. Make the switch happen naturally with the phrase. Then gradually make it harder by changing the frequency of the switches. If the kids are really good at this, let another student be the leader! 

#3 Solfege Train

This is an improvisation game just like the Rhythm Train game I’ve talked about at presentations before. 

Want some PD that actually applies to you? Check out my available workshops and share it with your administrator. 

Easy Mode –  Students sit in a line or circle. They need to think of a 4 pitch solfege pattern using notes they know. Once they have this, you go along the line with them and have them share their ideas to a steady beat. If there is a hesitation, the train derails, and we must start over! 

Medium Mode – Students are not given time to prepare a pattern. They must make up a 4 pitch solfege pattern to the steady beat using notes they know. When you reach the end of the train, work your way back up again. Students are NOT allowed to repeat the pattern someone else just said. 

Hard Mode – Same as above, BUT every time the train repeats, the beat gets faster. 

Super Duper Hard Mode – Same as hard mode, but students MUST start their pattern with the same pitch of the previous pattern. Alternatively, make it a rule where they CAN’T start the pattern with the same pitch. 

#4 Mystery Song

Choose a well-known song and present it as a mystery to your students using only solfege. They must figure out the song. This can be done in various avenues of solfege learning, including: 

Teacher singing

Teacher hand signing only

Students reading

Students reading the song backwards

Teacher pointing at a solfege ladder or music street

Student being given measures that are mixed up, and they must sort them

Teacher humming patterns for the students to decode and write

#5 Hula Hoops / Solfege Piano

Spread hula hoops out around the room (also works with laminated pieces of paper that have solfege written on them). Students sing a song and walk around the room. At the end of the song, they must stop on the nearest hoop. 

Each hoop or paper is assigned a specific solfege pitch. This is the only pitch they can sing. The teacher sings patterns for them to echo (or hums, and they decode if you want to make it harder). Students echo the pattern but only sing the pitch they belong to. 

Repeat where students must pick a new hoop. This way, we build variety and musical independence! Do as many times as you like! 

To make this a solfege piano, we can also make a large piano on the wall or floor. Keys are labeled with the solfa. Now it’s the same game as above, but students end up on a key rather than a hoop. 

#6 Decode Race

Split students up into groups of 3-5. Give them a whiteboard with staff lines on it or use a laminated piece of paper with large staff lines on it. Have them practice writing specific solfege patterns, so you make sure they understand what they’re supposed to do. 

Now, tell them it’s time for a decoding race! You will hum, play, or sing on a neutral syllable a solfege pattern. They must work in their group to decode the pattern and put it on their staff board together. Once they think they’ve gotten it, the whole group must raise its hand. Award the first group to get it right 3 points, and the others who get it right get one point. 

Repeat for a while and then crown the winner! 

#7 Arrange This! 

Make several sets of cards with solfege patterns on them. I recommend somewhere between 7-10. Split students into groups that fit the number of sets you have. If you only have 5 sets, then split your class into five groups. But for this activity, the smaller the group size, the better. 

Hand out the solfege cards and ask groups to arrange 4 of them into a song. Then, they need to practice it as a group. Encourage them to try several versions of the arrangement. After they’re happy, they can share with the class. 

Extension: You create a 4-card pattern to use as the principal theme in a Rondo form. Student examples as the episodes. Have the whole class sing your pattern, and each group sing their own. Play on xylophones or boomwhackers for even more fun! (Also, record and post this to families; it’s always a hit!)

#8 Solfege Hop Scotch

I was reminded of this activity while writing this article—it’s been a while since I’ve used it! The only reason I haven’t brought it back sooner is that it takes a little prep work, and my classroom floor tends to make plates or papers slide around.

Here’s how it works:Create a long hopscotch-style path, either by drawing with chalk outside or laying down paper plates inside. On each square or plate, write a solfege pitch (I like to begin and end with Do). Students line up and take turns deciding which pitches they’ll step on or skip. As they jump their way through the path, they must sing each pitch they land on.

#9 Class Solfege

This is a simple activity that I’ve used with my students for years now, and every time, they eat it up! First, ask students to pick a single solfege pitch from the ones they know. 

Once they’ve picked one, have students make a line at the board (or at your computer where they’re ready to write the pitches) and write their pitches all into one long rhythm. If you’re not focused on writing, you can just have them sing their solfa and write it down yourself. The idea is that everyone picks a note, and we combine it into a single LOOOONNNGGG class song. 

Once the song is down (I often pick the last pitch of Do or Sol—La if minor—if a student hasn’t already), we sing through it together. We sing through it backwards. Then, I play a simple chord harmony with it while they sing the solfa. Finally, I write it down in Flat.io to use for later. Often, I’ll bring this song back to add some layered ostinati too, and we can brainstorm lyrics. 

#10 POISON Pattern

Ah, yes. The infamous POISON game. I almost didn’t add this one to the list since so many people know and use this, but then I thought: what if someone doesn’t, and I miss out on this chance to introduce it to them? 

The POISON game can be played with solfege or rhythm at any level of concept. All your students need to be able to do is echo patterns after you (or decode them from neutral syllables if you want more of a challenge). 

Start by having your students echo you. After a few patterns, highlight one for them on the board by writing it down. Now, explain that this is the POISON pattern. If they sing this pattern when you do, they are OUT or the class loses a point or the teacher gets a point (you get the idea). 

Switch the pattern around. Speed up the tempo. Decode patterns instead of echoing. Lengthen the patterns from 4 beats to 8 and beyond, and tell them if the pattern is inside somewhere the 8 beats, they can’t say that part only. There are infinite variations to this, and almost every one is a blast! 

#11 Add One (And One, And One…) 

Start by writing four pitches on the staff (or whatever mode of delivery you prefer). Have the students sing and sign them with the solfege hand signs. Then, add another pitch. I like to set up a random picker from something like a wheel of names and choose with that. Students now sing five pitches. Spin and add and add and add and see how far they can go! 

#12 Sing Only One

This one’s a classic—and one of my favorites! You can use it with any song or set of solfege patterns, as long as your students are already comfortable reading and singing together with ease.

Start by displaying the solfege for the song or pattern and singing it all the way through as a group. Then comes the challenge: students must sing through it again, but this time they can only sing out loud on one pitch. For every other pitch, they show the hand sign and sing it silently in their head.

This kind of audiation is fantastic for strengthening pitch retention and developing an inner sense of steady beat.

Keep rotating through the pitches the song uses—trust me, as students get older, this gets trickier (and sometimes that’s what makes it even more fun!).

#13 Four+ Corners

Make your life even easier by taking a game kids know and adding a solfege twist! Print off paper/cards/posters with a solfege pattern on it and post them up on your walls around the room. Play music (bonus if it’s a concert song you need them to listen to or sing along with) and have them move around the room. 

When the music stops, the students quickly find a spot. Each spot takes a turn singing their pattern. Now, here’s where there may be some variety: 

If you have an IT person – Have the person with their eyes closed sing a random pattern, and this group is out. 

If you don’t have an IT person – Plug your patterns into a random picker and let that choose who is out. 

Repeat until you have a winner! 

I don’t LOVE having an IT person because they often hesitate. Worse, there are always those kids who will complain that the IT is cheating or picking on them. Sticking with a random picker eliminates this issue. (Almost anyway—I still get kids who think the random program has it out for them!) 

#14 Double It

Go through several songs you know with solfege that the students know well. Then, discuss which songs have similar pitches. Talking works OK for this, but I like to pull them up and display them side by side. 

When you have two songs the kids say are similar, split the class in two and have them sing the songs with words and then with solfege at the same time. It’s almost like you’re experimenting to discover partner songs (songs that create nice harmony when sung together at the same time).

Does it have to be perfect? No! In fact, this opens up great talking points on what makes songs work well together. 

#15 Shift By…

Write or display the melody of a song (known works better, but an unknown song will be a tougher challenge!). Make sure the entire melody is on one looong line. Ask students to sign and sing the solfege. 

Then, take the first pitch, erase it, and move it to the end. Essentially, you’re shifting the melody over by one. Have them sing it again. Repeat until you go all the way through the song. This is surprisingly hard, especially if you keep the rhythm values (which I recommend trying sometimes). 

Transition magic! Display your song, but start with it shifted over already. Then, when you shift over 5-7 times, all of a sudden, it’s the next song you want to play!