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Proposal for a Paper to be Presented at the
AIC Color ‘01 Rochester The 9th Congress of the International Colour Association
Rainbow Solfege: A New Perspective for Color Theory and Music
Ginger Covert Colla, D.M.A.
Professor Emeritus, California State University, Stanislaus
This presentation concerns an innovative, interdisciplinary teaching method called Rainbow Solfege, a
system that combines elements of music theory, color theory, shape theory and principles of child
development. The focus of this presentation is on the educational benefits of Rainbow Solfege, a colorphonic method developed as a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning concepts of
music, color and shape. In some ways this is a revolutionary concept but, like most original ideas, the
term evolutionary is more apropos than revolutionary. The Rainbow Solfege System has evolved from
theories postulated by many historical figures and developed over the centuries as pedagogical methods.
A brief look at the evolutionary process is appropriate prior to sharing this color-phonic system.
Humankind’s quest for a synesthesia of the sensations of color and music is ancient. Color and sound are
both products of vibratory patterns and the fascination with and combination of those aesthetic,
psychological and physical phenomena have occupied the minds and imaginations of philosophers,
scientists, psychologists, artists and musicians from Aristotle to Arnold Schoenberg and beyond. My
quest has been to find a more concrete correlation between musical and visual phenomena, and to
develop a practical and effective visual/aural color-phonic vocabulary.
Most AIC members are knowledgeable about the color theories of Isaac Newton, Johann von Goethe,
Wassily Kandinsky, Faber Birren and a host of other scientists, color theorists and artists. You may not be
as aware of musical entities like Guido d Arezzo, John Curwin, Scriabin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Zoltan Kodaly
among others.
Those historical figures whose scientific research and artistic output in the visual arts most directly apply
to my theory of Rainbow Solfege are Newton, who determined that the spectrum of colors were
analogous to a diatonic major scale; Goethe, whose attention to the affective qualities of color and his
compendium of color as a triangle is analogous to harmonic triads in the Rainbow Solfege System; and
Kandinsky (with some help from Birren), whose theories of color energy and geometric figures have
shaped my ideas of color music.
From the musical side, I am indebted to Guido for his famous solfege syllables, and his own staff color
theory. I have also drawn ideas from early American hymnody practice and the seven-syllable shape note
scale developed by Jessie B. Aikin as well as the pedagogical methods of John Curwin, utilized today by
the music education method developed by Zoltan Kodaly and his followers.
Interesting parallels can be drawn between Isaac Newton’s diatonic scale, based upon the color spectrum
order, and those of the Rainbow Solfege version, in which the color assignments are harmonically
conceived. Other parallels exist between early uses of vocables and the application to Rainbow Solfege.
Two historical persons figure prominently: Guido d’Arezzo, the 11th century cleric who created the aural
music teaching system musicians call solfege, and John Curwin, a 19th century teacher and publisher of
the Tonic Sol-Fa system. Most of us know of Guido’s syllables from Julie Andrews singing Do Re Mi to
the Von Trapp children in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s famous musical, Sound of Music, but few persons
know that Guido also devised a color theory for the musical staff as a visual cue to where the half steps
lie in a diatonic 8-tone scale. Curwin is also indebted to Guido’s famous solfege syllables, but his method
expands upon them to include affective concepts and kinetic devices, like his graphic scale ladder or his
system of hand signs utilized in tandem with solfege syllables as visual and kinetic music teaching aids.
Curwin also described his hand sign shapes and movement and the character of particular chords in
affective terms. Additional parallels can be drawn between Wassily Kandinsky’s shape, color and visual
energy theories with the shape-note symbols of early American hymnody and the application of both to
the Rainbow Solfege System. Rainbow Solfege combines these ideas and expands upon them in
functional color. Finally, the color theories of Goethe, including his ideas on the affect of color
combinations and the beautiful visual he created called the Goethe Triangle, apply to the function and
affect of Rainbow Solfege harmonic progressions.
The scale tones of Rainbow Solfege arise from harmonic function, which supplies a spectrum order to the
Major Tonic Triad and several other chords. Two examples can be seen in Figure 1.a where the major
chord built on the first scale degree and the minor chord built on the 6 th scale degree appear like a vertical
harmonic rainbow. The melodic character of the scale is also functional linearly, as you can see in Figure
1.b. The cool colors are reserved for the more restful tones of a diatonic scale, while the warm colors
represent the more active tones. Diatonic 8-tone scales are based upon formulas of whole step and half
step intervals contained in an octave. The half step relationships, labeled with a V in Figure 1.b in the
Rainbow Solfege major scale, also feature complementary color combinations. The conjunction of the
linear aspect of melodic energy with the tonal power of vertical, harmonic structures create a musical
landscape unfolding before our eyes and in our ears in living, vibrant color. The System eventually
evolved from the 8-tone diatonic scale to include all the tones and shades of tones in a chromatic scale.
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Figure 1.a: Major & Chords in
Rainbow Solfege
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Figure 1.b. Major Diatonic Scale in Rainbow Solfege
Educational uses of this system are particularly developmentally appropriate for preschool and early
elementary aged children. Research has shown that for children from newborns to age seven recognition
of color is an intuitive process. Children asked to select various shapes in a variety of colors will almost
always sort according to color, not according to shape at this period of development. It is also the
developmental time span in which children are the most sensitive to language and learning to match
pitch. My conclusion is that the combination of functional color and music is a more potent teaching
method than either color or music alone. Further I have created Rainbow Solfege shape-notes to
reinforce recognition of geometric forms while simultaneously presenting concepts of pitch and rhythm.
Since children also sing words to songs, their language development and eventual literacy in both
language and music are enhanced. Beginners at any age can also benefit from this educational method.
The development of the Rainbow Solfege System includes all of the most common learning modes used
in educational circles: aural, visual and kinesthetic, and has potential for the senses of taste and smell as
well. It also involves cognitive and affective perception. Space will not allow for a detailed examination of
the multiple applications available for the Rainbow Solfege System. Suffice it to say that a functional color
notation (traditional and shape-note style), various graphics and a variety of manipulatives have been
created as visual, aural and kinetic aids for teaching musical concepts. Musical instruments have also
been color coded in functional color to reinforce melodic and harmonic concepts.
The System is holistic and interdisciplinary, and appeals to those who believe in Howard Gardner’s
Theory of Multiple Intelligences: Visual/Spatial; Aural/Musical; Verbal/Linguistic; Logical/Mathematical;
Kinesthetic; and the areas of Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Intelligence in the affective domain. A
favorite application that is interdisciplinary in character is the creation of a Rainbow Solfege graph of a
musical composition in which the vertical aspect illustrates pitch levels and harmonic implications, while
the linear aspect illustrates the rhythmic/mathematical relationships of melody. Once completed it is a
“paint-by-Rainbow-Solfege” art design, pleasing to the eye and to the ear as well, when the piece is
played. Such a color-phonic design is a fitting close to this brief introduction to the realm of Rainbow
Solfege.