I’m from Mexico and the way I learned the musical notes was by their sound, however some friends from other places learned the notes with letters.
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Typically, countries with a Romance language (like Mexico) use the “Fixed Do” system, in which each specific pitch has its own distinct solfege syllable (the note at 440 Hz is called La, for example). Countries with Germanic languages (including English) tend to use the letter names instead (440 Hz would be “A” instead of “La”).
I’m from the US where we use letters to refer to specific pitches, but we also use a form of Solfege to teach people to sing. The most popular method is called “Movable Do,” which would probably drive you crazy if you listened to it. In Movable Do, the pitch names that you are so familiar with aren’t assigned to the “correct” pitches; instead we call the first note of whatever scale is used “Do,” and assign the other pitches accordingly.
If you and I are both singing a piece written in C major (Do Mayor), we will be singing the same solfege syllables, but if the piece is in any* other key we will disagree. Your “Do” is what I call C, but my “Do” is determined by the context of the music. They say music is a universal language, but your solfege syllables actually do depend on your local language.
*I’m leaving out some nuances (Do-based minor vs La-based minor, for one) but we’ll get to those when you’re six or seven. Thanks for the question!
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