French word

ré

Pronunciation

IPA/ʁe/

Meaning

  • masculine nound note

Example

Peux-tu chanter le ré plus bas ?

Can you sing the d note lower?

Illustration for ré (d note)

More examples

Il a joué un ré au piano.

He played a D on the piano.

Core concept

The named second step of a musical scale, heard as a specific sung or played pitch.

Common phrases

  • chanter un ré

    sing a D

  • jouer un ré au piano

    play a D on the piano

  • la note ré

    the note D

Similar words

note: A written musical note showing the pitch to sing or play.
ton: A sense of how high or low a voice or sound is.
hauteur: The degree to which a sound is high or low.
do: The first note in the solfege scale.

Definition in French

Désigne la syllabe solfégique qui indique le deuxième degré d'une gamme, utilisé pour nommer la note ré.

Word origin

The solfège syllable ré comes from the first syllable of Latin resonare in the second line of the medieval hymn Ut queant laxis.

Usage tips

  • French usually uses the definite article for a specified note, as in chanter le ré, and ré is masculine.

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