#Gregorian notation program how to
#Gregorian notation program full

In chant, the flat may only appear on the pitch Ti, and it reduces the Ti to the solfege syllable Te. As in modern notation, its effect is to reduce the pitch of notes on its line or space by 1/2 step. Immediately, we see something new, looking like a stemmed note with a hole through the middle. Hence, the choir may decide to set Do to B-flat, C, or whatever pitch is expedient. This allows the choir to set the pitch of Do or Fa to a note that puts the piece in a comfortable range. Also unlike modern notation, the clef does not indicate any absolute pitch (A, B, C, etc). Unlike in modern notation, the chant clef can be placed on any of the top three lines. We will write more on solfege in a later post. As with modern notation, ledger lines may be used if the notes rise above the space above the top line or fall below the space below the bottom line. Therefore, the spaces and lines beneath are Ti, La, Sol, Fa, Mi, Re, and Do respectively. In our example, Do is shown to be the top line. The purpose of the clef is to indicate where the solfege note Do or Fa is, and from there, what are the solfege notes of the remaining lines and spaces on the staff. The clef may be either a Do clef (C-clef) or a Fa clef (F-clef). Moving to the right of the mode, we see an ink blot on the top line.

In AU, EU, and AY, the two vowels form one syllable but but vowels must be distinctly heard.

AE and OE, however, are pronounced as one sound, like E above.This applies to OU and AI (prout is pro-oot ait is ah-eet). (diei is di-e-i filiis is fi-li-is eorum is e-o-rum). As a general rule, when two vowels come together, each keeps its own sound and constitutes a separate syllable.Y is pronounced and treated as the Latin I.U is pronounced as oo in Moon, never as u in custom.O is pronounced as in For, never as in go.I is pronounced as ee in Feet, never as i in milk or tin.E is pronounced as in Red, men, met never with the suspicion of a second sound as in Ray.We must be carful to get this open, warm sound, especially when A is followed by M or N as in Sanctus, Nam, etc. A is pronounced as in the word Father, never and in the word can.

#Gregorian notation program full

For now, suffice to say that in plainsong, the rhythm tends to follow the words, whereas in the full chant, the rhythm tends to follow the melody.īelow are the pronunciation rules for vowels, as given in the Liber Usualis (page xxxvii): We’ll delve more into rhythm in a later post. In the above example (the “full chant melody”), however, the rhythm follows the ictus. Here, the rhythm follows the accented syllables. The accent mark is important when singing plainsong, such as psalms. Words containing only one syllable do not have an accent mark. The accent mark comes from the Latin text and falls on the second-to-last or third-to-last syllable in each word. An accent mark appears over many of the syllables. In particular, you will notice that the vowel sound of each syllable appears directly below the first note on which that vowel sound is sung. You will notice that the lyrics appear beneath the notes that are sung with them. In the example piece, the lyrics begin, “Beatus vir”. Let’s start at the beginning and take a look at each element from left to right:īeneath the mode indicator is the first letter of the lyrics. Chant notation is actually not as complex or bizarre as it may first appear. As you look at the piece a bit closer, you’ll notice also that there are only four staff lines unlike the five lines of the modern staff. Probably the first thing you will notice is that there are various blobs of ink, some of them larger than others, that are quite different from the whole, half, quarter, and eighth notes of modern music notation. For now, let us consider the piece as a whole. Below is an example piece which I have chosen because it has many important building blocks which we will delve into later. Let’s begin by taking a look at the big picture of what we are trying to learn. Gregorian Chant Notation: What Chant Looks Like

#Gregorian notation program how to

At the end of this series of primers, hopefully, you will be well on your way to understanding how to read and sing Gregorian Chant.

In this post, we will introduce theoretical concepts which we will put into practice in later posts.

This is the first in a series of posts I hope to make on how to sing Gregorian Chant.