CHANT is ELEMENTARY MUSIC LITERACY (4/5)
The defining technology of the Western musical tradition, staff notation, started as an aid to singers to chant the Catholic liturgy. Yet most church choirs now learn music through a cueing system, rote, but not through the music literacy the Church invented.
Continue reading →CHANT is ELEMENTARY MUSIC LITERACY (3/5)
The defining technology of the Western musical tradition, staff notation, started as an aid to singers to chant the Catholic liturgy. Yet most church choirs now learn music through a cueing system, rote, but not through the music literacy the Church invented.
Continue reading →CHANT is ELEMENTARY MUSIC LITERACY (2/5)
The defining technology of the Western musical tradition, staff notation, started as an aid to singers to chant the Catholic liturgy. Yet most church choirs now learn music through a cueing system, rote, but nor through the music literacy the Church invented.
Continue reading →CHANT is ELEMENTARY MUSIC LITERACY (1/5)
The defining technology of the Western musical tradition, staff notation, started as an aid to singers to chant the Catholic liturgy. Yet most church choirs now learn music through a cueing system, rote, but not through the music literacy the Church invented.
Continue reading →Sing a new song
Music illiteracy in the Catholic Church makes parishioners vulnerable to “the people in charge”…
Continue reading →The BREAKING BREAD missalette and ANTIPHONS
Angela Westhoff-Johnson’s passion for the singing of the Entrance and Communion antiphons can be heard in these excerpts from a video recently posted by NPM (National Association of Pastoral Musicians). As she explains, many music ministers do not know about antiphons: OCP and Angela are doing their best to remedy to this problem.
Continue reading →GUIDO OF AREZZO AND THE INVENTION OF THE STAVE
Below is reproduced the full Chapter 20 (pages 442-464) from the book “The Christian West and its singers, the first thousand years” by Christopher Page.
Continue reading →Fear of singing… are we afraid to even talk about it?
These four minutes are part of a longer 1-hour talk , and are really, really worth our time. In four minutes, Talia Sheehan expertly describes why people are often terrified of singing. Two reasons:
- they are afraid of being rejected,
- they afraid of the powerful emotions unleashed by singing: pure joy, defined as a mix of grief and elation,
In a previous post, titled “they went to their death singing“, we heard of that joy, which was witnessed until the moment of death. Christian martyrs have always been known for their singing.
But now Catholics seem afraid of singing. Yet fear of singing is rarely discussed.
Singing in worship is supposed to be safe. The safest place to sing, in fact. The place where we learn to experience that overwhelming, intimidating joy. Thanks to the simple dialogues of the mass, also called the first degree of participation, singing in worship is “incremental exposure therapy”, group therapy!
She also explains in simple words the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and why learning to sing in worship is like being trained into courage. To do so, “battle-tested” leadership is essential. It is up to experienced singers to lead new singers.
Ignoring this ZPD, or bad leadership, can create fear, shame, anger, and detachment, or outburst.
Please, please watch these 4 minutes…
You can also watch the full 1-hour talk by Talia Sheehan at this link.
December – January
(New to this website? See a 4-minute video describing it. ).
Learn how to read music here.
Click on the coming Sundays to download sheet music and sound files of the sung Proper of the Mass. (Click here for the 1962 Traditional Calendar) The sound files are unaccompanied (a-cappella) to replicate as closely as possible the conditions of individual practice at home. Three versions:
- Roman Gradual, in Latin (the universal and official music of each Mass)
- Two English translations: a very simple one, and another closer to the Latin, original language of the Roman rite.
Friday, February 2, The Presentation of the Lord white
Sunday, February 4, FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green
Sunday, February 11, SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green
Continue reading →
Long Beach Chant 