The Bible and Music

Today in class, Professor McGrath was talking to us about chanting. This is a process, that, at its most basic level, sounds like a small piece of a song. It is not complex in any way. Two noticeably key elements in chanting are the repetition and the rhythm used to create the catchy phrase or piece. A chant is not something that needs to be planned. It can be a spontaneous, impromptu little blurb that catches among the audience. One of the types of chanting we discussed was the antiphonal chanting. Something the class decided can make the chant less “boring” is to include a change in pitch and rhythm. This makes the flow more unexpected. A lot of Psalms in the Bible provide some sort of musical inspiration. Today, the class had to branch a little out of our comfort zones and chant a bit. As we grew more comfortable, the more we did it, the better it got. I am not a very good singer at all, so I am excited but also nervous for what’s to come in the future of the semester…