7 Replies to “Simple Propers for 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Sundays in Ordinary Time”

  2. Is there a way for the simple propers to also be offered in modern notation? I have cantors who wouldn't have the slightest clue what to do with chant notation.

  3. Maybe music directors can convert it to modern notation and also help them aurally to sing it expressively that modern notation cannot express? (people can find out it's much easier to read than modern notation. left to right, bottom to top…)If it's just sung as it's written in modern notation, staffless note-heads (sounds lifeless), I don't think we are doing justice to this beautiful music.

  4. Patrick:
    I can reassure you that your choir can eventually, with weekly practice, sing from chant notation. I'll use myself as an example. Before I joined our Schola, I sang chant only from modern notation. It was a challenge at first to convert to neumes. If you sing the chant in small sections for your choir, they will be able to track the flow of the neumes and follow the flow of the text. It's like being on a foreign language immersion class – gradually it sinks in. Start with one antiphon a week.

  5. These Propers use only the simplest neums. (left to right, bottom to top, 2 counts for the dotted neum with simple phrasing at the bar lines)
    The fifth Sunday uses Fa clef(or F clef, if you can't do solfege, Do, re, mi… and transpose it to fit the voice range of the singer),and the sixth Sunday has Do clef (or C clef). The advantage of solfege is that you can start with any note that is in your range, instead of transposing it with fixed pitched names.
    There are books on chant notation such as Noel Jones, A Beginner's Guide to singing Gregorian chant Notation, or at the back of the Parish Book of Chant. When the simple Propers are published in the hard copy, it might not be a bad idea to include a simple guide to chant notation used for the chants in the book.

    Also it's a good chance for parish musicians get together and learn basic chant notation.

    Best,
    Mia

  6. After a short time, I have switched from preferring modern notation to preferring neumes. Sanctus VIII and Agnus VIII are great examples after getting down the basics. The repeated themes are made much more apparent to the eye.

  7. Exactly. Just keep immersing them in neumes. They'll catch on eventually. Once you are used to them, they are much easier to read.

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