I had no idea St. Augustine wrote any book on music, much less six. Showing my ignorance here. Love learning something new. Learning about Gregorian Chant here is like taking the fiber of time and spinning a thread out of it to connect us across that time to all who came before us.
I know! I never knew that either until I was in the monastery in Norcia and was browsing through the library and came across that. There is so much out there that we simply don't know and are not even aware of!
This is so helpful! I am especially grateful for the clarification on the basic pulse following the long and short syllables of the latin. All your videos are amazing, since there are not many resources that combine more that has been said on a subject than the Solesmes book. Please keep on explaining details like this! God bless you!
thank you for doing this. thank celia farber for prompting me to get here. how best can we start to study gregorian chants from a zero background in music?
You're very welcome. There are many ways one could go about learning chant from 0: a variety of chant books, joining a choir/schola where the director is capable and willing to teach, attending various conferences/colloquiums/etc, or you could take my online course. To learn more about the latter visit: www.gregorianchantacademy.com/courses
@@zendogbreath Somewhat, yes. To me it seems to be part of this New Age spirituality. Yes, certain vibrations and frequencies do have physiological and psychological effects on our brains and bodies, but most of the material I've seen on the issue seems to appropriate too much importance on it... in a kind of semi-religious kind of way. Sometimes the people who promote this claim that things like angels and demons are nothing more than good and bad vibrations/frequencies. But there is also an aspect about it which doesn't make any sense: they will speak about this chant or song begin in 432hz... that is a specific frequency producing one specific pitch. Any and all songs are made of a multiplicity of pitches, not one. So to say this or that song is so great because it is in 432hz is ridiculous. If that were the case, all you would hear is one continuous tone.
@@GregorianChantAcademy pretense that tuning to 432A entails "one tone" is odd at best. When instruments are tuned to 432A instead of standard 440A, the entire range of notes change accordingly. My interest does not come from new age folk. I saw physicists playing with cymatics. The visual designs of notes tuned to 432A are beautiful and clear. 440A is mess. Hard to picture the same not happening in other aspects of our hearing and feeling. Subtle to those not focused on it. Notable though.
Ok, that makes sense. Of the few articles I've seen on the matter, none made that distinction. What you say about notes being tuned in relation to 432 being beautiful and clear vs 440 reminds also of the difference between equal temperament and just intonation.
Thankfully for the most vulnerable chants
I had no idea St. Augustine wrote any book on music, much less six. Showing my ignorance here. Love learning something new. Learning about Gregorian Chant here is like taking the fiber of time and spinning a thread out of it to connect us across that time to all who came before us.
I know! I never knew that either until I was in the monastery in Norcia and was browsing through the library and came across that. There is so much out there that we simply don't know and are not even aware of!
This is so helpful! I am especially grateful for the clarification on the basic pulse following the long and short syllables of the latin. All your videos are amazing, since there are not many resources that combine more that has been said on a subject than the Solesmes book. Please keep on explaining details like this! God bless you!
Great video! Any idea where one can find St.Augustine’s six books on music? I can’t seem to find it anywhere. Thanks!
thank you for doing this. thank celia farber for prompting me to get here.
how best can we start to study gregorian chants from a zero background in music?
You're very welcome. There are many ways one could go about learning chant from 0: a variety of chant books, joining a choir/schola where the director is capable and willing to teach, attending various conferences/colloquiums/etc, or you could take my online course. To learn more about the latter visit: www.gregorianchantacademy.com/courses
@@GregorianChantAcademy interesting. thank you. one more question. might seem odd. are you familiar with ideas behind 432A tuning? thoughts?
@@zendogbreath Somewhat, yes. To me it seems to be part of this New Age spirituality. Yes, certain vibrations and frequencies do have physiological and psychological effects on our brains and bodies, but most of the material I've seen on the issue seems to appropriate too much importance on it... in a kind of semi-religious kind of way. Sometimes the people who promote this claim that things like angels and demons are nothing more than good and bad vibrations/frequencies. But there is also an aspect about it which doesn't make any sense: they will speak about this chant or song begin in 432hz... that is a specific frequency producing one specific pitch. Any and all songs are made of a multiplicity of pitches, not one. So to say this or that song is so great because it is in 432hz is ridiculous. If that were the case, all you would hear is one continuous tone.
@@GregorianChantAcademy pretense that tuning to 432A entails "one tone" is odd at best. When instruments are tuned to 432A instead of standard 440A, the entire range of notes change accordingly. My interest does not come from new age folk. I saw physicists playing with cymatics. The visual designs of notes tuned to 432A are beautiful and clear. 440A is mess. Hard to picture the same not happening in other aspects of our hearing and feeling. Subtle to those not focused on it. Notable though.
Ok, that makes sense. Of the few articles I've seen on the matter, none made that distinction. What you say about notes being tuned in relation to 432 being beautiful and clear vs 440 reminds also of the difference between equal temperament and just intonation.
Gratzi gratzi gratzi