MUSIC
ARTS TOOLKIT
GRADE
7
• lesson plans
Elements of Music in
Gregorian Chant
Length: 1-2 sessions
Concept/Objectives
Students will be able to identify and apply the musical elements used in Gregorian Chant.
Activity
By focusing on the element of melody, students apply a church mode and their own “words to live by” to
compose and evaluate their own chants.
Music Toolkit Resources
Medieval Music: Gregorian Chant from the Music Through Time DVD
Length: 8:31
Kentucky Academic Content
Big Idea:
Structure in the Arts
Big Idea:
Humanity in the Arts
Big Idea:
Processes in the Arts
Academic Expectations
1.12
2.23
Academic Expectations
2.25
Academic Expectations
1.14
Program of Studies
Understandings
AH-7-HA-U-1
Program of Studies
Understandings
AH-7-PA-U-1
Skills and Concepts
AH-7-HA-S-Mu1
Skills and Concepts
AH-7-PA-S-Mu2
Related Core Content
AH-7-2.1.1
Related Core Content
AH-07-4.1.1
Program of Studies
Understandings
AH-7-SA-U-1
AH-7-SA-U-2
Skills and Concepts
AH-7-SA-S-Mu1
AH-7-SA-S-Mu2
AH-7-SA-S-Mu3
Related Core Content
AH-07-1.1.1
Arts Toolkit Music • Lesson Plans •
279
Instructional Strategies and Activities
Preparation
Before playing the introductory video on Gregorian chant, assess what
your students already know about the Medieval time period and its
music from social studies, literature, or their personal experiences.
Remind them that while viewing the video on chant they should be
listening for how the following music elements are employed in this kind
of music:
timbre
harmony
melody
rhythm
dynamics
tempo
form
MATERIALS
• a CD or mp3 player for
listening to other examples of
chant
• CDs of Gregorian chant
• a recording of “O Come, O
Come Emmanuel”
• musical staff on white board
or overhead for demonstrating
staff paper for student chants
• Optional: score of “O, Come.
O Come Emmanuel”
(available in many church
hymnals)
Discussion
Show the Medieval Music: Gregorian Chant segment from the Music
Through Time DVD. (Note: The segment includes an introduction to
the Gregorian chant to provide some historical context and a discussion
of elements of music as well as the performance of “Alma redemptoris
mater.”) After viewing the video, discuss each music element with the
students.
They should have noticed that the TIMBRE is the human voice—in the
case of this performance, the male voice. There were many chants sung
and composed by nuns during this period as well. (Note the lesson from
the Arts Toolkit web site by Kay Twaryonas on Hildegard of Bingen and
the Extension below about women in medieval music.)
Discuss the term MONOPHONY as it applies to the absence of harmony
in plainchants.
The MELODIES in chant are MODAL. These melodies often proceed up
and down the interval steps of the given mode, sometimes wavering back
and forth on two or more notes in something called a “melisma”—where
many notes are assigned to one word or syllable. This “ocean wave”
aspect of the melody often produces a calming effect on both the listener
and the singer.
At this point, you could teach the vocabulary of CHURCH MODE, DORIAN MODE, and SOLFEGE to show students why these ancient songs
sound different to our modern ears. Ask for other reasons why chant
might sound strange or “otherworldly” to our modern ears (the lack of
strong rhythm, no harmony).
Discuss the elements of RHYTHM (free, no bar lines, no time signatures,
quarter and eighth notes), DYNAMICS (rising passages get louder,
falling passages softer), TEMPO (free flowing, so no marks for faster or
slower), and FORM (direct, antiphonal, responsorial) as they apply to
performance.
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VOCABULARY
chant
elements of music
modes
SPECIALIZED
VOCABULARY
church modes: any system of
modes used in Gregorian
chants up until about 1600. An
ordered series of musical
intervals (notes) or melodic
formulas used in chants to
achieve an emotional effect.
There were four pairs of
church modes.
dorian mode: church mode I,
starting on D and ending on D.
When played on the white keys
of a modern keyboard, these
intervals would result:
D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D
final: modes were defined by
their final or ending tone. For
example, in the dorian mode,
the “final” would be D. In
medieval music theory, only
the notes D, E, F, and G were
considered appropriate final
pitches.
tenor: the note five notes
above the final note. If you
count five notes up from the
first D in the dorian mode, you
will come to the note A. In
modern music theory, we
would say that A is a fifth
above D. Melodies built in the
dorian mode would contain
this note in some meaningful
way.
Application
Solfege: a system for singing
invented by Guido d’Arezzo in
the 11th century. To teach
singers pitches in the modes,
he taught them a hymn in
honor of John the Baptist,
sung in Latin, of course:
UT queant laxis
REsonare fibris
MIra gestorum
FAmuli tu orum
SOLve polluti
LAbii reatum
Sancte Johannes
After discussing the elements of music that pertain to chant, play a
version of “O, Come, O Come Emmanuel.” This song, familiar to us from
Christmas choral performances, is descended from late Gregorian chant,
and the melody was probably written by a woman. Ask the
students to determine which elements of this song are chant-like and
which are obviously more modern. After listening to the chant, present a
copy of the score so that students can see some of the differences as well.
If you are comfortable with leading the students in singing the melody of
this chant, it would give them a wonderful experience in how the chants
involve the singers with the text and how singers of chant strive to be
“anonymous” or “one voice.”
The capital letters in this
prayer became the basis for
the syllables of the solfege
system of “do, re, mi, etc.” Of
course, we now say “do” for
“ut” and use “ti” instead of “si.”
The hymn translates “That thy
servants may freely proclaim
the wonders of thy deeds,
absolve the sins of their
unclean lips, o Holy John.”
This system of associating a
pitch with a syllable has resulted in a method for sight
singing used today. For
example, we can sing a modern major scale by singing the
intervals:
do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do
^
^
half-step half-step
To sing a chant in the dorian
mode, the solfege would look
like this:
re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do-re
^
^
half-step half-step
So, if singers had a starting
note, “do,” they could sing in
any mode by using that note to
find the “final” pitch of the
mode.
Listen to another chant from a CD or other source to compare with the
UK choral performance. Ask the students to analyze this chant for the
music elements and for any differences they can detect between it and
the UK choral performance. The 1994 recording entitled Chant by the
Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos was a big hit on the
charts and can easily be ordered online. If you want the students to
experience a real contrast in TIMBRE, you could have them listen to a
recording by Anonymous 4, a quartet of women who sing chant and early
polyphony.
Depending on the version you play, the students will probably notice
some harmony, some free flow in the rhythm, dynamics, and maybe variations in the form (some versions are responsorial while others are
direct). Timbres could vary. Ask students if the melody sounds ancient or
modern. This chant is written in the dorian mode (church mode I). It is
an excellent example of the sound of that mode.
Conclude the lesson with the Performance Assessment activity.
Support/Connections/Resources
Cynthia J. Cyrus, “Introduction to Church Modes.” Online Reference
Book for Medieval Studies, 1999 (2007).
www.vanderbilt.edu/~cyrus/ORB/orbmode.htm
This site from Vanderbilt has many useful links to other types of
Medieval music besides the chant, but chant is covered clearly.
The Gregorian Association Webpage.
www.beaufort.demon.co.uk/chant.htm
A useful discussion of the eight Gregorian modes.
Katharine Le Mée. Chant. Bell Tower, New York, 1994.
An excellent companion book to the Chant CD that examines the origins,
form, practice, and even the healing power of Gregorian Chant.
Notation for “Alma redemptoris mater” in the Western Tradition section
of the Music Toolkit binder.
Recommended Chants on CD
The Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos. Chant. Angel
Records, Madrid, Spain, 1994. I had no problem ordering this online
from a Google search. It is the “hit” chant recording that actually made
the charts in 1994.
Arts Toolkit Music • Lesson Plans •
281
Anonymous 4, Legends of St. Nicholas: Medieval Chant and Polyphony.
Harmonia Mundi Los Angeles, CA, 1999. (www.harmoniamundi.com)
Four women sing Medieval chants and early polyphony for higher voices.
Serene and beautiful interpretations. They also have a collection of
American folk songs.
Applications Across the Curriculum
Language Arts
Ask students to find important quotes from the literature they are
reading that would make good chant lyrics (words to live by). Write a
chant inspired by literature.
A literary form called the medieval folk ballad was an important way
of telling story through songs during the Middle Ages. Many of our
American folk songs descended from this form. Find the text of the
Medieval version of “Barbara Allan” (see the Ballads and Blues lesson
plan) and ask students to compare it with the ballad still sung by singers
like Jean Ritchie (examples on the Old Music for New Ears Sampler
from the Doorways to Music DVD). How do the stories compare?
In all time periods, there is the “accepted form” of music and the music
that the common people made, or popular music. Explore the folk ballad
form in literature and the history of the medieval folk ballad as it transformed over the centuries through oral tradition, broadsides, song
catchers like Francis Child and Allen Lomax, and the folk movement of
the 1960s into the mountain ballads of we still hear today.
Mathematics
Musicians and mathematicians from medieval times believed that music
was math. Research and/or explain how that might be true.
Science
Research important scientists from the medieval time period for a
“Summit on Findings” in which class members become the scientists and
present their ideas for the class.
Social Studies
Create a Medieval celebration reflecting castle life and including foods
and music from the period.
Practical Living
Many people believe that chant has a healing property. Research the
uses of music to reduce stress in modern society.
282 • Lesson Plans • Arts Toolkit Music
STATUS OF WOMEN
IN THE MEDIEVAL
PERIOD
“O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
is a song associated with
Christmas choral
presentations. The melody
comes to us from a chant
written in late medieval period,
possibly by a woman, most
likely a nun. While the work of
some women from the
Medieval period has been
recognized by music scholars
(e.g., Hildegard of Bingen), the
composer of this chant melody
is listed as “unknown” or
“French.” Have students
research in the Middle Ages
the status of women in the
arts. How was society set up
during this period? Which
women would most likely have
the opportunity to be artists?
ROBERTA SCHULTZ,
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
Roberta Schultz is a singer,
songwriter, performer, and
teacher from Wilder, Kentucky.
One of her songs, “Broken
Radio,” won a Judge’s Choice
Award at the 2005 MOVA
Songwriting Competition in
Guntersville, Alabama, while
another of her compositions,
“Be True,” was chosen for the
first-ever SouthernArtistry.org
Sampler CD, 2006. She
performs and tours regionally
with the vocal trio Raison
D’Etre, who have five
recordings to their credit. As
an artist on the Kentucky Arts
Council’s Arts in Education
roster, Schultz specializes in
connecting music to other
disciplines like literature, visual
arts, and social studies. She
has conducted songwriting,
music elements, and Early
American song styles
workshops in Kentucky
schools and Medieval period
music professional
development sessions for
Kentucky teachers. Contact
Roberta Schultz at
robertaschultz@mac.com.
More information about her
work in schools is available at
her Kentucky Arts Council
Roster page at: www.artistdirectory.ky.gov/aer/educationalarts/robertaschultz.htm.
Open Response Assessment
Prompt: Music reflects the ideas and beliefs of those who create it.
Directions: Explain how Gregorian chant reflects the ideas and beliefs
of society in the medieval historical period. Support your answer with
details about the medieval society and details from Gregorian chant that
reflect medieval ideas and beliefs.
OPEN RESPONSE SCORING GUIDE
Student gives
an in-depth
description of
the ideas and
beliefs of the
Medieval
Period.
Student gives
a general
description of
the ideas and
beliefs of the
Medieval
period.
Student gives a
basic
description of
the ideas and
beliefs of the
Medieval
period.
Student gives
a minimal
description of
the ideas and
beliefs of the
Medieval
period.
Student answer
is incomplete
and
incorporates
limited use of
supporting
examples and
details.
Student answer
makes little or
no use of
supporting
examples and
details.
No answer or
irrelevant
response
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Student
thoroughly
explains how
Gregorian
chant reflects
those ideas
and beliefs
citing details
from the music
itself.
Student answer
is thorough
and
incorporates
insightful use of
supporting
examples and
details.
Student
explains how
Gregorian
chant reflects
those ideas
and beliefs
citing details
from the music
itself.
Student
answer is
general and
incorporates
some use of
supporting
examples and
details.
Student
explains how
Gregorian
chant reflects
those ideas
and beliefs
citing details
from the music
itself.
Student
explanation of
how Gregorian
chant reflects
those ideas
and beliefs is
underdeveloped,
inappropriate,
or incorrect.
Arts Toolkit Music • Lesson Plans •
283
Performance Assessment
Performance Event: Students will write their own chant in the dorian
mode.
Directions: Give each student a sheet of staff paper and provide an
illustration of the dorian mode (church mode I) in whole notes with no
bar lines. (See Specialized Vocabulary.)
1. Remind students that chant was very much a music of belief. In order
to compose a chant, one must have some “words to live by” for the text
of the chant. Invite students to brainstorm a few of their favorite
“words to live by” on scrap paper before actually composing their
chant. If you provide a list of proverbs, quotes, or even “healing” cards
that contain affirmations, students may be able to use some of these if
their memories are failing them. To actually see the words and their
syllables will aid the students in how they decide to compose their
lines of music (ascending, descending, melismatic—many notes for one
syllable as opposed to one word with one syllable).
2. Tell students that they now know the elements of chant, so they can
apply those as they compose. But here are also a few “rules” to follow:
• The important note in the dorian mode is the “final.” Their
chants should end on “D.”
• To remain chant-like and modal, only the notes in the dorian
mode should be used in the melody.
• If some students are worried that they are not good at reading
music, it really doesn’t matter for this composing experience. If
they look at the mode and place the notes on the staff in any
order they want while following the rules listed here, they will
have a chant.
• Tell students that if they make their second to last note a C,
the melody will have a stronger modal sound.
3. Give students about 15 minutes to set their words to music by writing
the notes and the words on the staff. They can refer to the score of “O
Come, O Come Emmanuel” for text and music conventions, or you can
prepare a model chant of your own on the board for their reference.
Here’s one I did on the words of C. G. Jung:
“On - ly the par - a - dox comes an - y - whe-re near to
the com-pre-hend-ing full - ness of life.”
284 • Lesson Plans • Arts Toolkit Music
C.G. Jung
WRITING TO
COMMUNICATE
Learning to write easy-to-follow
directions: Have students look
up various web sites on
Medieval manuscript
illustrations and Gregorian
notation. Using their own
chants, have each student
write clear and detailed
directions to a fellow student
on how they would like their
music illustrated. Each student
will exchange directions with
another student in the class in
order to draw the illustrations
described. The resulting
drawings can be used to
assess the clarity of the
directions.
ADAPTATIONS FOR
DIVERSE LEARNERS
Once students have written
and edited their chants, have
them work in pairs to write the
chants in the modern notation
of quarter and eighth notes (as
described in the video) to
ready the chants for
performance by the class.
TECHNOLOGY
• web sites for research
• mp3/CDs
• recording equipment and
programs like Audacity
(if available for podcast)
4. After everyone has finished, have them check their melodies on class
room instruments (with expert help as needed) to see if they like the
sound of their chants. A “roll-up” keyboard is excellent for doing this
editing and re-writing portion of the assignment, but any classroom
instrument that can play the pitches from d-d will work fine. If there
are several instruments available and a few experts (you or another
teacher or students who can read music), this part of the writing will
go faster.
5. Bring the group back together to either share their compositions or
talk about how to improve them for performance.
6. Share some or all of the resulting chants in a performance (or a
recording experience.)
PERFORMANCE SCORING GUIDE
Student composes a modalsounding chant
that is performance-ready.
Student
composes a
modalsounding
chant.
Student
composes a
chant that
ends on D
and includes
the words.
Student puts
notes on the
staff, but may
not attempt
to get a
modal sound
or support the
text.
Nonparticipation
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It ends on “d,”
is free-flowing,
and supports
the text.
It ends on “d,”
is free-flowing,
and supports
the text.
Arts Toolkit Music • Lesson Plans •
285
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The music element that makes Gregorian chant most unusual to
modern ears is
A. timbre.
B. harmony.
C. melody.
D. rhythm.
2. The musical technique that contributes to chant’s calming effect is
called
A. melisma.
B. monophony.
C. mode.
D. timbre.
3. The musical element in chant that makes the singers feel that they
are part of something bigger than themselves is
A. melisma.
B. unison.
C. rhythm.
D. form.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
ANSWER KEY
1. C - While all of these might
qualify, “mode” (or the melody)
is the element that most
defines the sound of chant as
strange to modern ears. We
are very accustomed to major
and minor scales.
2. A - The melisma of chant—
many notes on one syllable—
can sometimes be as wavy as
70 notes on one word or
syllable, thereby giving the
singer a feeling of “floating in
serenity.”
3. B - Singing in unison
actually makes the singer
attempt to blend to the shape
of other voices.
Author: Roberta Schultz
Copyright 2007 KET
Reviewed by the Kentucky
Department of Education
This lesson plan is part of the
Music Arts Toolkit. To order the
entire toolkit or for more
information about the Arts
Toolkit project, visit
www.ket.org/artstoolkit or
call (859) 258-7294.
286 • Lesson Plans • Arts Toolkit Music