Learning Byzantine Chant: Western Notation to Byzantine Notation

Why do we sing in church? There are so many good and true answers to this question, one of which is that singing brings beauty into our services as a love offering to God. The ancient tradition of what we call Byzantine Chant in our services is designed to call its listeners into prayer while manifesting God’s beauty as the Kingdom of Heaven is incarnated in our worship space.

For centuries, the sacred hymnography of the Orthodox Church has been preserved and transmitted through the rich and expressive tradition of Byzantine chant. While many contemporary chanters first encounter these melodies through Western staff notation, the authentic language of the Church’s musical heritage is its own ancient and beautifully nuanced system of Byzantine notation—a system refined over a millennium and formalized in the “New Method” of 1814.

This course open serves as a bridge for students who already read Western notation and desire to enter more fully into the living tradition of Byzantine chant. Through guided instruction, comparative study, and practical chanting exercises, students will learn how Byzantine notation communicates melodic movement, vocal expression, and modal nuance with clarity and precision—often more directly than Western notation allows.

Students will explore:

• The structure and purpose of Byzantine notation, including neumes, qualitative signs, and the logic of the New Method.
• How Western transcriptions differ from authentic Byzantine notation, and why certain melodic and interpretive details are lost when chant is written on the Western staff.
• The eight modes (echoi) and how their musical “grammar” is expressed in notation.
• Step‑by‑step reading practice, moving from simple exercises to full hymns.
• Practical chanting skills, including intonation, ison awareness, and traditional vocal style.
• Liturgical application, helping students chant confidently in parish or school settings.

By the end of the course, students will be able to read and interpret Byzantine notation independently, understand its advantages for conveying authentic chant expression, and chant selected hymns directly from Byzantine scores. As a student of the Orthodox liturgical arts, this course offers a meaningful entry into the musical heart of the Church and is a foundational course that can lead to deeper study in Byzantine Chant 1 and 2.

Guiding Principles:

• Chanting is a love offering to God, in service to the congregation. Therefore, we who sing in Church ought to practice and put dedicated effort into learning, while trusting that God will receive our offering as we learn. We have faith that God will complete what is lacking in our offering and receive it as a sacrifice of love.

• As with most learning processes, the path to mastery (or even proficiency) comes through making mistakes and sounding bad. Therefore, our classroom will be our “laboratory” where we can experiment and make mistakes in front of each other. In order for this to happen, we will insist on a supportive classroom environment, and encourage students to take risks for the sake of our musical growth.

• Computer: You will need a stable, reliable computer, running with a processor with a speed of 1 GHz or better on one of the following operating systems: Mac OS X with Mac OS 10.7 or later; Windows 8, 7, Vista (with SP1 or later), or XP (with SP3 or later). We do not recommend using an iPad or other tablet for joining classes. An inexpensive laptop or netbook would be much better solutions, as they enable you to plug an Ethernet cable directly into your computer. Please note that Chromebooks are allowed but not preferred, as they do not support certain features of the Zoom video conference software such as breakout sessions and annotation, which may be used by our teachers for class activities.
• High-Speed Internet Connection: You will also need access to high-speed Internet, preferably accessible via Ethernet cable right into your computer. Using Wi-Fi may work, but will not guarantee you the optimal use of your bandwidth. The faster your Internet, the better. We recommend using a connection with a download/upload speed of 5/1 Mbps or better. You can test your Internet connection here.
• Webcam: You may use an external webcam or one that is built in to the computer. Webcam Recommendations: Good (PC only) | Best (Mac and PC)
• Headset: We recommend using a headset rather than a built-in microphone and speakers. Using a headset reduces the level of background noise heard by the entire class. Headset Recommendations: USB | 3.5mm
• Zoom: We use a web conferencing software called Zoom for our classes, which enables students and teachers to gather from around the globe face to face in real time. Zoom is free to download and easy to use. To download Zoom:
  1. Visit zoom.us/download.
  2. Click to download the first option listed, Zoom Client for Meetings.
  3. Open and run the installer on your computer.
  4. In August, students will be provided with instructions and a link for joining their particular class.
• Scanner: In this class, students frequently submit homework assignments by scanning pages from their workbooks. Students and/or their parents should have easy access to a scanner and the ability to use it.