What Chant are You?

No, I have not found a new online quiz, though it would be a novel idea. Instead, I am reflecting on a conversations I have had with others regarding chant. Just in Western Christianity, chant is a broad term covering many styles and the constant elaboration on chants have obscured the difference between a "chant" and "song."

Here are some styles that have been used recently at my church:

• Anglican Chant (by far my favorite)
• Simplified Anglican Chant (now explain the difference to a lay person...)
• Plainsong (a unison psalm chant based on 8 tones, collect tones can be considere part of this)
  

These three all use a reciting note for most of a line with notes changing for the end of a line. Where Plainsong is unison, unless harmonized by a choir/organ, Anglican Chant is harmonized as for a choir.

Other styles act differently:

• Gregorian chant,
  
• Old Roman Chant
• Ambrosian chant
  

We call them chant, yet they are almost a stand alone tune. At one point, there was likely more repeating chant on a psalm, but that fell away as musicians added more complex improvisations to the chant.

• We have also used Taize chant which returns to the repetitive idea, yet it is a repeated line and not a "repeating note" for the text.
• We have not used chant style by Joseph Gelineau, which is its own style of psalm chant.

And now, the final exercise:

Attempt to explain "chant" in a few lines for a church newsletter.