Byzantine Beginnings Handbook

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1 Byzantine Beginnings Handbook 1) Byzantine Notation Symbols- Names Intervals Rhythms Qualitative 2) Types of Scales 3) Mode Keys 4) Time Keys 5) Types of Melodies and their Cadences - Eirmologika, Sticherarika, Papadika

3 Intervals Symbols 1.1) Byzantine Notation Symbols- Names Rhythmic Symbols 0 Ison 1 Oligon q Petasthé ` Kentémata ~ Kéntema gs Hypselé! Apóstrophos ) Elaphrón $ Khamelé h Synechés Elaphrón au a8 a9 a0 ae at ay Klásma Aplé Diplé Triplé Gorgón Dígorgon Trígorgon Qualitative Symbols Vareia \a Homalon a< Antikenoma am Psifiston a/ Heteron or aa? Syndesmos Cross a' Endofonon ae Rhythmic & Qualitative symbols are shown with a gray interval symbol.

4 1.2) Byzantine Notation Symbols- Intervals Only aspects of pitch are covered here. Sound quality and rhythmic aspects will be covered later. 0 p 9 Stay the same 1 q up one! Q down one 2 w up W 0 down two 3 e 4 r 5 t 6 y 7 u up three up four up five up six up seven *Symbols in the second and third columns with q or 1 under then have a different sound quality than those in the first column. # E ) $ ] % ^ & These symbols have special meaning or are combinations of the simpler symbols. down three down four down five down six down seven ` ) - O Y Up one on an unstressed syllable Down one, down one again Down one, down one again (special rhythm) Down two, up one *Read top two symbols.* (The oligon base is only used for support)

5 1.3) Byzantine Notation Symbols- Rhythms Each interval symbol has a built in rhythm of 1 beat. The following is a simple phrase with the number of beats above each symbol a f a a j s A. Symbols that make notes longer The following symbols are above or below the interval symbol and add more beats to the symbol. + 1 beat + 2 beats + 3 beats 0; 0a 00: 0k 0;k: Examples: a f a a j s9 a a s s j j) a 3 0: a j su a a s s8 j j

6 B. Symbols that Make Notes Shorter The following symbols make the notes shorter. They affect the symbol that they are above (or below) as well as symbols before or after them. ½ ½ 24a se Gorgon ae A gorgon makes its symbol and the one before it shorter Phrases with Gorgons Without Gorgons ½ ½ ½ ½ _r -r ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 a : ajrj The Oligon is used as support. You read the top two symbols. These two are the same. ½ ½ 1 a h Although no gorgon is present, the Synechés Elaphrón has a similar rhythm. ½ ½ V ½ 1 ½ ace 1 ½ 1 ½ z jr You read the two symbols going up, so each one is shorter. The gorgon affects the kentemata and the preceding note (the ison). The oligon gets 1 beat. The aple adds length to the ison, but the gorgon shortens it. This rhythm usually has this qualitative symbol with the aple.

7 1.4) Byzantine Notation Symbols- Qualitative \ a aa, sm a8mjr a/ aa? ' a ae Vareia Homalon Antikenoma Antikenoma Psifiston Heteron or Syndesmos Cross Endofonon * placed before a character * chant with a weight in the voice * placed below one character or two of the same pitch * chant the last beat (or partial beat) with an undulation of the voice * placed under an oligon * chant a throw in the voice *placed under an ison with an aple, always followed by an apostrophos with a gorgon *chant this part suspended and inseperable * placed below one symbol, always followed by descending characters * chant this syllable with volume and vivacity * placed under two symbols * chant with smoothness and softness * placed before a symbol * take a breath * placed below a characters * chant with a nasaly voice * used with syllables ending in em and en Taken from the book Byzantine Ecclesiastical Music by Basilios Psilacos

8 2) Types of Scale Here is the Greek Scale, pronunciation in English, and the Western scale equivalent. Greek English pronunciation c v b n m,. c/ Ni Pa Vou Ga Thi Ke Zo Ni Western Scale Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do There are 4 Types of Scales and 8 Modes (or Tones) Diatonic Modes 1 & 5 Modes 4 & 8 Soft Chromatic Mode 2 Hard Chromatic Mode 6 Enharmonic Modes 3 & 7 The distances between notes in most of the scales are not made up only of whole and half steps, but have semi tones mixed in. In the following charts, 12 is equal to one whole step and 6 is equal to one half step. [insert scale charts]

9 3) Mode Keys The Mode Key is at the top of the music and tells what mode the key is in as well as what the base note is. Example Mode Key and what it means below. h qt V H pl or plagal Ehos or Mode symbol for Mode Pa is the base note Mode Mode Key Base Note Mode Mode Key Base Note 1 qt V Pa 5 HqV Pa qt < Ke HqV <I Ke qt V 4 Ke 2 W t Thi 6 Hwg Pa W G Vou Hwg MU W g Pa Hwg Uy HwG Thi Thi Vou

10 3 p Ga (Old script showing an ascent of three notes from Ni) 7 EN Ga en Ga E> Zo e Pa Tone 7 is not the plagal of Tone 3. Pa **need to get the rest of the symbols to show up 4 rt M Thi 8 Hr C Ni rtv Pa Hr C NU rt_ Vou Hr CNU Hr Cy Ga Ga ** need to get the rest of the symbols to show up Vou

11 S D F J K L 4) Time Keys Time Key Meaning Western Equivalent Slowest tempo about 50 beats/minute Slow tempo about 60 beats/minute Medium tempo about 100 beats/minute Moderate tempo Fast tempo about 180 beats/minute Fastest tempo about 240 beats/minute grave or largo lento or adagio adante moderato allegro presto or prestissimo

12 5) Types of Melodies and Their Cadences There are three types of melodies (or hymns) within each mode and their cadences are slightly different. Eirmologika, Sticherarika, and Papadika. The Eirmologika type of melody has an average of one beat for each syllable. The Sticherarika type of melody has an average of two to four beats for each syllable. The Papadika type of melody has more than four beats for each syllable. Chanters use cadences when they only have text and have to compose music on the fly. A cadence is the end of a musical phrase and can be compared to commas, semicolons, and periods in written language. There are three types of cadences: incomplete cadences are like a comma complete cadences are like a semicolon final cadences are like a period

THE BASICS OF BYZANTINE MUSIC NOTATION

1 THE BASICS OF BYZANTINE MUSIC NOTATION INTERVAL SIGNS q e SIGNS NAME EXPLANATION Ison Same pitch as preceding s note Oligon Ascending second a f Petasthé Ascending second g Kentémata Ascending second