“Mode 4” • How To Teach Your Choir

Jeff Ostrowski · July 19, 2017 ·

WAS SO INSPIRED by the courses at the 2017 Sacred Music Symposium, I can’t wait to start teaching my current choir members a ton. I met so many fantastic people ¹ and got so many ideas I can’t wait to implement. I’m going to recruit new members! At rehearsal tomorrow, we will have an awesome discussion about Mode 4, using this worksheet:

* * PDF Download • Gregorian Mode IV

It’s the Gradual for 7th Sunday after Pentecost. Did you notice the “ups and downs” were omitted? The choir will fill those in during the rehearsal.

This will be fun!

(Photograph: Dr. Alfred Calabrese teaching Sacred Music Symposium 2017.)

NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1 Eighty people from all over the world came and attended the full week, which is phenomenal since it was only our second year. And this is a demanding conference—singing and learning from 7:30am to 9:30pm each day!

About Jeff Ostrowski

A theorist, organist, and conductor, Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004), and did graduate work in Musicology. He serves as choirmaster for the new FSSP parish in Los Angeles, where he resides with his wife and children.

A quote from Fr. Valentine

Speaking of “nihil solliciti estis,” Fr. Valentine recently said: “I’ll bet that most people, including myself, have suffered more from things that never happened than from things that actually did happen.” Wise words!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Circle is complete

This is interesting! We have made it all the way around the liturgical year for Vespers organ accompaniments—which means all we have to do now is fill in the “holes,” such as Candlemas.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Fr. Valentine is very sick

I beg you to pray for Fr. Valentine Young, OFM, who I am told is dying (or may possibly have died already). He’s one of the most faithful & generous priests I know. There would be no CCWatershed without Fr. Valentine.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Discussion on Facebook