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Corpus Christi Watershed

Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

New Resource! • Chant Videos for Treble Voices

Fr. David Friel · February 23, 2019

OUNTLESS schola directors and choristers make regular use of the thousands of practice videos published freely here at Corpus Christi Watershed. Among the practice videos are recordings of the complete Kyriale (all 18 Gregorian Masses), the Ordinary of ICEL’s 2011 translation of the Roman Missal, the Simple English Propers, as well as an astonishing collection of polyphonic pieces. The wealth of assistance now available to parish musicians is truly remarkable.

Thanks to the contributions of a start-up website that went live in early 2019, those resources continue to grow.

Entitled Chant for Trebles, this new site is the work of Mrs. Sipkje Price, a Catholic convert, music educator, and director of a women’s chant schola in Jackson, MI. Working with her singers, Sipkje found that many of them expressed difficulty matching pitch with practice videos featuring a male voice a full octave below their own. Thus was born the concept of Chant for Trebles.

The goal of the project is ambitious: to create practice videos for the full Gregorian chant Propers for each Sunday (and select feasts) of the liturgical year, based on the 1962 calendar. The videos will feature sound recordings paired with the printed version of each chant.

Sipkje has begun with the pre-Lenten season. The chants for Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima are presently available on the site, and the plan is to add each week’s videos in time for local singers to rehearse with them. To see an example video, check out the communion chant for next Sunday (Quinquagesima) on YouTube:


The approach Sipkje takes to the musicality of these videos is closely considered. The recordings are being made with high quality equipment in a real acoustic, with no added reverberation and minimal editing. With respect to interpretation, she intends to take a relatively conservative approach, aiming for solid pitches and straightforward rhythmic readings, in order to allow schola directors to shape the chant phrases as they wish.

OT TERRIBLY LONG ago, resources to assist parish musicians in singing the treasury of Catholic sacred music were often crude, sometimes expensive, rarely accessible, and otherwise non-existent. So much has changed in the last decade or two. The Internet, alone, boasts a richness of resources that are free, easily available, and often of exceptional quality, for both the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite.

Chant for Trebles fills a need and expands these resources. We look forward to the completion of the full year of videos!

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Catholic Youth Choirs, Extraordinary Form 1962 Missal, Gregorian Chant, Liturgy For Children, Resources for training in Church music Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 19th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (10 August 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    This Sunday’s Communion Antiphon
    This coming Sunday—10 August 2025—is the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). The COMMUNION ANTIPHON is really gorgeous, and two of its features are worth mentioning. First of all, the Gospel reading assigned is from Saint Luke, whereas the the antiphon—although it matches the account—comes from Saint Matthew. (If anyone can point to a similar example, please notify me.) Furthermore, if you look at the authentic Gregorian Chant version posted on the feasts website, you’ll notice that it’s MODE III but ends on the ‘wrong’ note. A comparable instance of such a ‘transposed’ chant would be KYRIE IV.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Using “Ye” Vs. “You” Correctly
    Using “Ye” vs. “You” is rather tricky, because it depends upon which era one is trying to recreate—if that makes any sense. In other words, the rules haven’t always been the same for these two. Nevertheless, Father Philip George Caraman (the legendary Jesuit scholar) gives us a masterclass using Saint Luke’s Gospel. Father Caraman was close friends with Monsignor Ronald Knox, Evelyn Waugh, and Sir Alec Guinness.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“The only really effective apologia for Christianity comes down to two arguments: namely, the _saints_ the Church has produced and the _art_ which has grown in her womb.”

— Josef Cardinal Ratzinger (Interview, 1985)

Recent Posts

  • Is this what the new “Youth Mass” looks like?
  • “Music List” • 19th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • This Sunday’s Communion Antiphon
  • Using “Ye” Vs. “You” Correctly
  • Installment #3 • “Serious Problems with the Lectionary Translation”

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