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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

What Kind of Interest is there in a Gregorian Chant Class?

William J. Fritz · February 21, 2020

HIS past summer, I finally got around to giving a class on Gregorian chant at the parish where I’m music director. And I have a confession to make – I ‘under’ advertised it, and thus wasn’t expecting a big turnout. I announced a mere week before the actual class was to begin (it was a class to be held on Monday night for the next four Mondays), and I made this announcement at only one Mass (out of the nine we have each weekend) during the summer (when lots of parishioners are vacationing). I then placed flyers in the back of the church (which can be a black hole of pamphlets, flyers and holy cards on the best of days). Despite these obstacles, 65 – 70 people showed up to each of the classes. It ended up that word of mouth was a better advertising agent!

I will get to the structure of the class in a minute – but I wanted to share first who showed up to the class.

We had people from our local diocese, Orange County, but also from Los Angeles: we had young children, teens, elderly, married men and women, single young adults, entire families – there was even an expecting mother who came! Not everyone was interested in singing in the choir, but they all wanted to know about the music at the heart of the patrimony of the Church. What was more: they wanted to sing it, not just listen to it. It was also beautiful to see that not everyone came from a parish where the Extraordinary Form or even a Latin Novus Ordo is celebrated. During the Q and A time, many wanted to know how to start singing chant at their parish. After the class, a young boy let me know that he and his Dad sang the Ave Maria before he went to bed each night; and he wanted to learn more prayers to sing. In every attendee, I found a burning desire to learn chant. Yet, even after this response, I sometimes find my myself thinking, “Yes, but surely they will want [here fill in most recent song from local Christian radio station] instead of just the chant – right?” Just the chant: as if!

Why did I see chant having such a broad appeal to people coming from such diverse backgrounds and states in life? I firmly believe in studying, learning and singing the chants, we learn our Catholic faith, we learn the words of Sacred Scripture, and we tap into the communion of saints. In my summer chant class, I mentioned how once I had been to the J. Paul Getty Museum, and seen a 12th century Missal from the Premonstratensian (Norbertine) Abbey of St. Mary and Potentius of Steinfeld (this one). We were fortunate enough to be given a private showing of the book, and the curator was flipping through the ancient pages when we saw a very ornately illuminated “V”.

Here is the image:

Courtesy of The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. Ludwig V 4, fol. 65

We knew immediately that it was the preface tone from the Feast of the Holy Trinity… and began to read the notation and sing it from the nearly 850 year old book. (Try it yourself!) What was even more amazing – O Quam Admirabile! – the dating of the book almost certainly meant that St. Herman Joseph would have said Mass using this very same Missal. When we sing this music, it’s not simply the music of the historical Church. It’s the music of the saints – the living saints. By singing Gregorian chant, we pick up the same music that those dwellers in heaven once sang, and perhaps still sing at the throne of the Lamb.

Anton van Dyck – The Vision of the Blessed Hermann Joseph

Here is the outline I used for the 4 sessions of the “Summer Chant Class”: (I should mention as well, we were interested in practical learning, not the theoretical.)

Day 1: Introduction to Chant (and where to find chant FREE)

  • Handout including resources for Chant: Chant Tools (web version), Corpus Christi Watershed – Rene Goupil Gradual and the Parish Book of Chant (pdf here)
  • Singing is easy! Learn Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do and why that’s important
  • Handout showing some of the basics of Gregorian notation
  • Taught Antiphon: “Ave Maria”

Day 2: How much Gregorian chant does the Magisterium say Catholics ought to know?

  • Read sections from St. Paul VI’s “Jubilate Deo” and his letter “Voluntati Obsequens”
  • Handout with list of “minimum” chants that every Catholic should know (I added a few, like the Ave Maria and Vexilla Regis)
  • Handout included main types of chant (Mass parts, Antiphons, etc) and a very concise pronunciation guide
  • Taught Hymn: “Jesu Dulcis Memoria”

Day 3: The Modes and Psalm Tones

  • Used Guido of Arezzo’s Poem “The Eight Modes” as help to describe the “flavor” of each mode
  • Used Psalm tone samples to illustrate each mode (and parts of the tone: incipit, flex, tenor, terminations…)
  • Taught “Gloria Patri” in each Psalm Tone (and used as closing prayer)

Day 4: LOTS of singing

  • Passed out packet with 18 chants* that every Roman Catholic should know
  • Sang samples from each with the class

*(Creator Alme Siderum, Parce Domine, Attende Domine, Vexilla Regis, Pange Lingua Gloriosi (Tantum Ergo), Ubi Caritas, Veni Creator Spiritus, Adoro Te Devote, O Salutaris Hostia, Ave Verum Corpus, Jesu Dulcis Memoria, Ave Maria, Ave Maris Stella, Alma Redemptoris Mater, Ave Regina Caelorum, Regina Caeli, Salve Regina, Te Deum)**

**Many would disagree with my list from the standpoint that there are other chants a Catholic should know, but none would argue that these are not all masterpieces of the repertoire (also, I purposefully avoided the Ordinary and Propers from the Mass, since many already are familiar with the “Jubilate Deo” selections of the Mass parts). Plus, it was only an hour long class!

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

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Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: February 23, 2020

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About William J. Fritz

William J. Fritz currently serves as music director at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Costa Mesa, CA where he resides with his wife and three boys.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “What Martin Luther Said…”
    My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —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

Let us ponder the incontrovertible fact that Eucharistic Adoration in the Ordinary Form (“Novus Ordo”) is always and everywhere celebrated “ad orientem.” Why, then, is there such opposition to Mass being celebrated in that way, which is actually stipulated by the 1970 Missal rubrics?

— A Benedictine Monk (2013)

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