Gregorian Chant was one of the first actually notated styles of singing. This early form of unison singing of psalms and scriptural verses developed from the plainsong of the 4th Century. The dots and quavers that were known to the early Christian Monks are not the notations we recognize today. But what we do understand is that most of the notes and rhythms moved in stepwise motion in rhythmic note groupings of twos and threes. This made singing fluid and sight reading straightforward. Because everybody sang the same melody, singing in tune was probably pretty true. Two-part harmonies and polyphony developed much later.
What singers notice when singing in step-wise motion is that they don't have to work too hard to stay in tune with the other singers. At the introduction of sudden skips of intervals of more than a third, however, more attention must be paid to proper breath support.
For example, the opening measures of "Joy to the World" are a descending major scale. The singers instinctively know that the first note is high and in order to reach it they must take a good breath and support the tone with their abdominal muscles. The opening phrase of "How Firm a Foundation" is quite angular. It starts with an upward skip of a 4th, repeated notes, then an upward skip of a 3rd, then a downward skip of a 6th. These skips stay in the outline of the chord and most singers can negotiate them and stay in tune with proper breath support.
What singers notice when singing in step-wise motion is that they don't have to work too hard to stay in tune with the other singers. At the introduction of sudden skips of intervals of more than a third, however, more attention must be paid to proper breath support.
For example, the opening measures of "Joy to the World" are a descending major scale. The singers instinctively know that the first note is high and in order to reach it they must take a good breath and support the tone with their abdominal muscles. The opening phrase of "How Firm a Foundation" is quite angular. It starts with an upward skip of a 4th, repeated notes, then an upward skip of a 3rd, then a downward skip of a 6th. These skips stay in the outline of the chord and most singers can negotiate them and stay in tune with proper breath support.
More difficult are the melodic lines that stay mostly in stepwise motion or skips of small intervals in a lower register and then jump up suddenly a 6th or more. An example of this is the chorus of "The Day Dawn is Breaking." Supporting the tone is critical here!
Another example of this awkward jumping in the middle of a phrase on an unaccented syllable is in a song I wrote. What was I thinking?
Singing skips is much more difficult than singing in stepwise motion. Be sure to prepare to sing any big jumps up or down by taking a good breath and using those abdominal wall muscles. True pitch is possible!
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