A monthly subscription fee of $4.95 gives access to the entire website (beginning on 8 May 2026). Thank you for supporting our efforts!
(Keven Smith) • Ever had a man express interest in your choir, only to discover that he has trouble matching pitch? You may just need to unlock his high range. Here’s how I’d approach the situation • James C. McKinney is mentioned+
For years, I couldn’t understand this business about “the eyes and the ears.” What did Pothier mean? Then it hit me. • Topics include Dom Joseph Pothier, the mora vocis, Abbot Pothier’s brother (Dom Alphonse Pothier), Dom Lucien David, Dom Paul Jausions, and a truly magnificent story about Pope Pius X and Abbot Pothier, which is essential reading+
The “Pre-NOH” editions have quite an idiosyncratic way of lengthening the neumes. • Fulsome illustrations are included examining and explaining the mora vocis of the Vatican edition; also mentioned is Dom André Mocquereau, Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val, and Pothier’s Liber Gradualis (1883)+
(Keven Smith) • I’ve come to realize that the vast majority of “tone-deaf” people aren’t really tone-deaf at all. They just haven’t been trained to coordinate their voices with their audiation+
Lies containing a little truth are the most difficult to quash • Here is the definitive, final exposé on why the “Spoken Propers” don’t match the “Sung Propers.” • In October of 1972, the Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy falsely equated the “Spoken Propers” with the “Sung Propers” and proclaimed: “These antiphons are too abrupt for communal recitation” • Several official English translations of the Roman Gradual have received the imprimatur multiple times+
This 2020 chant edition makes possible the chanting of Lauds according to the Liturgy of the Hours.
(Keven Smith) • Here are some suggestions on how to get the most out of your unusual combination of skills and traits+
(Keven Smith) • Now is the perfect time for us all to stop and reflect on where we came from as church musicians. What was it that first made you interested in singing, directing, or playing the organ?+
Blessed Alfredo Ildefonso Cardinal Schuster was a Benedictine monk who became the Archbishop of Milan.
If this had caught on, every chant book—along with every psalm setting of Palestrina, Victoria, Morales, Guerrero, etc.—would have become “garbage” overnight.
The Baronius Press edition is beautiful, but lacks important markings for singers.
Did you know every Mass is a celebration of our Lord’s Ascension? — Here’s proof.
The way to “repeat” Alleluia during Eastertide confuses many people.
(Keven Smith) • Yesterday morning I spilled coffee all over my desk before leaving for our live-streamed Mass. It ended up being a great move+
Organ Accompaniments for “Victimae Paschali Laudes” • Some people love it; others hate it. Regardless, Mocquereau never backed down, and we must admire his tenacity!
