A little background before my questions...
I've served in Orthodox choirs before, and have been singing/chanting for years, but it's been entirely within the Orthodox Church in America, and so it's almost entirely choral, and based on the Russian compositions and tones.
Back in 2011, I spent 3 months of my college education studying in Greece, where I developed a love for Byzantine Chant that I previously did not have.
Recently I made the move over to the Antiochian Archdiocese. I'm soon to be formally made a Reader by our Bishop. For months, I've been drilling the various tones and struggling to learn them. I've made a lot of progress since I've begun, though I'm still running into practical, typical problems of chanting neophytes.
First, I really struggle with changing tones. As chanters, we mainly chant Daily Vespers, Great Vespers & Orthros, with Divine Liturgy being the entire choir. For Daily Vespers, there are only 2-3 of us in the kliros. Therefore, whenever I have to change the tone (such as from the 1st to Plagal of 2nd, as this Thursday commemorating Moses, Aaron & St. Babylas), no matter how much I drill the Apolytikion (in this case, When Mary Stood...), and even start the change with the intonation (Νεχ χε ανες), I still end up stuck on the 1st Tone when I actually chant, despite the fact I know the Plagal of the 2nd Tone.
Second, since my Priest is obviously in charge of all of us chanters, even the choir director. I've been consulting and seeking his advice. I want to be a lot more traditional in Byzantine Chant, and less the standard cut that you see from Antiochian chanters using Kazan's music. My Priest also wants me to focus on being more traditional (he's from Syria and prefers traditional chant, and although we use Kazan for everything else, we use SEM for Divine Liturgy). Therefore, I've been listening a lot to the recordings of Fr. Elias Bitar, Fr. Nicholas Malek, St. Romanos Choir, SEM, HTM, St. Anthony's Monastery, as well as various Protopsaltis from Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia & Romania. Despite this, I'm having a lot of trouble actually chanting traditionally.
Third, my natural range is up around Tenor or Second Tenor. I haven't been able to find a lot of traditional chanters, in English, Greek or otherwise, who are also up in that range. Fr. Apostolos Hill & Fr. Nikodemos Kavarnos are around that range, but I don't think they are that traditional in Byzantine Chant. Does anyone have any advice? It gets pretty painful and difficult for me when I try to chant at a lower key like most Byzantine Chant.
I've served in Orthodox choirs before, and have been singing/chanting for years, but it's been entirely within the Orthodox Church in America, and so it's almost entirely choral, and based on the Russian compositions and tones.
Back in 2011, I spent 3 months of my college education studying in Greece, where I developed a love for Byzantine Chant that I previously did not have.
Recently I made the move over to the Antiochian Archdiocese. I'm soon to be formally made a Reader by our Bishop. For months, I've been drilling the various tones and struggling to learn them. I've made a lot of progress since I've begun, though I'm still running into practical, typical problems of chanting neophytes.
First, I really struggle with changing tones. As chanters, we mainly chant Daily Vespers, Great Vespers & Orthros, with Divine Liturgy being the entire choir. For Daily Vespers, there are only 2-3 of us in the kliros. Therefore, whenever I have to change the tone (such as from the 1st to Plagal of 2nd, as this Thursday commemorating Moses, Aaron & St. Babylas), no matter how much I drill the Apolytikion (in this case, When Mary Stood...), and even start the change with the intonation (Νεχ χε ανες), I still end up stuck on the 1st Tone when I actually chant, despite the fact I know the Plagal of the 2nd Tone.
Second, since my Priest is obviously in charge of all of us chanters, even the choir director. I've been consulting and seeking his advice. I want to be a lot more traditional in Byzantine Chant, and less the standard cut that you see from Antiochian chanters using Kazan's music. My Priest also wants me to focus on being more traditional (he's from Syria and prefers traditional chant, and although we use Kazan for everything else, we use SEM for Divine Liturgy). Therefore, I've been listening a lot to the recordings of Fr. Elias Bitar, Fr. Nicholas Malek, St. Romanos Choir, SEM, HTM, St. Anthony's Monastery, as well as various Protopsaltis from Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia & Romania. Despite this, I'm having a lot of trouble actually chanting traditionally.
Third, my natural range is up around Tenor or Second Tenor. I haven't been able to find a lot of traditional chanters, in English, Greek or otherwise, who are also up in that range. Fr. Apostolos Hill & Fr. Nikodemos Kavarnos are around that range, but I don't think they are that traditional in Byzantine Chant. Does anyone have any advice? It gets pretty painful and difficult for me when I try to chant at a lower key like most Byzantine Chant.