The beginnings of European music: Monks & monsteries

Fine arts survey: monks & monsteries
Originally uploaded by trudeau

Gregorian chant - a music codified by Pope Gregory I, about 600 CE - was one of the early musics of the Europeans.

This body of music was the first to be notated in a system ancestral to modern musical notation, says Wikipedia.

In general, the chants were learned by the viva voce method, that is, by following the given example orally, which took many years of experience in the choir called the Schola Cantorum.

Gregorian chant originated in monastic life, in which celebrating the 'Divine Office' eight times a day at the proper hours was upheld according to the Rule of St. Benedict.

Singing psalms made up a large part of the life in a monastic community, while a smaller group and soloists sang the chants.