Lesson Three: The Four Foundations of Psalmody

I like to think of contemplative, chanted psalmody as Christianity's own unique form of yoga. Because to make music, you must work within your body, mind, and spirit with the four holy elements out of which the earth was fashioned and through which all spiritual transformation happens. These elements are breath, tone, intentionality, and community.

The first element is breath. One monk I know, Father Theophane of St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, likes to remind people that, "Every breath you take is the breath of God." Many of the world's greatest mystical texts, from the Rig Veda to Rumi's poems, picture the earth as being created and sustained by the steady, rhythmic "breathing" of God. And many religious traditions, including Buddhism and Hinduism, start you off on a spiritual practice by bringing your attention to the breath and teaching you to breathe consciously and fully.

The second element is tone or vibration: the sound we make as we add voice to breath. Again, our religious traditions tell us that creation came into existence through the power of vibration. Our Christian language for expressing this is "In the beginning was the Word ...." (What else is a word if not a sound's vibration?) Mythologically, the world was "spoken" into existence. And so when we make our tone, we are participating in the sacred creative act that shapes and sustains all being.

Trained singers very quickly learn that the only way to make an authentic tone is to start from your center, from the diaphragm, where both your breath and the bottom of your vocal column are anchored. Whether a tone is natural and resonant or forced, shrill, or breathy relies on your singing from this place. To make an authentic tone, you have to come back to center.

There are a lot of gimmicks that can be used to fake or force a tone. But to sing authentically, we have to begin with what we are, not what we're not. This means accepting our own humanity, which is sometimes a humbling experience. When we work with tone in music, we are really working with the deepest and most revealing aspects of our selfhood. Just as you can't fake your true self, you also can't fake your true singing voice.

Continued on page 2: »