While the rest of humanity was preparing for the end of the world, we were playing with iChant Gregorian, one of those iPhone apps one wishes one had designed oneself and about which I tweeted a few days ago. It is essentially a keyboard which helps one practise singing by enabling transpositions on the fly. So, no more incantations of ‘it’s fourth mode transposed, so . . .’ or ‘the reciting note will be A but . . .’ or ‘the semitones are . . .’ and some fumbling with the pitch-pipe (which, in Digitalnun’s hands, at least, can lead to unexpected results.) It’s £1.79/$2.99 in the iTunes store; so, if you love singing the chant but are not a brilliant musician, I recommend it to you as a great help, much easier and more convenient than dashing up to the organ loft or digging out a pitch-pipe. Click the icon below to go to the iTunes store. (N.B. we are not associated with the developer or with Apple.)
Very cool! Thank you!
I wonder who told you about that App? 😉
Credit was given you on FB this morning!
I love my pitchpipe!
(and my phone is an ancient Nokia, so it’s just as well I do!)
I enjoy Gregorian chant very much and would love to learn to sing it, but having no musical training, precious little voice for song, and virtually no natural musical ability, I am relegated to being a dedicated audience of chant. But what a fun app., nevertheless! Thanks for sharing it.
Margaret – you can learn! no really. If my [close relative] can now sing mostly the rightish notes most of the time, anyone can! The Ryde choirmistress agrees.
Thank you, berenike. That’s very encouraging!