Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[erik19283]

Hello,

I asked about how a "chant" was different from a "song" some time ago, and here is the answer I had received:

[CP]

Chant and sing are pretty closely connected. For instance, in French, chanter means to sing, and a chanteur / chanteuse is a singer. In English, we sometimes call the songs that sailors sing "sea chanteys." The person who sings prayers and such in a Jewish temple is called the cantor.

A chant usually has little or no melody, but is more a monotonous recitation of a poem or even one word, like a mantra. The person who said that they are often ceremonial and ritualistic was right. But children chant when they jump rope, clap hands, etc., and they chant even when they taunt each other. Rap music is basically loud chanting with a strong rhythm backing.

If your book has song lyrics without the musical notation, that may be why the song pages are labeled "chant." Even if the musical charts are there, you can ignore them. You don't really care about the melody or producing a beautiful song; you care about learning the words and expressions in the songs. The whole class can chant together.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[erik19283]

Thank you CP, I understand better now.