The Ward Method: The Classic Chant Instruction for Children

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  Gregorian chants are the basis of the music of the Latin rite of the Catholic Church.Thomas Northcut/Photodisc/Getty Images
  
  Singing is the foundation of the Ward Method, a lively and systematic approach to teaching Gregorian chant developed in the 1920s by Justine Ward (1879-1975). A child learns voice production, ear training, rhythm, and notation before combining these methods into chant.
  
  
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  Child finding his own singing voiceDigital Vision./Digital Vision/Getty Images
  
  Guide children to find their own singing voices with a series of simple exercises. Step by step, the child will find that his voice is starting to become a melodic and well-tuned instrument.
  
  
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  The Ward Method uses a child-friendly system to teach Gregorian chant.Jupiterimages/Polka Dot/Getty Images
  
  Follow the basics of voice training with ear training. The Ward Method uses a system called Solfege, which helps the child form notes and to imagine the various notes used in Gregorian chant. It starts with a pentachord -- do-re-mi-fa-sol -- hence, "Solfege." Solfege does not teach absolute pitch; instead it shows the position of the note relative to the others on the scale.
  
  
• 4). Lead the children to learn about rhythm. The Ward Method teaches this with a prescribed set of dancelike movements during each lesson. Children stand up during class time and mimic a prescribed series of movements given by the teacher, performed in time to music or a song. The goal is for children to feel the music in their entire bodies, from their feet to their knees to the sweep of their arms.
  
  
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  Children learning how to singDigital Vision./Digital Vision/Getty Images
  
  Teach children a simple method of musical notation for Gregorian chant. The Ward Method uses a child-friendly form based on numbers and dots. Justine Ward understood that by age six, most children know their numerals. She added a system of dots above and below the numbers, which yields almost three full octaves of music.
  
  

Teaching Methods for Adults

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  Gregorian chant is not limited to monasteries anymore!Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Teach yourself Gregorian chant by starting at home. And yes, you can start through the Internet. For example, there are videos of the Ordinary parts of the Mass -- the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei -- that you can follow at home. CorpusChristiWatershed.org has extensive video, audio and printable resources for self-teaching.
  
  
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  The Second Vatican Council said that to accompany Gregorian chant, "The pipe organ is to be held in high esteem."Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Listen to the website ChoralTracks.com for more detailed and demanding lessons. Choral Tracks has versions of various works -- for example, "If You Love Me" by Thomas Tallis -- where you can hear the complete sound of a choral work, then where one voice predominates, then individual parts, then muted parts (where you sing your voice line accompanied by the rest on audio). Choral Tracks ensures the quality of the vocal lines by a simple method -- all of the lines are sung by one singer, the remarkable tenor Matthew Curtis.
  
  
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  Gregorian chant combined with stained glass embodies the artistic heritage of the Catholic Church.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Arrange a Chant Intensive, a day or a weekend at a parish or other location, in which you bring instructors from the area and invite singers and others who want to learn about chant. The largest and most notable of these in the United States is the annual week-long Colloquium organized by the Church Music Association, which teaches beginning chant through complex Renaissance polyphony.