Psaltopedia

Common Psaltic Pathologies - Psaltikopathologia
Introduction - Eisagogi

Introduction
The best way to understand Psaltiki is to use Medical and Biological Analogies.
Very often, the Church Fathers use such analogies so as to help us understand various SPIRITUAL pathologies,
and the author of this website (GKM)
feels that an extension of the principle is
QUITE EFFICIENT in helping everyone understand

A) how psaltiki is TRANSMITTED
(by making use of Biological Chromosomal Memory transmission
of PHYSICAL characteristics
ANALOGIES)
and

B) how Psaltiki can also be PATHOLOGICAL
(by making use of CURRENT MEDICAL
terms and principles as ANALOGIES)
if it is TAUGHT by those already SUFFERING
of some (if not a NUMBER of) Psaltic disease(s)
and who refuse to ADMIT to their Disease
and to its TREATMENT.

In an attempt to SAVE psaltiki, from the decadent teachings of present day gurus, the author will NOT hesitate to give AUDIO examples and analyses thereof, whether the sources of such pathological singing be
from present or past singers...

What follows will eventually develop into a point by point GRID that will help the reader understand what the FUNDAMENTAL elements of
CORRECT, traditional psaltiki are,
and that will be used to DIAGNOSE the various Psaltic PATHOLOGIES on the pages that follow.

The definition of “style of chanting” in the books is just a term most authors enjoy spilling ink for and wasting time so as to "describe".  Many have written LITERARY works which all express a multitude of eulogies as concerns the famous PATRIARCHIKON HYPHOS.  The author here provides, for the FIRST TIME ever, a SCIENTIFIC description of the FUNDAMENTAL rules which GOVERN the learning, teaching and PERFORMANCE of Patriarchikon hyphos... a simple title and HAT DO NOT suffice to make their beholder an authority of hyphos as well...

Hyphos =STYLE = A definition will be provided, of which the order of priority of its constitutive elements is FUNDAMENTAL. If this sequence of priorities is not respected, other styles arise (hence the plethora of "Patriarcal style chanters", all as different from one another as day and night).

1)TEMPO and ENGAGEMENT into Tempo (term coined in English by traditional Chypriot Psaltis, Kyriakos TSIAPPOUTAS,  a sound and computer science researcher), CHRONOS kai PROSLIPSIS CHRONOU, according to Iakovos as transmitted to Stylianos TSOLAKIDIS and in turn to GKM), so that the vowels EXPLODE in the THESIS of the measure. This has been transmitted orally, and has also been concluded to independently, by qualified musicologists such as Andriani ATLANTI.
Anyone willing to do research on the issue is invited to use the intensity of WAVE functions, and to note the MAXIMA and the way these MAXIMA are obtained (the "attacks"= the DERIVATIVE or SLOPE of intensity increase from a zero point to a MAXIMUM intensity point) as compared to the tempo used.
 When this dI/dt (delta Intensity over delta time) is SMALL, the attack is FEEBLE (weak).

In TRADITIONAL psaltiki, the ONLY place this is allowed is in KALOPHONIKOS HEIRMOS...  Because of the SENTIMENTAL aspect of such WEAK attacks on SLOW tempo, the Kalophonikos Heirmos are chanted at the END of the service, during the distribution of Antidoron.  This type of Kalophonikos Heirmos Chronos (=SLOW   tempo with WEAK attack) is NOT to be used for OTHER hymns ESPECIALLY Cheroubikons and Koinonikons.  
This type of WEAK attack
in CONTEMPORAY church SINGING
(which is NOT = to chanting)
is MAINLY due to LACK of CONFIDENCE as well as to lack of TRADITIONAL analyseis (developments) given that contemporary CHURCH SINGERS (which is NOT = to psaltis) have NOT CORRECTLY learned the various Classical lessons by HEART.

Coupled to a LOW volume of vocal output, this type of FEEBLE attack is what characterises CONTEMPORARY "Gregorian" singing (which is CONTRARY to what the ORIGINAL Gregorian chant sounded like, as attest to this the various NEUMES issued from Psaltiki as well as the COMMON ANCIENT methodology of Apprenticeship).

This WEAKENING of the POWER of ATTACK and its PULSATION (IMPETUS) is what one may call EFFEMINIZATION.   
By analogy....  
to medical terms,
this situation corresponds to
lack of TESTOSTERONE
and lack of muscle and FORCE
which do not allow one to perform all that an AVERAGE MALE can do in terms of work and athletism...

There is no problem from a theological point of view if there is some NATURAL lack of Testosterone (see citations below). There IS, however, a  GREAT problem when MEN act as women, as there is with CASTRATION as well (see citations below, as well).  Therefore, any PERSONAL choice to DEVIATE from one's NATURAL course is viewed as PATHOLOGICAL by the Church, and is CONDEMNED, even though MODERN medicine has the TECHNICAL capability to satisfy such demands....

By ANALOGY, the same applies to psaltiki...  :

lack of preparation of the attack,
lack of a strongly SLOPED ATTACK,
lack of a GOOD vowel EXPLOSION
right where the THESIS of the tempo should fall
ALL lead to
EFFEMINISATION = EKTHYLIKISMOS.

Some  examples of
good tempo,
good engagement into tempo,
good vowel EXPLOSION CORRECTLY produced exactly on the THESIS are as follows:

Iakovos NAFPLIOTIS (of course),

Stylianos TSOLAKIDIS,


Konstantinos Priggos (KP),

Monk DOSITHEOS

many Psaltis of their time, found on 78 rpm recordings,
regardless of their school of instruction (Georgios Binakis = Chios, Nileus Kamarados, Konstantinos Psachos)

Thrasyboulos Stanitsas (TS)

choir of Zoe,

student of Emmanuel BAMBOUDAKIS Matthaios ANDREOU, late Archon protochanter of CANADA,

and students of Antonios SYRKAS such as the current protochanter of CANADA Konstantinos LAGOUROS).

As stated previously, engagement into tempo may become a bit more relaxed in Kalophonikos Heirmos, but it is an error to apply "softened" engagement to the entire psaltic repertory as is done by some. This "softening" takes away the "virile", positivist chanting that Iakovos NAFPLIOTIS transmitted to us, and which is in perfect conformity with the RESURRECTION message of our Eastern Orthodox church.
Softening tempo or even removing rhythm gives rise to "effeminate", "decorticated", or even lifeless, "deathbed" = "myrrhologei" type of chanting.
Many of today's church singers have excellent voices but unfortunately chant with "softened" chronos: beware!


Under this heading, one may include
the multiple TYPES of CHRONOS counting :

Monosimos, Haplos, Dysimis, Trisimos, Tetrasimos, EQUAL, ie. CONSTANT unit note duration counting, = "kata chronon" according to Boudouris,

as compared to

thesis to thesis UNEQUAL, ie. VARIABLE unit note duration counting, of a combination of Notes = "kata Rythmon",
with variant INTRINSIC, TEMPORAL prolongations/abbreviations, learned by tradition = "syneptigmenos chronos", which constantly fluctuates between a MULTITUDE of intra-measure rhythmic combinations,
the two fundamental reference points being
dysimos =and trisimos rhythmos during INTERPRETATION
even though the COMPOSITIONmay have been written out in DYSIMOS rhythmos ALONE.

(a type of "Syneptigmenos Chronos Kratimatos", which has been ERRONEOUSLY reduced to
DYSIMOS by the paleographico-ornitho-skalismatologists,
and "waltzy" trisimos by some xenomaniac Athonites, who sometimes sing as if completely VOID of ALL vital energy...

What one should understand is that
"Syneptigmenos Chronos Kratimatos "HAS a bit of ALL that rhythm during INTERPRETATION
AS WELL AS MANY other complex rhythms
from one thesis to the next.

For instance, concerning each "measure" = turn of the hand, we may

divide it into TWO EQUAL parts, giving TEMPORARY dysimos ,

or EXTEND the first equal part exactly twice (double RELATIVE UNIT duration) that of the LAST part (simple RELATIVE UNIT duration) giving TEMPORARY trochaios

or EXTEND the LAST equal part exactly twice (double RELATIVE UNIT duration) that of the FIRST part (simple RELATIVE UNIT duration) giving TEMPORARY iambos

or extend the first part Thrice (triple RELATIVE UNIT duration) that of the LAST part. (simple RELATIVE UNIT duration)...

and so on and so forth.

Notice that the term RELATIVE UNIT DURATION refers to a duration unit which is NOT constant throughout the MELODY, and thus refers to some duration REFERENCE UNIT we ESTABLISH for a GIVEN MEASURE (in thesis to thesis counting).  This duration of the REFERENCE UNIT will CHANGE, from one measure to the next (from one Thesis to thesis duration to the next, or from one turn of the hand to the next) so that the OVERALL Chronos (duration from ONE thesis to the next, the cyclical motion of the hand) will NOT change...


All in all, a GREAT number of DURATION prolongation/abbreviation COMBINATIONS are possible, but the Psaltis ALWAYS keeps the Dysimos and Trisimos durations in mind as a REFERENCE, and AVOIDS using these two REFERENCES extensively (sometimes, one may even avoid them completely...)
CONTRARILY to what is done today by the various
"Byzantine music" "gurus"
,
Computer wave function analysis will help better comrehend the COMPLEXITY of the prolongations/abbreviations AS WELL as MODULATIONS of attack in Syneptigmenos chronos of Kratema.

There is also the "syneptigmenos chronos" of the verses, which is a type of RUBATO, but which is definitely NOT eleftheros chornos, and definitely not just cut time either.

"syneptigmenos chronos" is NOT just simply CUT TIME....,


There is also "eleutheros chronos" = free chronos", which still provides CORRECT engagement and vowel explosion, yet contains slight variations of tempo..

The ways to differentiate all these types of CHRONOS counting is to consider what is included between ONE full cyclical motion of the hand, where each return to the lowest point of departure is considered as THESIS... the arsis is all the REST, and not just the thesis ANTIPODAL position .....

One must not confuse RHYTHMOS with Chronos...
Rhythmos is a COMPOSITION characteristic...
One may however CHANT a given composition (be it of Fixed or of Variable rhythmos) in one of MANY types of chronos, depending on the TIME of the service, and according to traditional prescriptions.

Here are some types of CHRONOS:
Monisimos Chronos (coined by scientific researcher ¨PanayiotisD. PAPADIMITRIOU, Ph.D.):  GKM: one full cyclical motion includes only ONE beat, ONE note = one ISSON... this gives rise to "scola" = a scholarly, "dry" way of chanting...
Haplos Chronos = GKM: one full cyclical motion includes TWO or THREE or FOUR beats, according to the composition... they are all EQUALLY distributed within this Cyclical motion, and the SAME UNIT durations apply to the NEXT measure ...
According to the author of this page (GKM), the above constitute the "kata chronon" type of counting time while INTERPRTING psaltiki, which Angelos BOUDOURIS mentions (brought to our knowledge by Dimitrios KOUBAROULIS, Ph.D..),..

By extension, thesis to thesis inclusion of a combination of Notes, of either ONE or more than one COMPOSITIONAL Rhythmic measures = "kata Rhythmon" according to Boudouris, where one "aggregates" many NOTES into one cyclical motion, and REDISTRIBUTES the durations of each note so as to give special effects... sometimes, there is even REGROUPING of subsequent cyclical motions, thus leading to LARGER groups of notes... one obtains a sort of RUBATO WITHIN a cyclical motion... this can only be learned by sitting beside a good teacher...



thesis to thesis with variant INTRINSIC, TEMPORAL prolongations/abbreviations, learned by tradition = "syneptigmenos chronos"
:
(a type of "Syneptigmenos Chronos Kratimatos", which has been ERRONEOUSLY reduced to
DYSIMOS by the paleographico-ornitho-skalismatologists,
and "waltzy" trisimos by some xenomaniac Athonites, who sometimes sing as if completely VOID of ALL vital energy...


"Syneptigmenos Chronos Kratimatos "HAS a bit of ALL that rhythm during INTERPRETATION
AS WELL AS MANY other complex rhythms
from one thesis to the next,
where GREAT number of DURATION prolongation/abbreviation COMBINATIONS are possible,
and where the Psaltis ALWAYS keeps the Dysimos and Trisimos durations in mind as a REFERENCE, and AVOIDS using these two REFERENCES extensively (sometimes, one may even avoid them completely...)
CONTRARILY to what is done today by the various
"Byzantine music" "gurus"
(I repeat all this so that it will really "sink in"...)


"Syneptigmenos chronos" of the verses, which is a type of RUBATO, where one prolongs accectuated syllables AT THE EXPENSE of non accentuated syllables,
but which is  NOT eleftheros chronos,
and definitely not just simply cut time.


All in all, "Syneptigmenos chronos" is AT least TEMPO acceleration and, at most, a PARTICULAR way of redistributing note durations (regardless of there EQUALITY in terms of composition) within a cyclical CHRONOS counting movement.

Therefore,
"syneptigmenos chronos" is NOT just simply CUT TIME....,


There is also "eleutheros chronos" = free chronos", which still provides CORRECT engagement and vowel explosion, yet contains slight variations of tempo as well as added pauses.

2) EQUILIBRATED TRILLS (Isoropoiimenoi Laryngismoi): they must be well adjusted to the tempo. Not all vocalizations are physically possible at just any tempo. The trill must end in time in a measure so as to allow ample anticipation of /engagement into the following thesis.

This is an OBVIOUS mistake in children learning trills, where either the tempo or the trill seem to stumble.  In the first case, the tempo is "lost" because of ADDITION of time... and in the second case, the trill comes far too late, and some time is REMOVED, or seems to be removed (because of LACK of PRE-thesis "pause" = refractory period") from the FOLLOWING measure.  

It is in this same manner that some professional SINGERS (NOT = chanters, NOT = PSALTIS) and their choirs "cheat" when they haven't learned how to perform trills traditionally:
they take up part of the "anticipation time" of the following thesis.

This is could be verified on a computer wave function and can be compared, by ANALOGY, to the medical Electro-cardiogram (EKG), which illustrates, by measuring the "electrical current" fluctuations of the most PERFECT machine, the HEART, and how it abides to some fundamental rules of NATURE so as to avoid "stumbling" = "tripping" up, and thus short-circuiting itself (thereby inexorably leading to DEATH).

In the HEART'S rhythmology, and in quite simplified terms, there is what is called

- a QRS complex (= THESIS for psaltiki) which is an electrical signal MAXIMUM,

- as well as a REFRACTORY period following this QRS , which corresponds to NO electrical signal at all (= the ENGAGEMENT interval in Psaltiki) and which thus precedes the NEXT QRS.

If one is to create some sort of ARTIFICIAL electrical stimulation during this refractory period, the RHYTHM of the heart COMPLETELY "TRIPS up" (that is, it could trip up for only one beat, if we're lucky enough, and will therefore "catch up" with the mistake eventually, or, if we're unlucky, the snowball effect = chain reaction will lead to complete arrhythmia = eminent DEATH).

By analogy, any TRILLS which extend or simply occur too late and thus BEYOND the allocated space (QRS interval) are PATHOLOGICAL, and so the rhythm seems to "trip up".

Let's give an example of how "trills" - all good, in this case- became rarefied in the Patriarcheion of Constantinople.
The particularity of Thrasyboulos STANITSAS was his capacity to perform many equilibrated trills within a given measure. Not all of these trills correspond to Iakovos NAFPLIOTIS', neither to Konstantinos PRINGOS', however.
But then, again, trills must be learned by SINGING ALONG a teacher and not just ACROSS a teacher.
This is the importance of having been a Domestichos. Konstantinos PRINGOS did not spend 20 years in the EP as did Thrasyboulos STANITSAS across him as LAMBADARIOS. BUT, Konstantinos PRINGOS had sung ALONG Iakovos NAFPLIOTIS for recordings as well as a domestichos, not counting the numerous festivals he had been invited to so as to "help" Iakovos NAFPLIOTIS.
So Konstantinos PRINGOS' trills resemble more Iakovos NAFPLIOTIS' trills than Thrasyboulos STANITSAS' trills resemble Konstantinos PRINGOS'.
Perhaps, also, that Thrasyboulos STANITSAS preferred a more personal touch.
Such is not the case as concerns Konstantinos PRINGOS, who showed respect and dedication to his main teacher, Iakovos NAFPLIOTIS, which was reciprocal, according to Stylianos TSOLAKIDIS.  Nevertheless, Pringos unfortunately did not bring us as many Iakovos TRILLS as is necessary for a DECENT transmission of tradition, and one has to look elsewhere to complement the vocalisation repertoire (eg. Tsolakidis, Proussalis)...

The Chios chanters (Chatzistamatis, Nerantzis and other descendants of the Georgios Binakis [student of Raidestinos] school, who went to Chios during the end of his life) are excellent examples of other types of trills, yet traditional (eg. Alekos BARDAS, the second main teacher of the author).
Not as much can be said for some other chanters who, having re-established correct tempo, have never heard the traditional trills they are trying to integrate into their repertoire.

You'll soon find out that these SISSY church singers tried deducing on their OWN, after having relentlessly read hieroglyphs and descriptions thereof, what CHRONOS and TRILLS actually mean, instead of HUMBLY sticking their ears beside some CREDIBLE psaltis' mouth so that this age-old treasure could be ABSORBED by their megalomaniac and intellectually fogged-up minds....

Most good trills involve PARESTIGMENON (unequal) temporal divisions, which are also an element of VIRILE, POSITIVIST chanting.


Therefore,
equilibrated trills are learned by CHANTING along (not just across),
so as to perform them in TIME,
without removing ANTICIPATION of / ENGAGEMENT into
THESIS.

Now, there are some DEMOTIC-type of SINGERS who do EXCELLENT, well-balanced trills (which do NOT impede upon the preparation of thesis/ engagement into tempo).   However, the rule which FOLLOWS does NOT allow their SINGING to be considered as AUTHENTIC PSALTIKI...


3) use of proper FORMULAE and ECONOMY of trills: this is possible if the classical lines have been learnt well by heart in as MANY variation forms as possible (by variation forms, one is to understand the TYPE of DEVELOPMENT = ANALYSIS one can do for a GIVEN classical melodic formula).
When developments are NOT performed, this leads to SIMPLE, SCHOLAR interpretations, also known as METRONOMIA...  this is the way Occidental musicologists have considered paleographic psaltiki for a long while, and this is the way they perform their own Gregorian hymns and our own transcriptions of psaltiki...  They have an additional problem, in that they do not know the EXACT duration of their neumes, and, not having any notion of SYNEPTIGMENOS chronos, end up SINGING melodies with incessant RHYTHMIC changes (= badly executed= kata metronomian syneptigmenos chronos stichon (of the verses).

Developments have been maintained by ORAL tradition,
and are transmitted by a very PRECISE yet CREDIBLE methodology
of which are COMPLETELY ignorant all of the contemporary
paleographico-ornitho-skalismatologists



Nothing is improvised. Musical Formulae constitute a precise repertoire, which is apparent in the 1800 editions. These formulae are employed with SCIENTIFIC rigour, according to the accentuation of the words they are associated with.

What applies to the written form also applies to the vocal expression.

Trills cannot just be performed anywhere, but there where tradition has maintained them.

This is only possible if, for each classical musical line, the numerous FORMULAR developments (variations, “analyseis”) have been learnt.
Thus, Iakovos NAFPLIOTIS did sing "differently" from what is written, but most of the time this constitutes "FORMULAR VARIATIONS".

One must keep in mind that he knew the ancient stenographic system that he had learnt from the Lambadarios Nicolaos and that he had preserved correct interpretation regardless of the "externally introduced Protopsaltis Georgios Biolakis". Occidentals may wish to consider the Iakovos NAFPLIOTIS transcriptions as his own "compositions" whereas they are mainly his "FORMULAR INTERPRETATIONS": a vast databank of music that the Three teachers counted upon oral tradition to transmit, because all variations could not be written.
ORAL tradition has JUST as much value as WRITTEN tradition in the Orthodox Church, and this cannot be and should not be neglected in PSALTIKI.

Unfortunately, one psaltis alone cannot transmit the ENTIRE repertoire of Traditional TRILLS, mainly because of VOCAL limitations.  Hence, a student should listen to 4 or 5 credible psaltis, so as to pick up about 10 variations from EACH teacher, of which about HALF are common to ALL...

Here are the important conclusions of this "psaltic variation "gene pool":

 -10 good psaltis are SUFFICENT to PRESERVE ALL the VOCAL variations of a GIVEN melodic formula (generation to generation transmission by a "gene=analysis/vocalisation" pool of 10 good psaltis).

- ONE stenographic "palaeographic" neume cannot be REDUCED to just THREE or FOUR variations which CONTEMPORARY PALEOGRAPHICO-ORNITHO-SKALISMATOLOGISTS
use REDUNDANTLY, thus WANING (weakening) the melody from the POWER provided by the WEALTH of VARIATION schemes of which they are IGNORANT, this time leading to MELODIC effeminisation (of the SCORE itself), which only further TRANVESTS their already effeminate interpretation.

 -One 1800 musical formula cannot always be described by the SAME palaeographic symbol, for the very SAME reasons (and we have manuscripts which show PALEOGRAPHIC formula VARIATIONS throughout the entire Stenongrapy to extended semeiographical evolution)

 -If one does not chant ALONG these 10 psaltis, one will have an IDEA about a given trill, but will never be able to perform it CORRECLTY
(by analogy, the same goes for learning how to speak...  although most DEAF people have INTACT vocal cords, they do NOT know how to EMIT sounds that they have NEVER heard...  even though they may have read DOZENS of phonetic books...
If a child does not read OUT loud, both ALONG and in presence of a Teacher who will CORRECT diction mistakes, that child will never learn how to read and speak correctly).
Furthermore, the brain "circuits" which integrate "auditory" to "vocal" circuits are malleable until the age of 16.  Beyond that, anyone learning a NEW language will never be able to obtain the CORRECT accent of that language, which is perfectly ACCESSIBLE to a child.  Therefore, one must hear TRILLS at a YOUNG age.. trying to learn them all at a later age is almost IMPOSSIBLE because of NATURAL (growth) limitations.

- No one can perform ALL the TRADITIONAL trills CORRECTLY, and one must be wise enough, along with the guidance of one' s CREDIBLE teacher, so as to choose the PALETTE of trills that CORRESPOND to that person's voice.

-One may have a very VERSATILE voice, but doing trills that are NOT AUTHENTICALLY PSALTIC will transform
PSALTIKI
into DEMOTIC SINGING....
(which, although NOT bad,
is INAPPROPRIATE for CHURCH prayer)


4) Correct use of tempo. Nowadays, tempo ranges are more limited: Katavassiae are sung according to "SYNDOMES" with slow tempo, Cheroubikon as a Kalophonikos Heirmos type of TEMPO and Chronos ("attack of thesis") etc. Although Thrasyboulos STANITSAS gives some indication of tempo in this Triodion, it still does not correspond to Iakovos NAFPLIOTIS's tempos.
For instance:
Troparion at Vespers can be as slow as 56/min, and as fast as 240/minon some occasions.
Katavasiai were always "ARGON version chanted at about 110 to 120/min and not SYNTOMES at 60.
People complain that we have no time to sing complete services. This is not so. Most chanters do not know how to read quickly enough (one doubts if they ever did any Biblical readings in Church), and are ignorant of heirmological formulae used in canons.
In almost 100 years, we have lost more than half of the hymnological singing repertoire, in favour of "auto-composed " DOXASTICONS and Cheroubikons, which go in all sorts of directions...  such as the "makamio-leitourgika"...


5) Clarity of expression. Even if psaltiki might sound nasal, it isn't always nasal. From experience, this particular way of singing allows more precision in the production of correct intervals. Yet, Thrasyboulos STANITSAS is an excellent example of clarity, and so are Kallinikos and Peristeris.

6) Respect for ones' teachers and fellow chanters. Notice, I only gave names of those that do such and such a thing well, according to what the Protocanonarchos had told me. Personal criticisms are and should be avoided

Here, the author will DIVERGE from this precept and OPENLY criticize those with psaltic pathologies far GREATER than their "psaltic"TITLES and RESPONSABILITIES.
Notice the mention "chanters" and not SINGERS, which is a distinction that will soon become limpid to all, NOT according to titles, but according to comparison with OLD, AUTHENTIC and traditional psaltis...
For those who wish to see some GKM (the author) "Megalomaneia" in this entire website, the response is as follows:
"perhaps this is the price to pay, so as to get the so called "contemporary Authorities/"Firmes"="famous ones" to temper down their INSOLENT, AUTO-didactic SACRILEGES of PSALTIKI...

7) Correct intervals. Although there are descriptions of the use of the KANONAKI so as to help learn psaltiki, its CORRECT use is limited to an instrument producing some ISSON, and can thus be replaced today by OTHER mechanical means WHILE LEARNING.
Psaltic intervals are definitely NOT those of the piano.

Psaltic intervals CANNOT be learned by plucking some chord whose length has been determined by some epitropi (comitee).

An interesting experiment has shown that some psaltis reproduces with almost 99% fidelity, the intervals as described by Didymos.  Yet, when some INSTRUMENT plays back those VERY SAME intervals, the SAME psaltis finds them DIFFERENT.
Because of differences in HARMONICS
and because of the DETERMINING role played by PSYCHO-ACOUSTICS,
one cannot
and SHOULD not be learning according to ANY instrument
OTHER than
the VOICE of a credible teacher.

Furthermore, the author's and his teachers' experience has showed that PARALLAGI (solfegio) is MORE reliable than melos for INTERVALS [that is, one is more precise and more consistent with diastematics =intervals when performing PARALLAGI (solfegio)]. In fact, changing the TEMPO of a melody can also lead to change of some intervals, because some voices are not flexible enough... and the result is one of "condensed" intervals, which some add to a NEVER-ending LIST of ELXEIS (attractions).
ELXEIS DO exist, indeed,
but NOT as they are sung by CONTEMPORARY
paleographico-ornitho-skalismatologists....
They NEVER did parallagi with a credible teacher.. and many have used INSTRUMENTS to determine their "elxeis"... and since the Occidental world applauds such intervals that are aesthetically acceptable to their occidental, piano-tempered ears, many Greeks, xenomaniacs beyond compare, echo the applause...

This is the reason why ALL TRADITIONAL psaltis
have taught their students
PARALLAGI at a VERY, VERY slow tempo,
just as the first time they ever chanted MELOS (melody) to their students, and this for *ALL the hymns, regardless of the tempo during service...

We thus have obtained the PATHOLOGICAL singing of today, which,
if it is to CONTINUE, will give rise to church singing quite comparable to that of the Occidental Church,
which went through this VERY instrumentalisation process,
which eventually placed instruments ABOVE vocal tradition,
and which gave rise to the well-known contemporary,
INSIPID Gregorian "singing"
which has NOTHING to do with the ancient,
very PRAYFUL, Gregorian CHANT)....

Although many wish to make comparisons with Demotic music, let it be known that NO psaltis of the Patriarcheion, educated as he may have been in Hellenic demotic and "exoteric" = Ottoman/Arab/Persian/Hindu etc. music, ever TAUGHT using instruments.

The intervals of psaltiki are a bit more MALLEABLE, and they depend on each particular MUSICAL formula as well as WHEN and in WHAT conditions it is sang..  the only thing that counts is the "CORRECTNESS" according to a STABLE isson  (the same THROUGHOUT a psaltic melody... it may, however, be re-enforced, but NEVER supplanted, by a SECOND, parallel isson

According to the Protocanonarchos,
"ENA EINAI to ISSON " =
the isson is INVARIABLY THE SAME..."


Therefore,
simply LEARNING MELOS is NOT sufficent..
learning by making use of ANY instrument is ERRONEOUS...
one must do PARALLAGI as well as CHANT ALONG, beside a credible teacher.

8) Good vocal quality. Although this seems to be the FIRST priority in the contemporary Occidental musical world, it is paradoxically the LAST priority for psaltiki... one who knows well one's "psaltiki" (that is, ALL of the above) will be a good psaltis who will help people pray... a good voice is an advantage but NOT a NECESSITY for GOOD psaltiki.


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Now, let's have an overall look at
PATRIARCHIKON HYPHOS
and what constitutes MEGALOPREPEIA
= "grandeur" = majestic psaltiki:

a)fear of GOD and conscioussnessof responsability, spiritual and historical, as well as rigour in one's psaltic function (barely any movements on the analoghion, always standing up straight, not at all touching the Stasidion, no talking and no grimaces...  a psaltis in good health should NEVER sit, even during the Kyrigma = sermon.  A respectful psaltis will know WHEN and HOW to come down from his pedestal, even COMPLETELY descending from the analogion, on the VARIOUS prescribed situations (eg.  Hexapsalmos, Evangelical readings, Eulogimeni, Small eisodos, Great Eisodos, Se Hymnoumen, Eis Agios, Ton Eulogounta while being blessed by the clergy...))

b) respect for the teacher and, in return, loving guidance of the disciples (this, of course, does NOT include effeminate "paleographico-ornitho-skalismatologists" and "demotiko-taverno-methyso-borborygmic singers"...

c) Chronos kai proslipsis chronou (tempo and engagement of tempo), which is best performed if what is sung is done so by heart

d) trills WITHIN the measure, with ample time left for anticipation/preparation of the next measure (exemple of anticipation/preparation: pronouncing the consonants WELL BEFORE the "EXPLOSION" of the VOWEL)

e) economy of vocalisations, which should be well adapted to one's voice as well as to the tempo (not all trills can be performed at just any tempo...)

f)continuous " tuning " by using parallagi perpetually, even if one knows the lesson. Parallagi will bring back to memory the Teacher's intervals at parallagi)

g) correct use of tempo (chroniki agogi), adjusted by tradition to the "mathimata=lessons or hymnological compositions" to be sung. As for vocal technique and, lastly, talent, one notes that there is barely any mention made . Just as God will judge us according to the talent received, that is on the EFFORTS made towards improvement , so is MEGALOPREPEIA defined by elements one can work upon so as to improve, a talented voice being an asset but not a pre-requisite...


In the following pages, one will find "play by play" commentaries of many excerpts of today's "firmes = authorites" of church "singing".  The author will not exclude himself, and will make known the numerous mistakes in his performances.

HOWEVER, one must immediately distinguish the following:

A psaltis who RECOGNIZES all personal mistakes and aspires to correcting them, as opposed to some singer who hides behind manuscripts and instruments and occidental-oriented xenomaniac public applause..

A psaltis who has SCIENTIFIC tools for analysing performances as opposed to some "musicologist"  who does "theme analysis" on "hieroglyphics" that are BARELY understood....

A psaltis who may make errors SPORADICALLY, as opposed to some SISSY-"guru" singer who does SYSTEMATIC errors all in trying to CONVINCE the ENTIRE planet that this is how psaltiki SHOULD sound like...


PSALTIKI should sound JUST the way
Iakovos NAFPLIOTIS
left it to us...
He was a MAN who CHANTED as a man...

it's about time all this
effeminate sissy singing
(whose source are the various
paleographico-ornitho-skalismatologists
who can't even get a basic Ni-Pa interval straight)
and its counterpart,
demotico-taverno-methyso-borborygmic singing
ALL become CONDEMNED by the official Orthodox Church Authorities
and that future psaltis OPEN their ears WIDE to the
LEGACY of Iakovos NAFPLIOTIS:



psaltai = "andrasthe en to psallein"

to all psaltis:

put MANLINESS into your chanting

that is,

chant as MEN






The author wishes to demonstrate that Castration and Transvestism of the human BODY
are condemned by the Christian Church.

By extension, the author wishes to incite the Church authorities
to consider with much seriousness
the GRAVE situation Psaltiki is going through,
BECAUSE of the  Castration  and Transvetism
it is being afflicted by
NON-Traditional, EFFEMINATE paleographico-ortnitho-skalismatologists.
___________________

Therefore, some interesting citations:

Cited from the EXCELLENT website

http://www.holytrinitymission.org/index.php

Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.
466 Foothill Blvd, Box 397, La Canada, California 91011, USA.
Tel. 818 380-0830, Fax 510 217-4038

http://www.fatheralexander.org


Excerpts from

The 85 canons of apostles
as translated by the Holy Trinity Monastery:




21. A Eunuch, whether he became such by influence of men, or was deprived of his virile parts under persecution, or was born thus, may, if he is worthy, become a Bishop.
(Ap. cc. XXIII, XXIV; c. I of the 1st; and c. VIII of the lst-and-2nd.).
Interpretation.
Eunuchs as a genus are divided into three species, namely: spadones, geldings, and castrates. Spadones are those who were born without testicles and virile members from the womb of their mother, concerning whom the Lord said: "There are some eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb" (Matt. 19:12); an example was Dorotheus, a presbyter in the church of Antioch, as Eusebius bears witness in his Ecclesiastical History, Bk. 7, ch. 32). Geldings are those whose virile members were so compressed and squeezed by their parents when they were infants that they rendered useless for the purpose of begetting children by being so squeezed. Castrates are those who have deprived themselves of their genitals either with a knife or by some other means or contrivance of a mechanical kind. These facts being known beforehand, the present Canon says: 1. In case anyone has become a eunuch as a result of wickedness and injury inflicted by other men, or in times of persecution they his genitals have been cut off, or he was born without any from his mother’s womb, but he is worthy of holy orders, let him be made a bishop, 2. since he himself was not the cause of such mutilation, but, on the contrary, he suffered the injury either as a result of nature or at the hands of wicked men, and ought on this account to be treated mercifully, and not be hated and castigated. Concerning eunuchism Ap. cc. XXII, XXIII, and XXIV also have something to say. In addition, c. I of the First Ecumenical Council says that any clergyman who is eunuchized by physicians on account of an illness or by barbarians shall be permitted to remain in the clergy; or, if he be a layman, he may be made a clergyman. But as for anyone in good health who has eunuchized himself, if he be a clergyman, let him cease performing the functions of priesthood; or, if he be a layman, let him not be made a clergyman. Again, c. VIII of the First-and-Second, citing this same canon of the First, says: Any clergyman who eunuchizes another, or himself with his own hand or another’s, let him be deposed from office; as for any layman who does this, let him be excommunicated. But if priests or laymen eunuchize those who are afflicted with a disease of a venereal nature, they are not to be blamed.

34. Let no one who has mutilated himself become a clergyman; for he is a murderer of himself, and an enemy of God’s creation.
(Ap. cc. XXI, XXIII, XXIV; c. I of 1st; c. VIII of lst-&-2nd.).
Interpretation.
The preceding Canon prescribes mandatorily regarding those who have been eunuchized, whereas the present Canon prescribes optionally about men who have been eunuchized, by saying: Whoever willfully eunuchizes himself when in sound condition, whether he do so with his own hands or has someone else eunuchize him, let him not be made a clergyman, since he himself is a murderer of himself by himself, and is an enemy of God’s creation. For God created him a man complete with genitals, but, by removing these, he converts himself into an odd and outlandish nature; since he is neither a man, because he cannot perform the chief functions of a man and beget a human being like himself, nor, again, is he a woman, because he is incapable of undergoing the duties of women, or, more explicitly speaking, he cannot be made pregnant and give birth to children like women, but after a certain fashion he is a third kind of monster, and is, so to speak, a being intermediate between the male and the female species of mankind: see also the Interpretation of Ap. c. XXI.

23. If anyone who is a clergyman should mutilate himself, let him be deposed from office. For he is a self-murderer.
(Ap. cc. XXI, XXII, XXIV; c. I of the 1st; c. VIII of the lst-&-2nd.).
Interpretation.
This Canon too, like the one above, deals with cases of eunuchism. But the former prescribes that he shall not be made a clergyman who, while a layman, should eunuchize himself; whereas this Canon says that if anyone who was previously a clergyman should eunuchize himself when in sound health, or have someone else eunuchize him, he is to be deposed from office; since he is a murderer of himself. But besides the divine Canons even the political laws too castigate those who eunuchize or castrate either themselves or others with various punishments, ranging all the way from confiscation of their property, exile, or retaliation, i.e., by compelling them to be eunuchized themselves by some other person. If, again, it should happen that a slave, whether well or ill, should eunuchize himself or be eunuchized by another, the laws command that he be set free. (Photius, ch. 14 of Title I). Read also the Interpretation of Ap. c. XXI.

14. Any layman who has mutilated himself shall be excommunicated for three years. For he is a plotter against his own life.
(Ap. cc. XXI, XXII, XXIII; c. I of the 1st; and c. VIII of the lst-2nd.).
Interpretation.
If, on the other hand, it be a layman that should mutilate and castrate himself when in good health, or have someone else eunuchize him, the present Canon commands that he be excommunicated from the Mysteries and from the congregation of Christians in the church for a period of three years; since with the eunuchization he becomes a danger to his own life.

43. Let any Subdeacon, or Anagnost, or Psalt, who does like things either desist or be excommunicated. Likewise any Layman.
(Ap. c. XLIV, LIV; cc. IX, L of the 6th; cc. XXIV, LV of Laod.; cc. XLVII, LXIX of Carthage.).
Interpretation.
This Canon, too, orders that any subdeacon, or anagnost, or psalt (i.e., chanter) who does like things, such as are prohibited by the above c. XLII, or, in other words, who plays dice or cards or any other games, or who spends time in drunkenness and eating and drinking bouts, shall either cease from such indecent doings, or, if he fails to do so, shall be excommunicated. Likewise laymen, too, who spend time in the same way shall either cease doing so or be excommunicated from the congregation of the faithful. See also the preceding c. XLII.
________________________

Excerpts from
the
Canons of the
Seven Ecumenical Councils.


There has long existed a dispute as to the number of the canons of First Nicaea. All the collections of canons, whether in Latin or Greek, composed in the fourth and fifth centuries agree in attributing to this Council only the twenty canons, which we possess today. The FIRST ONE is the following:
Canon 1: On the admission, or support, or expulsion of clerics mutilated by choice or by violence.
1. If anyone has been operated upon by surgeons for a disease, or has been excised by barbarians, let him remain in the clergy. But if anyone has excised himself when well, he must be dismissed even if he is examined after being in the clergy. And henceforth no such person must be promoted to holy orders. But as is self-evident, though such is the case as regards those who affect the matter and dare to excise themselves, if any persons have been eunuchized by barbarians or their lords, but are otherwise found to be worthy, the Canon admits such persons to the clergy.
(Ap. cc. XXI, XXII, XXIII; c. VIII of the lst-&-2nd.)

Interpretation.
Various Canons of the Apostles include decrees concerning eunuchism. But since they were disregarded, as it would appear, on this account it became necessary that it be made the subject of the present Canon, which says: Whoever has been made a eunuch by surgeons because of a disease or ailment, or by barbarians during the time of an invasion, if he is a clergyman, let him perform the functions of the clergy. But whoever while in good health has made himself a eunuch, even though he is a clergyman, must cease from the activities of the clergy. And of as many such persons as are laymen not even one must henceforth be made a clergyman. But as we say this in regard to those who affectedly and wilfully dare to make themselves eunuchs, in the same vein again we say that if there be any persons that have been made eunuchs by barbarians or by their masters (or owners), that is to say, against their will and tyranically, but that are worthy, the Canon (either the present Canon, that is to say, or Apostolical Canon XXI) allows them to be admitted to the clergy. Read also the Interpretation of Ap. c. XXI.


Quinisext Ecumenical Council.
The Holy and Ecumenical Quinisext (or Quinisextine), or more properly speaking, Sixth Council was assembled in the imperial and lustrous palace called the Troullos (or, according to the Latin spelling, Trullus), in the reign of Justinian II, who was the son of Pogonatus and was surnamed Rhinotmetus (a Greek word meaning "with the nose cut off"), in the year 691 after Christ. Here are Canons 62, 66, 70 , 75 and 96 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council:

62. We wish once for all to extirpate from the life of the faithful the so-called (festival of) the calends, or kalends, and the so-called Vota, and the so-called Brumalia, and the public festival celebrated on the first day of March. Furthermore, the public dances of women, which are calculated to wreak great harm and injury. Furthermore we dismiss also the dances and ritualistic ceremonies performed by men or women in the name of what are falsely called gods among Greeks, after an old custom which is alien to the life of Christians, at the same time decreeing that no man shall put on any feminine costume, nor shall a woman put on any that befits men. But neither shall anybody put on comic, or satyric, or tragic masks; neither shall anybody shout the name of abominable Dionysus while engaged in squeezing grapes in the wine-presses; nor, when pouring the wine into the casks shall they provoke laughter by a show of ignorance or of vanity, by producing the effects of demoniacal delusion. As for those who from now on attempt to carry out any of the aforesaid improprieties, while well aware of what they are doing, if they should be clergymen, we command that they be deposed from office; but if laymen, that they be excommunicated.

Interpretation.
The calends (also spelled kalends) were the first days of every month, on which the Greeks were accustomed to celebrate in order as they hoped to pass the whole month merrily. The Vota and Brumalia, on the other hand, were Greek festivals. The Vota, referring to grazing and sheep, were celebrated in honor of the god Pan, who was supposed by the Greeks to be the patron of sheep and other animals. The Brumalia were celebrated in honor of Dionysus; for the epithet of Dionysus among the Greeks of the north was Bromius, derived from bromos, a Greek word signifying a peal as of thunder. By the Romans he was called Brumalius, and his festival Brumalia, in the plural, which is the equivalent of Dionysia, as the Greeks called it. So the present Canon commands that such festivals, but especially the public one celebrated on the first day of March, for the pretended purpose of securing good weather in spring, be eliminated altogether from the public and private life of Christians. Nor must public dances in general of women be held, nor festivals and dances by men or women in honor of the name of the pseudo gods of the Greeks. It decrees in addition that neither must men wear women’s clothing, nor women men’s clothing. But neither must they disguise themselves with false faces and masks that are comic, or, in other words, calculated to provoke laughter, or tragic, or calculated to provoke laments and tears, or satyric, or, in other words peculiar, to Satyrs and Bacchi, who in honor of Dionysus were wont to dance ecstatically and as if demon-possessed. And that no one should invoke, or call upon, the name of despicable Dionysus (who was supposed to be the giver and patron of wine) when treading the grapes in the winepresses, nor laugh and guffaw when the new wine is being transferred to the pitharia, as these are called in modern Greek, being a kind of earthen casks. So whoever from now on, after becoming fully aware of these prohibitions, shall attempt to do any of the aforesaid things which are demonish and Greekish, if he is a clergyman, let him be deposed from office but if he is a layman, let him be excommunicated.
Concord.
Note also that in Deuteronomy (ch. xxii, v. 5)
God prohibits a woman from wearing men’s clothing,
and a man from wearing women’s clothing:
"a woman shall not wear the apparel of a man,
neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment;
for all who do so are an abomination unto the Lord thy God."

66. The faithful are required to spend the time in a state of leisure without fail in the holy churches from the holy days of resurrected Christ our God to New Sunday in psalms and hymns, and in spiritual songs called odes, while taking cheer in Christ and celebrating, and paying close attention to the reading of the divine Scriptures, and delighting themselves to their heart’s content in the Holy Mysteries. For thus shall we be jointly resurrected and jointly exalted with Christ. Therefore during the days in question let no horse races or other popular spectacle be held at all.
Interpretation.
Inasmuch as all of Novation week is reckoned as a single day devoted to the name of the Lord, therefore does the present Canon decree that all Christians during this week ought to remain in the churches, taking cheer and celebrating the Resurrection of the Lord with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, paying attention to the words of the divine Scriptures and partaking of the divine Mysteries. For in this sort of way we shall be resurrected and exalted jointly together with Christ. Hence on these days horse racing must not be indulged in, nor must any other popular spectacle, disorderly game, that is to say, or dances, or wrestling matches, and any other such amusement. See also Ap. c. IX and c. XXIV of this 6th.

----------
Canon LXXV of the Sixth Ecumenical Synod decrees the following with reference to church choirs: "It is our wish that those who come to church to chant should neither employ disorderly yelling and strain their natural voices to scream, nor recite anything inappropriate and not suited to a church, but that they should offer such psalmodies with great care contrition to God, who listens and looks on in secret." "The children of Israel shall be reverent," saith the sacred saying (Lev. 15:31).
The holy liturgy and sacred hymnody presented in church has the purpose of offering prayers to propitiate God for our sins. Whoever prays and supplicates should be of humble and contrite mind; yelling indicates rudeness and irreverence of mind. But voices and faces of female choirs and the psalmody of European quartets represent a theatrical mind rather than a modest ecclesiastical mind. What is it that is unsuited to the church? Effeminate songs (melodies) and trills (which means the same thing as the warbles of old) and an excessive variety of tones that inclines to whorish songs, Zonaras, an interpreter of the Canons, says.
The children of Israel after Christ are the pious Christians, who should be imbued with fear of God and reverence while within the church. God is not pleased with variety of melodies and voices, but with contrition and repentance of the heart. This is easily understood when we remember that man is pleased to listen to melodies and to look at pretty faces, whereas God looks into man’s soul in the depths of the heart and delights in its reverence, which is manifested by humbleness of behavior.


96. Those who have put on Christ through baptism have solemnly promised to emulate and imitate the manner of life He led in the flesh. As touching, therefore, those who arrange and dress the hair of their head by contriving to plait or wave it in a fashion which has disastrous effects on beholders, and hence offers a lure to unbolstered souls, we undertake to treat them in a fatherly fashion with a suitable penance, while training them like children and teaching them how to live in a sober and sane manner, with the object of enabling them to lay aside the deception and vanity resulting from materiality in order that they may bend their minds towards a life which is perpetually unruffled and blissful, and to enjoy chaste association in fear, and to approach God as near as possible through their purity of life, and to adorn the inner rather than the outer man with virtues and benignant and blameless manners, so that they may not have any trace left in them of the rudeness of the adversary. If, however, anyone should conduct himself in a manner contrary to the present Canon, let him be excommunicated.
Interpretation.
"As many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27), says the great Apostle Paul. Hence the present Canon adds that those who have put on Christ must also adopt his mode of life and practice every chastity and purity, and not adorn their body in a manner that is both superfluous and artificial. On this account it excommunicates those Christians who braid the hair of their head, and comb it and wave it and flaunt it as a lure to those souls who are of weak faith and easily led astray, as much of men as of women, and while training such persons with the penalty of excommunication it teaches them to abandon every deception and vanity and embellishment of matter, and of this perishable body, and, on the other hand, to lift their mind up to that blissful and imperishable life, approaching God as near as possible with their purity of life, and preferring to adorn themselves, that is to say, the inner man, or soul, with virtues and benignant manners, without paying attention to the outer man, or body, with such deceptive and vain adornments or embellishments, in such a way as to avoid bearing any longer any sign of the wickedness of the Devil, whom they have renounced through holy baptism.
Concord.
It is on this account that God commands in Leviticus (19:27) that no shall form a topknot from the hair of his head — or, in other words, a lock of hair, according to an unknown commentator. Hence it is that all the Apostles in common in their Injunctions, Book I, ch. 3, command men not to exercise undue care in combing their hair or to perfume their hair, or to braid it into one or more pleats, in order to prevent them from thereby attracting women into love, but to cut their hair off. But in particular St. Paul, with special regard to this artificial hairdressing and the idea of prohibiting it, said that if a man has hair it is a mark of dishonor in him; and in the same vein divine Epiphanius, too, said that long hair is a thing that is alien to the Catholic Church. Note, however, that just as one is forbidden to refrain from cutting his hair for the sake of beautification and good looks, and a bad purpose, so, on the other hand, it is also forbidden to cut it and to shave it with certain circularities roundabout, and, generally speaking, for the purpose of improving its appearance and enhancing its attractiveness. On this account, indeed, it was that as regards the topknot mentioned in Leviticus, Symmachus said: "You shall not shave round in a circle the face of your head." Aquila, on the other hand, says: "You shall not encircle the crown of your head." So the conclusion from all these facts is that the laity ought to cut their hair unaffectedly, unpretentiously, and inartificially.

75. We wish those who attend church for the purpose of chanting neither to employ disorderly cries and to force nature to cry out aloud, nor to foist in anything that is not becoming and proper to a church; but, on the contrary, to offer such psalmodies with much attentiveness and con-triteness to God, who sees directly into everything that is hidden from our sight. "For the sons of Israel shall be reverent" (Lev. 15:30), the sacred word has taught us.
Interpretation.
The chanting, or psalmody, that is done in churches is in the nature of begging God to be appeased for our sins. Whoever begs and prayerfully supplicates must have a humble and contrite manner; but to cry out manifests a manner that is audacious and irreverent. On this account the present Canon commands that those who chant in the churches refrain from forcing their nature to yell, but also from saying anything else that is unsuitable for the church. But what are the things that are unsuitable for the church? The expositor Zonaras replies that they are womanish members and warblings (which is the same as saying trills, and an excessive variation or modulation in melodies which inclines towards the songs sung by harlots). The present Canon, therefore, commands that all these things be eliminated from the Church, and that those chant therein shall offer their psalmodies with great care to God, who looks into the hidden recesses of the heart, i.e., into the psalmody and prayer that are framed mentally in the heart rather than uttered in external cries. For the sacred word of Leviticus teaches us sons of Israel to be reverent to God.
Concord.
David the prophet, too, says, "chant ye understandingly" (Ps. 47:7). In expounding this text St. Basil the Great (Epitomized Definitions, No. 279) says: "Understanding the words of the Holy Scripture is like the quality of meals which the mouth eats; since, according to Job (12:11), ‘The throat tastes foods, but the mind discerns words.’ So if anyone’s soul discerns the power of every word just as the sense of taste discerns the quality of every food, he is fulfilling that commandment of David’s." St. Basil himself adds (Epitomized Definitions, No. 281) that whoever does not go to chant in church eagerly should either be corrected or be ousted. If there are enough psalts available — many, I mean — the same saint (Epitomized Def., No. 307) says that they should practice chanting in rotation, once a week, that is to say. Canon XV of Laodicea, on the other hand, commands that no one else must chant in church but canonical chanters, or psalts, and parchment-chanting chanters, or psalts, or, in other words, except those who chant with a membraneous or other paper chant. In addition, c. XXIII of the same Council says that psalts are not to wear an orarion when they are chanting. Between the chants there ought to be reading (or praying) too, according to c. XVII of the same Council


excerpts from
Typikon,

(editor’s note, quoted from
http://www.holytrinitymission.org/index.php
Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.
466 Foothill Blvd, Box 397, La Canada, California 91011, USA.
Tel. 818 380-0830, Fax 510 217-4038

Prayer is the main activity in the spiritual life of an Orthodox Christian.
Prayer is the necessary means for spiritual growth and the struggle with passions and is an endless need for the believer.
But, prayer must be learned under the direction of those who have already achieved perfection in prayer,
i.e., from the Holy Fathers,
whose prayers, rites, and customs have been accepted by the whole Church
and introduced into the Order of Divine Services.
From here then is derived the sacred significance for the Church Typicon.

Psaltiki is PRAYER, and as such, must be learned from CREDIBLE masters

PSALTIKI should sound JUST the way
Iakovos NAFPLIOTIS
left it to us...
He was a MAN who CHANTED as a man...

it's about time all this
effeminate sissy singing
(whose source are the various
paleographico-ornitho-skalismatologists
who can't even get a basic Ni-Pa interval straight)
and its counterpart,
demotico-taverno-methyso-borborygmic singing
ALL become CONDEMNED by the official Orthodox Church Authorities
and that future psaltis OPEN their ears WIDE to the
LEGACY of Iakovos NAFPLIOTIS:



psaltai = "andrasthe en to psallein"

to all psaltis:

put MANLINESS into your chanting

that is,

chant as MEN

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