Music: The Notes and the Space Between the Notes

I have spent many hours of my life studying music.  Many teachers have taught me the mechanics of how to bring the music of our people to the soul of those listening.  Music is about the notes and the space between the notes.  An appropriate mood cannot be created by continuous sound.  Rather, the space and silence dividing one phrase from the next is what provides the listener with the opportunity to digest the full impact of the music and its text.  Sometimes it is about the music and sometimes it is about the moments in between. 

Every year I train approximately thirty students for their bar/bat mitzvahs.  One of the most important concepts I teach them is how to read the notes – the funny looking accents that look like they don’t belong on the page.  What are they and where do they come from?

In Hebrew, we call the notes Taamim – the accents found in the Chumash.  They are there to provide the reader with necessary information to correctly chant according to the mood of the occasion.  In ancient days it was customary to study and recite poetry, prayers, and laws with the aid of a melody.  As far as prayer is concerned, we carry that tradition to this day. 

“The evolution of our synagogue musical tradition may be said to have taken place as follows:  first came the gradually shaped cantillation modes (taamim or trope); out of these came the prayer modes known as nusach hatefillah (the chant of prayer); out of the prayer modes came the traditional melodies such as Kol Nidre, the kaddish, etc; and out of these foundations came the folk song, art song and music as we know it today.”

The Talmud tells us that “the Bible should be read in public, and made understood to its listeners in musical and sweet tones – and he who reads the Torah without tune, shows disregard for it and its vital values and laws.”

So, how do when know what the correct melody is?  We know that in 444BCE, Ezra returned to Israel from Babylonian exile and publicly read the Torah in Jerusalem with proper stops (the space between the notes), and melody (the trope notes).  Only the books of the Bible that are read publicly have a designated tune.  These books are the Torah, Haftorah (prophets), Esther, Lamentations (Eichah –Tisha B’Av), Ruth (Shavuot), Ecclesiastes (Kohelet – Sukkot), Song of Songs (Shir HaShirim – Pesach), and Psalms (Tehillim). 
“The Book of Esther has been chanted since the time of the Maccabees, Lamentations at least since the destruction of the 2nd temple, while Song of Songs (Pesach), Ruth (Shavuot) and Ecclesiastes (Sukkot) were read as far back as the first century.”

The music I teach to my students is perpetuated by a longstanding tradition.  For generations it was remembered by ear.  Eventually, the chain of teaching broke down and a system of graphic accents (taamim) was devised and written down.  While the system is not perfect, it is the best way to ensure continuity for generations to come. 

I remember attending shul as a child and watching the Ba’al Koreh (Torah reader) read from the Torah with an assistant standing next to him with a Chumash open.  The assistant would make a series of consecutive hand signals while the Torah reader would follow those symbols in order to chant accurately from the Torah.  It was like the relationship between the pitcher and catcher at a baseball game.  The catcher calls the pitches for the pitcher to throw.  “The signals used in reading Torah served to remind the reader of the direction of the melody.  This system was based upon the rise and fall of the finger or the stretching of the palm of the hand by the helper who was called a tomech.”

Today the tradition to read from the Torah, Haftorah or to lead the davening with the correct pronunciation and tune is still a sacred task.  Bar/Bat Mitzvah students spend months preparing so that they can perpetuate this ancient tradition.  “When chanted correctly, the text strikes with its singular effectiveness in making clearer the meaning of the text and impressing it on the mind of the listener.”

Music in its purest form is influenced by the sound and blend of the many instruments at work.  However, the music of the synagogue is dominated by the words – the rhythm of the text determines its musical flow.  The notes and the space in between are integral to bringing the fullest meaning to the prayers we recite. 

Cantor Eric Moses