This article explains a bit more about the courses in the MCI cantor education program.
Step 1: Making the decision
Apply for a Moodle user name (if you don’t already have one) and take the Becoming a Cantor course; this course is free, and explains our church’s need for cantors, the role of the cantor in the church, and the most important aspect of a cantor’s vocation.
If you are willing to do the work to become a cantor – or if you are already a cantor and want to become more skilled and comfortable in your vocation – register for the MCI program. You will receive information allowing you to sign up for the rest of the courses in the program.
Most MCI courses are taught online; you will need a computer, an internet connection, and an email address. You will also need:
- A copy of the Divine Liturgies book
- A digital tape recorder, or another device (such as a smartphone) that allows you to record your own singing
Eventually, you will also need some additional books (available from the Byzantine Seminary Press), and a pitch reference of some kind: a keyboard instrument, pitchpipe, or appropriate smartphone app or computer program. Information about these will be provided as needed.
Step 2: The Introductory Courses
Using Moodle, you will take six courses:
- Introduction to Liturgy – a basic introduction to Byzantine Rite worship
- Introduction to Church Singing – the singing voice and how to use it; the three essential melodies of our plainchant; pitch matching and leading the singing of congregational responses.
- Introduction to the Divine Liturgy – the parts of the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, and how to sing one version of each major hymn in the service.
- Introduction to the Eight Tones – recognizing and singing the variable hymns of the Divine Liturgy (troparion, kontakion, prokeimenon, and Alleluia) for ordinary Sundays. Also, singing the Lord’s Prayer in each of the eight vespers (sticheron) tones.
- Reading in Church – how to prepare and chant the epistle and other Scriptural readings.
- Introduction to the Typikon – how to know what variable hymns are sung at each service.
Once you have completed these courses, you will have the skillls necessary to serve as an assistant cantor, and lead the singing when necessary at an ordinary Sunday Divine Liturgy.
Step 3: The Intermediate Courses
These courses build on the introductory courses, deepening your understanding of liturgy, plain chant, and leadership.
- The Liturgical Year – the fixed and movable calendars; ranks of feasts; prefestal and postfestal days, and fasting seasons.
- Mastering the Eight Tones – how to sing any troparion or kontakion, as well as the prokeimena for the year. The eight samohlasen tones used at vespers, and selected festal irmosy.
- The Office of Vespers – our most important service, after the Divine Liturgy.
- The Divine Liturgy – the Divine Liturgies of Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Basil, with all musical variations in the Divine Liturgy book. Music for singing before and after the Liturgy, and at Holy Communion.
Step 4: The Advanced Courses
These courses apply the lessons from the intermediate courses to the church year and sacraments. They may be taken in any order.
- Hierarchical Services – leading the singing at services celebrated by the bishop.
- Services for the Living – baptism and chrismation, the wedding service, moleben and akathist.
- Services for the Departed – the funeral services, parastas, panachida, and requiem Divine Liturgy.
- Reader Services and Typika – what to sing when no priest is available.
- Services of the Great Fast – Sunday evening Vespers, the Presanctified Liturgy, Lenten devotions and hymns.
- Services of Holy Week – the true test of a cantor’s stamina: Palm Sunday to Holy Saturday.
- From Pascha to All Saints – services of Pascha and the Paschal season.
- Christmas and Theophany – services and hymns for the “Winter Pascha.”
Once these courses are completed, you will have learned everything required for cantor certification. At various checkpoints in the program, you will have been graded on your ability to lead particular services or parts of services. At this point, you can request that two MCI instructors, or an MCI instructor and an experienced local cantor, attend a celebration of the Divine Liturgy or Vespers in your parish, and assess your knowledge of liturgy, chant, and leadership. They will either award you a certificate of completion at this point, or recommend specific needed improvements and make a plan for another assessment.
The MCI will contact your bishop, who will be the one to formally recognize your completion of the cantor program.
Once you have completed cantor certification, you will have permanent access to all MCI courses, for additional learning or to use as refreshers.
Step 5: Master Courses
There are a number of areas not addressed in the cantor certification requirements that are still worth learning. These are taught as individual courses, online or in the classroom, which may be taken any time after you have finished the core (intermediate) courses in step 3 above.
Planned courses are listed on the Courses page, and more may be added.
Recognizing intermediate steps
It’s a long way from the start of the MCI cantor education program to completion of cantor certification. So, using Moodle, we will be acknowledging the completion of each group of courses with Moodle badges that show your progress.