by Sr Fidelis
Back to the Basics!
If you listen, you will hear that this scale sounds different than the familiar DO scale.The half steps fall between MI and FA; TI and DO, but because we’re starting with RE, it gives a different “mood” or mode. Most Gregorian melodies have a range of 8 notes; some more and some less. There are two “anchor” pitches within the piece — one called the home tone, or final pitch — the other is called the reciting tone. Usually, a particular melody fluctuates between these two pitches, with notes above and below, but always ending on the home tone. Mode 1 chant melodies have a Home Tone of RE. Listen to the next example of a Mode 1 melody, and the anchor pitches RE (Home Tone) and LA (Reciting Tone).
This “snippet” is the beginning of one of the most famous Kyrie melodies, sung during Tempus per Annum on Sundays.