Shaping Modern Music and Education

Many different people, styles, and schools have impacted music throughout the centuries. The Schola Cantorum, Pope Gregory’s musical charge to the Benedictines, and Guido de Arezzo are just a few of the things that have shaped modern music and education. They did this by their takes on the way music should be taught and written.

The Schola Cantorum is a private music school in Paris. Founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant, and Vincent d’Indy, the Schola Cantorum was opened has a counterbalance to Paris Conservatoire’s emphasis on opera. The school’s program initiated a revival of interest in the Gregorian chant and the music of the 16th and 17th century. d’Indy set the curriculum and built the early foundations for the Schola’s success. Today, the school sets forth a standard of free personal expression and creativity. The teaching set by d’Indy can be applied to serious, motivated and informed amateurs. The school mixes novelty, mixing attachment, and traditions attraction. It also takes into account modernity and the trends of art today.

Guido de Arezzo made contributions to modern music and education today as an early music theorist. Arezzo’s contribution makes it possible for composers to write their work down on manuscripts. He created a musical notation system around 1025 using a 4-line staff that over the years has evolved into what we use today. Before Guido, singers had to memorize an entire chant repertoire. Those singers would teach the next generation and they would then teach the following generation. Small errors would be made because of memory or specific tastes of one person. This caused the chants to change. Guido’s notation made it possible to record a definitive form of the chant for clarity on how it should be taught. Guido’s notation had four lines and a clef. The clef identified the note as “F”. Today’s version has five lines. The notation has the ability to specify pitch. He also named the first 6 tones...