Chantsinging

Chantsinging is a vocal practice that blends elements of chanting and singing. It emphasizes sustained syllables, rhythmic repetition, and a focus on texture and timbre as much as on melody or lyrics.

It often uses a limited melodic range and modal or pitch-centered contours, with free or regular rhythm. Text is usually syllabic and incantatory, and a drone or sustained tone may accompany the voice.

Chantsinging occurs in diverse cultural settings, from religious and ceremonial contexts to secular performance. Related traditions include Gregorian chant and other liturgical vocal styles, Buddhist mantras and chant, kirtan and call-and-response practices, and various indigenous chant traditions.

In contemporary music and performance art, chantsinging is used to create meditative or trance-like textures, to shape vocal ensembles, or to weave textural layerings with instruments or electronics.

Practitioners emphasize breath control, clear articulation or deliberate timbral variation, and attention to pacing, dynamics, and resonance. Scholarly study often looks at chantsinging for its social function, ritual meaning, and affective power.