Lesson One: Pronunciation, Tonality and Rhythm

>> In TMO, in the first lessons, you teach the tone of the canticle... but when in later lessons you chant it, you're not doing it the way you taught :) Especially, at the beginning of "ribonno", you chant it from lover tone to higher, and you claim that it should be all chanted on the high note. So I'm wondering if you just get carried away, or is there any other explanation for that ? <<

When I teach the proper tone in Lesson One, I am teaching how it must be learned. I remember that it took an extra effort for me to cant it *properly* with any consistency. :) Later on, I began canting it the way I have come to cant it after so many years of intimacy with TMO. For me it is like a language and when I speak it, I use various inflections to express my intention *in that moment*. Sometimes I will start low on the Ribonno, and other times, I'll keep it all at the high note. And I have an infinite repertoire when it comes to speaking the Adonai! ;-) I alter the tone and rhythm, but never the pronunciation.

But to *learn* TMO, one must start with the *proper* pronunciation, tonality and rhythm, and make *that* their own. It's like learning a foreign language -- you have to make it a part of yourself before you're able to be truly creative and innovative with it.

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>> Does the volume at which the canticle is performed make a difference? Does it have to be at the top of one's voice (I'm thinking of my poor neighbors)? <<

No, you don't have to do it at high volume. :) What matters most is that you are neither inhibited nor exhibitionistic. The only important volumetric distinction is between the astral and physical utterance -- between "whispering" and vibrating the vocal chords (i.e., speaking aloud).

>> Also, I find the pitch difficult, because I have no singing abilities at all - how can I improve on this? <<

With TMO, perfect pitch, or even a singing voice (whatever that is) is unimportant. As I try to make clear in the instructions, you're dealing with *your* natural high, middle and low tones. These aren't musical notes. Instead, they are tones relevant to *you* and to *your* comfortable vocal range. They express *you* and *your* intellectual and emotional understanding of the canticle.

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