Chant

Chant, in Music, a short melody sung to a psalm or canticle in places of worship. There are various kinds of chants, e.g. Gregorian, Anglican, Parisian, etc.; again, chants may be single, double, or even quadruple, though the latter are not common. In the Anglican chant the composition is divided into two parts, the first of three and the second of four measures; each part ends with a cadence. The method of distributing the words to be sung is known as pointing.