How the te'amim are used in Psalm 1

 The first thing to hear in Psalm 1 is that it begins on the second note of the scale, f# in the default mode for the three books. I am happy to say that the Aleppo codex and the Leningrad codex agree on this point.

I have observed that when a verse begins on a note other than the tonic, the music is continuing and commenting on something that precedes the verse. These may be as simple as the previous verse or section of the book, or the first note may join that verse to a more distant verse. In this case, Psalm 1 refers back to the five books of Moses and the Prophets. This is the first of the Writings, the third division of the Hebrew Bible. Psalms, Proverbs, Job, and the Song of Songs, the first four books of the Writings, are all keys to understanding Torah. The music confirms this. Five books out of the 24 begin on a note other than the tonic: these four and Deuteronomy.

As a musician raised in Canada, I would not have used the Hebrew names for notes and ornaments, nor would I use hand signals, nor in fact did I use much solfege – the fixed or movable do-re-mi. I did not learn this way. I learned the names of the lines and spaces on the musical staff. Other methods teach different skills. And zarqa tables would definitely help someone read in the Hebrew and without the need for a score once the accents begin to be recognized. So this exercise is valuable and has been very valuable for me to improve both my sight reading and my Hebrew word recognition.

The psalm begins on merkha, f#, the second note of the scale, the second word is ornamented with revia. There is a surprising mahpakh, jumping up the diminished fifth to the C for one note only. A large part of the recitation is on the f# (merkha) – it is surprising that this is the case, and slightly unsettling. The cadence on the second, ole veyored, is used three times. Verse 1 has both a cadence on the second and an atnah. Verse 2 has only the cadence on the second. Verse 3 again has both internal cadences. Verses 4 to 6 each have the mid verse cadence on the atnah, the fourth note of the scale, the subdominant, a real point of rest in each verse.

I notice a particularly high note in this psalm. That may indicate that it was intended for solo rather than congregational singing. If the illuy is too high, it can be taken down an octave without much loss. Haïk-Vantoura takes it down in her hand-written version.

Psalm 1

Now for the zarqa table for this psalm. The exercise is a bit like finding a new underlay for the music.

Zarqa table for psalm 1