The voice has always been the ultimate instrument--its tone, its versatility. Though instrumentalists have developed the technical facility to do things that are virtually impossible for vocalists--forgotten, it is observed, by Beethoven when writing the unusual vocal parts for the finale of his Ninth Symphony--the voice still stands out for its purity.

 

The voice's popularity is surely partially derived from its general availability. Though the vocal art has been the focal point of many fulfilled, busy lives--most of us can use this instrument for making music of a kind. Not surprisingly, the first organized forms of modern ensemble music ware provided by Roman Catholic clerics, who developed religious chants for more than a millennium. The Gregorian chant served as a forum for investigating forms and styles of music. Such chants largely ignored rhythms, harmonies, and other musical forms--but they made extensive use of modes that served as a basis for organizing scales and harmonic structures in the future.

 

Early notation method for vocalists

 

Though the early chants and other vocal forms did not make extensive use of other instruments, they did provide a useful example of the potential for group performance that eventually led to instrumental groups--culminating with the symphony orchestra. As the concept of the instrumental ensemble developed over the centuries, the pure example of the voice's capabilities served as a reference point and as an example.