[HANASHIR:5296] kadma and change

[Judith Rowland <jrowland...>]

Ruth Levenstein points out that those who teach trope with errors bear
no malice. Of course they don't. Of course they are performing a
mitzvah. However, there is a difference between simplifying and changing
the actual function of a trope. Kadma, as it's name implies (beginning)
is a "starting off" trope. Musically, (V - I or sol - do) it brings one
naturally into the mahpach. It's function is very different from the
pashta. Musically, pashta - munach is much harder, so the argument of
"simplifying" just doesn't cut the mustard. If one used the
simplification argument for Hebrew, one might want to get rid of the
Kamatz Katan, especially if one did not understand its function in
Hebrew Grammar. I often "simplify" a pazer for a musically challenged
student. But I still insist on "lots of notes that go up the scale and
down". Then I take what I can get. That is simplifying. Singing a kadma
like a pashta is a mistake.
Cantor Judith K. Rowland

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