[HANASHIR:8086] Re: Need Nusach Notation.....

[DMG686 <DMG686...>]

Janis,
    First, I want to extend my sympathies on the passing of your 
father-in-law.  May he rest in peace.  
    You are right to want to chant weekday mode/nusach at the Shabbat Maariv 
service.  In fact in my studies on Nusach, there are points in the Mincha 
service where the weekday nusach is chanted before going back to the mincha 
service Nusach.
    I am a cantorial student who is studying the traditional nusach with a 
Conservative Cantor in my area.  I also am the Soloist in my Reform 
Congregation.  I have the same problem as you.  If I try to slip in Weekday 
Nusach for the Chatsi Kaddish, Avot, G'vurot, and K'dushah at a Shabbat 
Mincha Bar/Bat Mitzvah service where it is appropriate to do so, my 
congregation looks at me like I am from outer space! They think I should be 
using the Shabbat Nusach all of the time. The problem is that the more I 
learn about traditional Nusach, the more I want to use it.  There is an old 
adage that if you don't use, you'll lose it.  
    For anyone who is interested in learning the traditional Nusach for all 
of the services, there are some great books and tapes available.  Through the 
Cantor's Assembly you can order all of the Pinchas Spiro books and tapes for 
all of the services.  Through the JTS you can order the complete Saul Wachs 
tapes.  Unfortunately with those tapes you do not get musical notation.  From 
Transcontinental you can purchase the Kotchko series of nusach notation, but 
no tapes.  From Chadish Media a more Chassidic, Orthodox source to can get 
tapes for all of the services, and no notation.  From Tara you can order the 
Spiro books and also those of Noah Schall.  The Spiro are very basic nusach 
without a lot of ornamentation to sift through.  You can really get to the 
fundamentals with the Spiro.  From what I have heard from others, the Schall 
books have a lot more ornamentation.  Also, the Kotchko series is the Nusach 
that the Reform Cantorate studies.  There are also some Abraham Davis tapes 
available from Tara.  Davis is an old school chazzan who really gives you a 
flavor of some of the ornamentation you can use with the nusach once it is 
learned.
    I hope that this has helped.  In the meantime, I will fax you some 
notation on the weekday Chatsi Kaddish, Avot, G'vurot, and K'dushah.

B'Shirah,
Donna Gordon

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