<P> Gregorian chants fall into two broad categories of melody: recitatives and free melodies . The simplest kind of melody is the liturgical recitative . Recitative melodies are dominated by a single pitch, called the reciting tone . Other pitches appear in melodic formulae for incipits, partial cadences, and full cadences . These chants are primarily syllabic . For example, the Collect for Easter consists of 127 syllables sung to 131 pitches, with 108 of these pitches being the reciting note A and the other 23 pitches flexing down to G. Liturgical recitatives are commonly found in the accentus chants of the liturgy, such as the intonations of the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel during the Mass, and in the direct psalmody of the Office . </P> <P> Psalmodic chants, which intone psalms, include both recitatives and free melodies . Psalmodic chants include direct psalmody, antiphonal chants, and responsorial chants . In direct psalmody, psalm verses are sung without refrains to simple, formulaic tones . Most psalmodic chants are antiphonal and responsorial, sung to free melodies of varying complexity . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Loquetur Dominus, Introit for Week XXXIV of Ordinary Time Example of antiphonal psalmody in Gregorian chant De profundis, tract for the Requiem Mass Example of responsorial psalmody in Gregorian chant </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Problems playing these files? See media help . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Loquetur Dominus, Introit for Week XXXIV of Ordinary Time Example of antiphonal psalmody in Gregorian chant De profundis, tract for the Requiem Mass Example of responsorial psalmody in Gregorian chant </Td> </Tr>

The musical setting of renaissance masses were usually based on a phrase of gregorian chant