Melismatic

Melismatic is derived from the term melisma, which is a Greek word that means "song", "air", or "melody". In music, melismatic refers to a style of singing first started in 900 AD and culminating in the Boroque era in which a single syllable of text is sung carried through many notes. This is in contrast to syllabic singing in which each syllable of text gets a single note.<br><br>Melismatic singing techniques are usually considered by the listener to by "hypnotic", and because of this melismatic singing is commonly used for religious cerimonies and eastern mystical rites. Melismatic singing is still heard in Arabic music , Orthodox Christian chanting and was developed further in the Torah chanting, as well as by the Masoretes in the seventh or eighth centuries. It then appeared in some genres of Gregorian chant, where it was used in certain sections of the Mass.<br>