The means of deprivation were prayer, fasting, celibacy and isolated contemplation. One of the early Christians most influential in shaping monastic tradition was Benedict of Nursia who proposed a Rule for his Order, which divided the day into six hours of prayer, five of manual work and four of the study of scripture. All of the services have a similar pattern and begin with the greeting by the Priest, The Lord be with you and the congregation response, And with your spirit. There was no concept in medieval times of key. Modes are not identified by the bames of notes but by their unique sequences of intervals.
Most Western music uses only two modes, major and minor.
The major mode, now called the major scale, starts with two intervals of a tone but the distinct quality of the minor mode is created by the second interval only being a semitone. Hymns The hymn is another type of music in the Divine Office. Up until the 5 th century, Augustine s definition of hymn held. Gradually, a new type of liturgical song became popular. IT was freely composed in words and music.