Western music is indebted to and intertwined with Christianity due to the heavy use of music

within the church. The church provided music education, helped pioneer polyphony, was heavily
involved in the creation of Gregorian chant, developed music notation, and helped with the spread of
many different genres outside of the church.
The church provided the education needed for the musicians of the time, allowing music to
continue to be made. Much of any music education took place in schools that were part of the church.
Without the Christian churchs schooling, much of the music from the time would cease to exist. The
development of polyphony and other techniques was also a huge step forward for Western music.
Composers like Leoninus and Perotinus were pioneers for developing music past the traditional
monophonic chant of the time. With the addition of a separate second- and later third and fourth- voice,
many possibilities opened up in the world of music. Polyphony has been used liberally throughout the
history of Western music and its beginnings are owed to the Christian church liturgy. Techniques, such
as antiphony, were also developed through the church and are also in continual use throughout
Western music.
Because of the Christian church, Gregorian chant and its foundation was established. The
groundwork for chant was codified for the church and acted as a springboard for the rest of Western
music to eventually develop from. The church is also responsible for music notation. Music was passed
down orally until another creation due to the Christian church, the Guidonian Hand, along with early
music notation, caused it to develop into a visual tradition to pass down. Music notation continued to
develop with connection to the church until it became something similar to what we are accustomed to
today.
The overwhelming majority of music in the period was sacred music, and due to the churchs
propensity to write music down, many sacred pieces have been preserved. Since the buildings that mass
was held in were so immense, rather than speak, the church officials would sing so that the voice would
carry further. Because of this, entire services were sung which brought the need for more music to be
composed. Parts of both the Ordinary Mass and the Proper Mass have been arranged by other
composers of the time and developed further. This caused music to flourish. The Office also called for an
abundance of music set to different texts and psalms.
Much of the music of the time was in some way based on a church text. Even if it was just one
word of the original chant, many pieces were influenced by a text from a mass. This helped propel many
different genres forward and caused them to be written down as well.
Without the Christian Church, Western music would be vastly different today. The Christian
church provided the means to pioneer new and interesting ideas in music as well as spread them.
Because of this, Western music truly is indebted to the Christian Church.