Tehillim
Trope Symbols of Ta'amei Emet
Introduction: Tehillim (Psalms) Trope
Tehillim (Psalms) use a system of tropes unique to three books of TaNaCh.
Iyov (Job)
Mishlei (Proverbs)
Tehillim (Psalms)
This trope system is known by the acronym of the first letters of these three books: טעמי אמת Ta'amei Emet. The Jews of Syria are the only group who kept a tradition of chanting Tehillim using the tropes; using the Ta'amei Emet. It is the Syrian system that we teach here.
Trope symbols also mark the syllable to be accented in each word. The Trope symbol is found above or below the accented syllable in most Biblical words. Where there are exceptions, TropeTrainer usually shows a second Trope symbol on the accented syllable.
The Main Point of These Lessons
The main point of the lessons on the following pages is to help you learn and memorize the Trope symbols and their musical motifs. The lessons and exercises are designed to teach you by example and repetition.
We strongly suggest that you do these lessons three to six days a week. Just as in learning your favorite new songs and music, the more often you hear this, study this, and repeat this, the sooner and easier it will be to learn these Tropes!
If you only do these lessons once a week, you will likely forget what you learned in the previous session, and you will have to work much harder to learn and retain this material.
Trope Symbols of Ta'amei Emet
Many of the tropes in טעמי אמת Ta'amei Emet look like tropes found in the other TaNaCh books, some are used in ways unique to Ta'amei Emet, and some look familiar but are used in unique ways. We will teach the tropes using the names of the Syrian tradition.
There are 21 tropes found in books using Ta'amei Emet. 12 are disjunctives, also called separators or lords, and 9 are conjunctives, also called connectors or servants.
Disjunctive tropes · 12
Silluq
סִלּֽוּק׃Oleh v'Yored
עוֹלֶה־וְי֫וֹרֵ֥דAtnach
אַתְנָ֑חShalshelet Gedolah
שַׁלְשֶׁלֶת־גְּדוֹלָ֓ה׀Revia Gadol
also at the end of a verse
רְבִיעַ־גָּד֗וֹלRevia Katon
before Oleh v'Yored
רְבִיעַ־קָטֹ֗ןRevia Mugrash
רְבִיעַ־מֻ֝גְרָ֗שׁTzinnor
צִנּוֹר֮Dechi
דֶּ֭חִֽיPazer
פָּזֵ֡רM'hupach Legarmeh
מְהֻפָּֽךְ־לְגַרְמֵ֤יה׀Azla Legarmeh
אַזְלָא־לְגַרְמֵ֨יה׀
Note that some tropes such as Oleh v'Yored and Revia Mugrash are defined by two characters, and can appear on adjacent words.
Conjunctive tropes · 9
Munach
מוּנַ֣חMercha
מֵרְכָ֥אIlluy
עִלּ֬וּיTarcha
טַרְחָ֖אGalgal
גַּלְגַּ֪לM'hupach
מְהֻפָּ֤ךְAzla
אַזְלָ֨אShalshelet Ketanah
שַׁלְשֶׁלֶת־קְטַנָּ֓הTzinnorit
צִנּוֹרִ֘ית
The following exercises will train you to recognize these tropes and chant the words they mark.