The Jewish songs have three forms, namely, solo, chorus (unison) and their alternate -responsive- singing (solo vs. solo ; solo vs. chorus ; chorus vs chorus). These forms were also adopted into Jewish religious cantillation or songs, and have been preserved in their tradition until today. This paper especially deals with the responsive singing (antiphona, responsorium, refrain, interjection), first from viewpoint of ethnomusicology, then from historical angle -centering around psalmody.
In addition, it will be tried to analogize the ancient singing styles of the Jews with the present ones of Yemeni-Jewish community.