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Trop Hebrew Cantillation - (Also spelled Trope) The musical notes of Torah Leining

Trop — known in Hebrew as ta’amei hamikra (טעמי המקרא) and in English as cantillation — is the system of musical notes the Torah is leined with. Every word in the Torah carries one of these marks, and together they do three jobs at once: they are the melody of the reading, its punctuation, and its word-accents. A Baal Koreh — the reader who leins the Torah for the congregation — spends years mastering them; a bar mitzvah boy learns enough of them to lein his own parsha.

The three jobs of trop

Melody. Each note is a short musical phrase. The very same notes produce a different tune for the Torah reading, for the haftarah, and for the megillot — one notation, several melodies.

Punctuation. Some notes join words together and some divide them. Long before commas and periods existed, the trop already marked where each phrase of the pasuk ends — which is why understanding the trop is understanding the pasuk.

Accent. The note sits on the stressed syllable, so the trop even tells you how to pronounce each word correctly.

The 32 notes

These are the names of the notes as they are sung in the traditional learning order. Hear all 32 sung in sequence — a reference recording by a Master Baal Koreh.

קַדְמָ֨אKadmaמֻנַּ֣חMunachזַרְקָא֮Zarkaמֻנַּ֣חMunachסֶגּוֹל֒Segolמֻנַּ֣חMunachמֻנַּ֣ח ׀Munachרְבִיעִ֗יRevi’iמַהְפַּ֤ךְMahpachפַּשְׁטָא֙Pashtaמֻנַּ֣חMunachזָקֵף־קָטֹ֔ןZakef Katanזָקֵף־גָּד֕וֹלZakef Gadolמֵרְכָ֥אMerchaטִפְחָ֖אTipchaמֻנַּ֣חMunachאֶתְנַחְתָּ֑אEtnachtaפָּזֵ֡רPazerתְּלִישָׁא קְטַנָּ֩הTelisha Ketanaתְּלִישָׁא־גְדוֹלָ֠הTelisha Gedolaקַדְמָ֨א וְאַזְלָ֨אKadma v’Azlaאַזְלָ֨א־גֵּ֜רֶשׁAzla-Gereshגֵּרְשַׁ֞יִםGershayimדַּרְגָּ֧אDargaתְּבִ֛ירTevirיְ֚תִיבYetivפְּסִ֣יק ׀Pesikסוֹף־פָּסֽוּק׃Sof Pasukשַׁלְשֶׁ֓לֶתShalsheletקַרְנֵי־פָרָ֟הKarnei Farahמֵרְכָ֦א כְפוּלָהMercha Kefulaיֶרַח־בֶּן־יוֹמ֪וֹYerach ben Yomo

How to learn trop

  1. Hear the names. The Ta’amei HaMikra reference recording — every note by name, in its own melody.
  2. See them in action. Open any parsha — every word highlights as it is leined, with the trop on every word.
  3. Practice. How to practice a leining — aliyah by aliyah, at your own pace.
  4. Bar mitzvah coming up? The Bar Mitzvah Calculator finds the parsha — and the brachot before and after the reading are here too.

Common questions

Trop, ta’amei hamikra, or cantillation? Exactly the same thing: cantillation is the English term, trop is the Yiddish name you will hear in shul, and ta’amei hamikra is the Hebrew name. All three describe the same 32 notes.

Is the trop written in the Torah scroll? No. The Torah scroll itself has no nikud and no trop — the Baal Koreh leins it from memory. That is why preparation is the heart of the craft, and it is exactly what this site was built for.