Armenian chant

Armenian chant (Armenian:շարական, sharakan) is the melismatic monophonic chant used in the liturgy of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Armenian chant, like Byzantine chant, consists mainly of hymns. The chants are grouped in an oktoechos. The oldest hymns were in prose, but later versified hymns, such as those by Nerses Shnorhali, became more prominent. The official book of hymns, the sharakan, contains 1,166 hymns.