As Orthodox Christianity spread beyond the Greek speaking Byzantine heartland, chant traditions in Slavic, Georgian, Romanian, Arabic and other liturgical languages each absorbed Byzantine musical influence while developing distinct local character, so that what is heard today as Russian, Georgian or Antiochian Orthodox chant descends from, but is not identical to, Greek Byzantine practice, sharing underlying structural features such as the eight mode system while diverging considerably in actual melody and style. Arabic speaking Orthodox communities in particular developed chant closely integrated with the Arabic maqam system of melodic modes, a striking example of how thoroughly a chant tradition can absorb the surrounding musical culture of the language in which it is sung while still working within the inherited Byzantine modal framework.
Byzantine chant's cantors, psaltai, traditionally trained through long apprenticeship under an experienced master rather than through purely academic study, though conservatories and specialized schools of Byzantine music have become an increasingly significant part of training in the modern period alongside more traditional forms of apprenticeship. The tradition remains the standard form of liturgical music across Greek Orthodox parishes and monasteries worldwide, sung at every service without instrumental accompaniment, and its formulaic modal structure continues to shape how new hymns are composed for use within Greek speaking Orthodox worship today.