These non-Levite singers, common in Israel, were employed not only to enhance various festive occasions but also to chant dirges in times of sorrow. (2Sa 19:35; 2Ch 35:25; Jer 9:17, 20)
... While chanting continues to be quite popular in some of the world’s leading religions, its use in the Bible appears to be limited to dirges, as in the case of David chanting a dirge over the deaths of his friend Jonathan and of King Saul. (2Sa 1:17; 2Ch 35:25; Eze 27:32; 32:16)