Room 75--Shape-note singing

The tradition of shape-note singing goes back several hundred years. It was a way of teaching simple hymns and one of the earliest books that showed music written in shape-notes was called The Sacred Harp, which was published early in the 19th century. When hymns were to be sung, the singers would first sing the hymns just using the syllables as listed below. Not that there are different shapes to the noteheads.

This tradition is still carried on today. The seven-shape system is still used at regular public singings of 19th century songbooks of a similar type to the Sacred Harp, such as the Christian Harmony and the New Harp of Columbia. Such singings are common in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama, and generally preserve the singing school custom of "singing the notes."

The four-shape tradition that currently has the greatest number of participants is Sacred Harp singing. But there are many other traditions that are still active or even enjoying a resurgence of interest. Among the four-shape systems, the Southern Harmony has remained in continuous use at one singing in Benton, Kentucky, and is now experiencing a small amount of regrowth. The current reawakening of interest in shape note singing has also created new singings using other recently moribund 19th-century four-shape songbooks, such as the Missouri Harmony, as well as new books by modern composers, such as the Northern Harmony. Here follows a fine example of a top-notch shape-note chorus known as the Word of Mouth Chorus. This recording was made in 1979. The hymn is titled Soar Away and it was written by A. Marcus Cagle.

Listen!

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