I attend a Lutheran church, and our new hymnal aimed at diversity. One form diversity took was that the editors included fine tunes from the shape note tradition. When I look at the credits and see a tune from the collection "The Sacred Harp" or from a 19th C. collection called "Something Harmony," there is a good chance that the tune will be interesting, memorable, and probably haunting.

In November we were practicing such a tune when a member commented, "That's so sad." I told him not to think of it as sad, but to picture himself in the Smoky Mountains, gazing down at a valley silver-gray with mist but studded with orange autumn trees. I don't know if he did, but at least he stopped complaining. Just because something is minor or modal doesn't mean it has to be sad.

Will Fly, what the note shapes do is tell you what interval to jump. One shape means a fifth, another a fourth, another a third. In an old thread, a person posting here said she learned the system very quickly, because experienced singers explained it to her, then she caught on because they were doing it all around her as they all sang.