Subject: Reading shape-note music From: Neighmond Date: 05 Feb 03 - 09:48 PM I would like some help from the folks here If I could... I have many old hymnals written with triangular and square and shaped notes. How do I read this music? I have tried Google and got zippo. Thanks so much! Chaz |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: TNDARLN Date: 05 Feb 03 - 09:50 PM www.fasola.org |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: TNDARLN Date: 05 Feb 03 - 09:56 PM Guess I sent that response too quickly. The shapes do not affect the notes=pitches- they only facilitate note-reading. If your hymnals are oblong books [landscape rather than portrait orientation], then the website I gave above will have lots of information and links. If your hymnals are paperback, you probably have 7-shape, as opposed to 4-shape [aka "4 note"]. There are lots of different "systems" of shape[d] notes out there, but again, the shapes do not change lines/spaces, etc. T |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Mark Cohen Date: 05 Feb 03 - 10:56 PM Neighmond, if you go to this thread from a few years ago, you'll find lots of information about shape note singing, also known as Sacred Harp singing, after one of the more popular collections, The Original Sacred Harp. (The rather irreverent shape note group in Seattle is called the Sacred Cow Harmogenizers -- I was once a member.) As TNDARLN said, you read shape note music the way you read any other music, as if the shapes were all standard ovals. The shapes are a device that were intended to make it easier to learn the tunes. Here's how it works: In the four-shape system, the one used in The Original Sacred Harp, each note of the major scale is assigned one of four names, Fa, Sol, La, or Me. The tonic is Fa, and the whole scale is Fa, Sol, La, Fa, Sol, La, Me, Fa. Fa is depicted as a triangle, Sol as an oval, La a square, and Me a diamond. So in the key of C, for example, the scale would run: Fa (C), Sol (D), La (E), Fa (F), Sol (G), La (A), Me (B), Fa (C). In the key of D, D is Fa, E is Sol, F# is La, and so forth. So the position of the note on the staff tells you which pitch to sing (as usual), while the shape tells you the position of that note relative to other notes. Any time you go up from Fa to the next La, for example, you're going up a major third, while Me to Fa is a half step. (The well-known "Do, Re, Mi" scale is a variation on this scheme, and there is a seven-shape system to go with it.) The idea was to make it easier for those who couldn't read music to be able to follow the singing master and learn the songs. To that end, it was common to learn a song first by singing the names of the notes, and then adding the words later. Typically, shape note tunes (which are, in general, hymns) are now performed in the same manner: a "run-through" using the Fa-Sol-La syllables, followed by all the verses. Hope this helps. Try to find a recording called "Rivers of Delight" by the Word of Mouth Chorus from Vermont -- it will explain it much better than I can. It's funny this should come up now...my best friend, who also used to be in the Sacred Cows, is visiting now from Washington. I also just met the choir director of the Unitarian Church, who might be interested in putting together a shape note group here in Honolulu, since his choir just did a song based on the shape note style and they loved it. It would be wonderful to get back to singing this stuff again...it's powerful fun! Aloha, Mark |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Sorcha Date: 05 Feb 03 - 11:03 PM Oh dear. I can do "theory" but not this. I hope someone understands.........esp. Neighmond...........I know fa, sol, etc, but not the other............oh dear. |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Kudzuman Date: 05 Feb 03 - 11:10 PM I just go through tabbing out Sherburne a "Fuged Tune" (watch out how you say that!!)in all four parts for dulcimer. I love some of those tunes. Not like the homogenized hymn sounds we seem to have today. Truly interesting and often modal tunes. Tasty stuff!! Kudzuman |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: GUEST Date: 05 Feb 03 - 11:25 PM Poor Sorcha...its time for you to get back into therapy. |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Richie Date: 06 Feb 03 - 12:34 AM I have arranged many shape-note tunes for solo guitar, usually in 3 parts. Mel Bay published some of my arrangements- Early American Hymns. The main thing to remember is the melody is not the top voice as in traditional hymn arrangements. There are lots of parallel intervals as Kudzuman mentioned, giving the tunes a strange modal quality. -Richie |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Mark Cohen Date: 06 Feb 03 - 12:36 AM Kudzuman, it's a little less dangerous if you spell it "fugued." On the other hand, maybe it isn't. Aloha, Mark |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: GUEST Date: 06 Feb 03 - 09:41 AM The websites are great, but you'd be far better informed if you attended a shape note singing session. There's a shape-note group in about every state, or so I understand. |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: wysiwyg Date: 06 Feb 03 - 10:07 AM Our resident shape note/Sacred Harp/fasola expert/aficionado is Burke. She's not here every day-- suggest you PM her if she does not weigh in pretty soon. ~Susan |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: GUEST,bbc at work Date: 06 Feb 03 - 11:46 AM Melody is the third line down, called "treble." bbc |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Burke Date: 06 Feb 03 - 11:53 AM TNDARLN, knows at least as much, if not more than I do, especially in regard to 7 shape. Many of the members of this list see Shape Notes and assume 4 shape, because this has been spread through some folk circles outside of the south. The initial question leads me to suspect that the music is actually 7 shape. If the original inquirer will go to the following pages & tell us which looks more like the music in question, we can help better. Angel Band in 7 shapes Amazing Grace in 4 shapes |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: GUEST,TNDARLN at work Date: 06 Feb 03 - 12:16 PM Thanks, Burke- One other thing that I failed to mention or ask: Is the music printed on two staves [treble and bass clef-- like modern hymnals] or is it on an open score with four staves [three treble clefs/one bass clef]. Again, the notes read the same- it just gives us a better idea as to what you've got. Name of publisher would help too. BTW- if your books are very old, oblong books, I can tell you that they will probably take up too much room on your shelves and expose you to unhealthy mustiness. I'd be willing to help you with that. Such sacrifice....;o) |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Dave Bryant Date: 06 Feb 03 - 12:21 PM As has already been said the melody is usually on what would be the tenor line in normal SATB scores. This is not surprising as in "West Gallery" music it is usually the tenor who "holds" the melody - the word tenor comes from the latin verb "to hold". In most Shape Note / Sacred Harp music however, parts may be sung in any octave so the normal conventions of male voices taking the lower parts and females/boys the higher does not have to be adhered to. In fact having parts sung in two (or even three) octaves adds a richness to the result. |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Gray D Date: 06 Feb 03 - 07:11 PM Sorcha and Neighmond, You need to attend a "sing". People get together and really hit the tunes hard but there is almost always someone around who will take you through the theory and practice of shape note singing. It's not as scary as it may at first appear. Check the "FaSoLa" site for details. Trying to sing or play it on your own just won't give you the feel of the music. My first experience of this was with Northern Harmony who do singing/teaching camps and tours all of the time. I've also had the great pleasure of being taught by Tim Eriksen of Northampton Harmony. The man knows his music. (Check out their version of "Idumea" if you get the chance - outstanding) . . . and your sight reading will improve no end. Gray D |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Kudzuman Date: 06 Feb 03 - 07:24 PM Ah! Mark you're right. "Fugued" might have been better....or not. Hmmmmm! Kudzuman |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: TNDARLN Date: 06 Feb 03 - 09:09 PM Gray D- Tim is leading a session on Sacred Harp Singing at the Folk Alliance in Nashville this Saturday. He also managed to get some Sacred Harp singing into the movie Cold Mountain. Cool, huh? And we've just learned that there will be a Sacred Harp singing camp in AL first week in July. Followed by a weekend of traditional singings... singing hard and eating good is a wonderful combination! |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Neighmond Date: 06 Feb 03 - 10:14 PM Lordy! Thanks for all the help! I feel fortianate to have such good contacts on here! Burke- it looks like "angel Band" if that is any help, and there a a few more books of shape-note that my mother has. Again, thanks to all who helped contribute! Chaz |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Mark Cohen Date: 06 Feb 03 - 10:57 PM Well, if I can find enough people who are interested, maybe one day we'll have a Hawaiian sing! We'll do it in the wintertime, of course, so all the snowbirds will come. I thought "tenor" came from the Latin meaning "to strain". Aloha, Mark (high baritone who usually sings tenor) |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Dave Bryant Date: 07 Feb 03 - 04:14 AM Is Larry Gordon still running the Northern Harmony sessions ? I must admit that the tempo he uses for "New Jerusalem" comes as a shock to the system, the first time you sing it with him. Afterwards, you never want to sing it slow again ! |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Burke Date: 07 Feb 03 - 09:23 AM Neighmond, as I suspected, you are looking at seven shape Stamps Baxter style shape notes. I've started writing something up & will try to finish it after work later today. Dave, I was at the UK Sacred Harp convention a couple of years ago. The last year it was in Nottingham, when Richard DeLong taught the school. Were you there? Larry Gordon is still very active, mostly with the young people's activities under the Village Harmony name. Go here tto see what he's up to. Or go here to hear a sample of what they are doing. I know a couple of teenagers who have gone to several summer camps & are now in the year group. Their parents consented on the condition that they could sing as well. Village Harmony's spring tour starts April 18th, and will include performances in New York, Ontario, and Vermont. Last & certainly not least, I found this in my e-mail this morning: The Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Associaton is pleased to announce that it will hold a camp for the purpose of teaching Sacred Harp singing and traditions. "Camp Fasola" will be held at Camp Lee near Anniston, Alabama. The camp will begin with check-in from 4:00-6:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 29th and will close at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 3rd. Camp Fasola will be open to both youth and adults. There will be multiple daily sessions for instruction in singing Sacred Harp, as well as time for recreation, rest, and fellowship. Jeff Sheppard and David Ivey will serve as camp directors. Some details are still being worked out, and more information on the cost and activities of the camp, as well as registration forms, will be available soon. (Please not that several regular singings are scheduled in the area on July 4th, 5th, and 6th.) Fianal notes from Burke: This is 4 note (like the Amazing Grace example) Send a PM to either TNDARLN or me for the contact information. I have been to the singings that are held the July 4 weekend & I can assure you that they are some of the best I have ever been to. |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Burke Date: 07 Feb 03 - 06:55 PM Chaz, The shapes are representations of Do-Re-Mi solfege. Do is movable, so it will be in a different place on the staff depending on the key signature. Just think of it as that is does not matter what your beginning pitch acutally is when you sing: Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti-Do. Each of the shapes used on the staff represents one of the 7 syllable used in the scale. I mis-spoke in my last message. The 7 shapes are used in Stamps Baxter books, but they are known as Aiken Shapes because someone named Aiken patented them. He enforced his patent in such a way that alternate shapes for Do, Re, and Ti from other books were forced our. Some of the others used are actually much clearer. I'm assuming you at least know how to find C on a staff. Look at that copy of Angel Band or anything in one of your books with no sharps or flats in the key signature. Find C (in Angel Band it's the last note for the sopranos, the first for basses & tenors). You can see it's an equilateral triangle. Continue scanning to music to find the next note up from this Do to see what Re looks like. The beginning of the chorus for the sopranos has it. It's looks a bit like the bottom half of a circle. One up from there is a diamond- Mi. You can continue this way and end up with: Do equilateral triangle Re Half circle Mi Diamond Fa Right triangle Sol Oval (looks like a regular dot) La Square Ti Upside-down triangle with rounded top (sometimes described as like an ice-cream cone) If these shape discriptions don't match your books, just use the method I've described to figure out what they are. Assuming now that you already know the tune for Angel Band, sing the melody on the syllables. Doesn't matter what pitch you start with, change it if you find it going too high or too low for you. With out timing: Sol, sol, sol, sol, sol, la, do, do; la, sol, do, mi, re, do. Sol, sol, sol, sol, sol, la, do, do; la, sol, do, mi, re, do. Re, re, mi, re, do (rest) re, re, re, mi, re, do; Sol, do, do, do, re, do, la, sol, mi, sol; sol, do, do, re, re*, mi; Sol, do, do, do, re, do, la, sol, mi**, sol; sol, do, do, mi, re, do *when a sharp or flat is present there is an alternate syllable to sing. In this case, I'd stay with re because I don't think I've ever heard it sung going up that half step. I checked one other copy of the tune that I have & it also stays on the re. **this Mi is really smudged. It shows why I don't like Aiken Shapes. This Mi almost looks like Ti. End of lesson one, is it helping? |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Neighmond Date: 07 Feb 03 - 07:33 PM it certianly is! Again, thanks to everyone! I hope I can be of help some time as well. |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Burke Date: 25 Feb 03 - 06:52 PM Here are a couple of articles about using the 7 shape system for learning songs. Shape Notes Singing With So-Fa Syllables |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Coyote Breath Date: 26 Feb 03 - 06:03 PM For those living in the St. Louis, Missouri, area there will be a shapenote singing festival at St. John's Church of Pinckney (just west of Treloar, on Missouri hwy 94) Starting around 1 pm on March 22, 2003. Bring a copy of The Sacred Harp if you have one. If not copies will be available for sale. If I can find out more detail in the next few days I will come back to this thread and post them. St. Johns is a United Church of Christ church, well over a hundred years old and in a very lovely, "country" setting. CB |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Burke Date: 28 Feb 03 - 07:28 PM Neighmond, from another thread it sounds like you're in N.Iowa or S.Minnesota. If so, in addition to the St. Louis convention, I have more you might consider: Midwest Convention in Chicago, May 24-25 Minneapolis/St. Paul has lots of singing, but especially the convention Sept. 27-28. Here's the web page of a singer in Northeast Iowa. |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: open mike Date: 28 Feb 03 - 10:17 PM Chaz, there is a minnesota public radio link that has sound samples and a report on shape note. i noticed that there was a convention or sing in california in january. Maybe that fellow in Iowa is close to you. Just don't drive to go see him in a snow storm! Laurel. |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Neighmond Date: 01 Mar 03 - 10:21 AM Thanks all for your help! It's more than I deserve- No Stormy Winter driving for me, I promise! Chaz |
Subject: RE: Reading shape-note music From: Burke Date: 25 Mar 03 - 06:22 PM The Alabama Folklife Association has a number of recordings of interest that focus on Shape notes. The nice thing about their web page is that you can read the complete linear notes that are chock full of information. The notes for Traditional Musics of Alabama, Volume 2 African American Seven Shapenote Singing includes a good overall summary that applies to all Shape note music. A later volume in the series will focus on white seven note singers. |
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