Ron,

**What's your evidence that Sacred Harp style was imported by the English to the US?**

This understanding I have had is based on articles and possibly some books I have read.My understanding has been that the style of Sacred Harp singing existed before the shape notation was made for it (an American innovation) and that it began initially as an American import from England (via New England).As far as I know the first American practice of Scared Harp singing began in New England and from there spread to other parts of America--such as the Scots-Irish in the Appalachian area and black Americans (each of these groups putting their own flavour and influence on the music).If indeed it did originally come from England it went through some changes and adapted to the repertoire available in America (eg. the use of American campmeeting songs).The Sacred Harp I have heard has varied in style, some of it having the clear quality of that dreaded "Celtic" word and other examples not having it.

Now it's very possible that some of the information I have received is flawed or only gives part of the story.But nethertheless hear is some evidence of this view.

Hear are some excerpts from http://www.texas-ec.org/publications/texascooppower/archive/201harp.aspx :

"...To fully understand Sacred Harp, you must understand it's history.It dates to Elizabethan England and "solimization" the singing of syllables, not words, as part of the musical learning process.Brought to North America in the 17th Century by the Pilgrims, solmization used four old English syllables (fa,sol,la and mi) to denote the tunes of the standard musical scale....In New England, church music teachers took the "fa-sol-la' system a step further.Infused with democratic spirit, they sought to breath renewed fervor into church life by holding singing schools in the tradition of the English parish singing school.But illiteracy, musical and otherwise, held them back.In 1801, two upstate New York music teachers--William Smith and William Little--came up with a new idea.A student could better visualize the tune, they reasoned, if each written note had it's own shape..."

This following article suggests that the American shape note tradition originated in part from West Gallery Music in England, but one of the big differences in the West Gallery tradition is it's use of musical instruments.(I didn't know about this last fact till tonight):

Excerpts from http://www.revelsdc.org/revelat/shape.html :

"....The American shape note tradition originated in part from West Gallery Music, a type of singing found in English parish churches and non-conformist chapels between 1750 and 1850.....Singing masters began teaching English congregations three-and four-part harmony.Few members of these congregations could read music, so musical instruments were used to support the parts.Each instrument led a group of singers gathered around it.Popular instruments for this purpose included fiddles,cellos,basoons,oboes,clarinet and flutes.In America, where strictures against bringing secular instruments such as fiddles into churches were more severe, and where finding a bassoon and someone who knew how to play it was often impossible, Yankee ingenuity saved the day with the invention of "a new type of notation", in which the positions of the notes of the scale were signalised by four shapes..."

Lastly another article suggests that the "fa,sol,la" way of singing began in England, but it doesn't say that it came to America exclusively from England.It does say that "This technique was transplanted from Great Britian to Colonial America long before any change occured in the conventional roundhead music notation." This statement can be found at:

http://www.fasola.org/introduction/note_shapes.html

Is there any examples of West Gallery music that still exist in Britian, especially ones I could hear on the net?


PS. To Greg Stephens, I still plan on enventually resonding to your other questions and comments earlier.I've just been sidetracked with other stuf in the mean time.