Shape Note Singing

Shape note singing is a cappella form of singing in four part Harmony, dating to the early days of America. It 's roots lie in the signing schools of New England, but it transplanted itself into the American south and grew into a beautiful, fervent form of spiritual folk music. Most shape note singers use a song book known ass the Sacred Harp, which dates back to before the civil war, although revised editions are used now.

I have been listening to shape note signing for several years now. Some of it was heard on the sound track of Cold Mountain. Alan Lomax in doing recording in the south recorded lots of shape note music, available on various Smithsonian albums.

Listening on the outside of shape note signing its hard to understand what's going on, although it's beauty is obvious. I was able to listen to it live at the Northwest Folk Festival, in Seattle, one year and then I knew it was wonderful. Last May, at the Folk Festival, I was able to participate in a shape note singing workshop, and found that with help from those sitting next to me, I could effectively participate in four part Harmony singing.

It's called shape note signing because of an old tradition going back to New England -- each of the four parts is designated by a shape-- a circle, square, rectangle or triangle. Each group knows what it's part is without professional training.

Shape note signing has spread around the country as a result of the spread of interest since the 1940's in all forms of folk and country music. There are shape note signing groups meeting in churches and other places around the country and occasionally they meet in regional conventions.

Saturday February 14th, 2009 and Sunday the 15th there will be the 17th annual meeting of the Pacific NW Sacred Harp Convention at the Labor Temple in Seattle (2800 1st Ave). It's free and anyone can participate. (Donations are accepted). Song books are available for sale. The registration is at 9AM on Saturday and the signing begins at 9:30AM. It lasts till 3:30 PM with a potluck dinner at noon (in the tradition of the South). The details are the same for Sunday.

Please attend if you can and have an interest. If you know anything or have questions about this form of singing, leave a comment.

For more information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Harp orhttp://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/harp.html
or http://www.fasola.org/