Hey there! First, a quick note this week to start thinking about term project
topic ideas, so check out that term project assignment guide that's posted
in the course overview module to get a refresher on what the expectations are,
and to see some examples of projects that students have done in the past. If I
can help, please just let me know. It might be a good idea to do some scanning
ahead in the Lornell book to scout for topics that interest you. You'll be
posting your ideas to the related discussion board next week. Now, I'd like
to talk a little bit about shape-note singing, and even walk you through some
of the basics of how it works. Lornell, of course, teaches us that
shape-note singing was the first recognized form of white religious folk
music, which is a significant distinction -- and part of why I think people have
found it so compelling, and why there is such renewed interest in it today -- is in
part because of the format. So the way the music is printed is a mash-up of
standard Western notation with the staff, and clef, and key signatures, and units of
measure like quarter notes and half notes, plus an invented system of shapes
that simplify the way you get the information you need in order to sing a
note. For example, you don't have to know anything about what the lines on a staff
mean, or what the symbols like sharps and flats mean; you start by learning four or
seven shapes, depending on which branch of the tradition that you're working
with, and while there are a handful of variations of shapes with the many
additions of books that have been published, I'm most familiar with the
seven shape system -- which was introduced in the mid-19th century. Here is an
example of the shapes from a seven- shaped system called the Aiken system.
So you'll see, there are seven different shapes that take you up the scale -- so if
we were to start at the bottom there, the shape that in this system looks like a
triangle -- in other systems, by the way, that top of the triangle is hacked off,
but otherwise it's pretty comparable -- so that first note would be our "do," and
that could start wherever. It doesn't matter where that pitch is actually
printed on the staff -- when you sing in shape note singing, you pick what's
called a "do of convenience," or a "key of convenience," right? So, you pick a key
that works for all of the voices who are singing. So in this case, I'll just, for
example, start my do right here.
Do, re, mi, fa, so la, ti, do
Now, some of you might have heard these sounds before; perhaps you know them as
solfege, or maybe you remember that scene from The Sound of Music where they sing
the, "doe a deer, a female deer..." where they sing that song. It's the same sounds, and
each note of the scale gets its own sound. The idea here is that you learn to
associate the shape with the sound, so that every time you see that diamond, you're
noticing "mi," and every time you see that circular shape you're noticing "so," and over
time, if you know where one note is, you know how to find the rest of them. Just
by practicing that, you start to build a musical framework that helps you
consciously, or subconsciously, learn about intervals and jump-starts your
ability to sing in harmony in groups. Historically, here in Central Appalachia,
those that led shape-note singing schools would come visit a community for
a few weeks in the fall. Why in the fall, you may ask? Because that's when people
would have time to think about things like music after the crops were
harvested, and the workload was shifting. In my opinion, one of the coolest things
about shape-note singing is that it is all about creating community musical
experiences. And it's a participatory music, rather than a performative music.
It's just designed to get everybody singing together.
You sing in what's called a "hollow square" with four groups of people
sitting facing each other, grouped by which part they're singing. So, you'll
have a bass section, the tenor or the lead, alto, and treble. And in my
experience, modern shape note singing communities love welcoming those that
are new to the tradition. Most of the time, you're just along for the ride
amidst a group of people who know the music well and sing it with gusto, but
you'd be surprised how much our voice is able to follow those around us without
us knowing exactly what we're doing. You'll hear some examples of shape-note
singing in the listening folder this week. It is funky stuff.
I also want to mention that ETSU actually has it's very own shape-note
singing course. So keep an eye out for that when it is offered, and know that
you don't have to have any particular musical background to take the class. We
just get together and sing a lot, and learn more about the tradition. Let me
know if you're interested, or if you want to know more about that. I also have a
handful of shape note singing books on hand, if you want to see what they're
like. Here's a few of them -- again there's a bunch of different editions, but you
should... yeah!-- Come check them out -- I'll have them in my office, and you can
come borrow a physical copy, or I can scan you some pages if you're curious,
but you're not on campus. I'd also love to know if any of you or your friends
and family members have participated in shape-note singing. Be sure to let us
know, perhaps in this week's discussion board. Alright! That's all I got for you
today. Have a great week!