Singing at Centrum

Shape Note Singing: A Community Music Tradition

Recently, we asked Tim Eriksen to introduce shape note singing. He will be teaching the tradition at our upcoming Southern Mountain Traditions gathering with Riley Baugus and Dirk Powell in November (limited space still available). Here is his intro:

Soul stirring, rafter rattling "shape note music" is one of America's deepest community music traditions, and it's alive and kicking. Shape note's flagship tunebook "the Sacred Harp" has been in print in the American southland for over 160 years, longer than any book but the Bible.

In this venerable tradition early American gospel hymns meet Scots-Irish ballad melodies, old pop songs, jigs and reels, all heavily dosed with early New England folk harmony and 1800's frontier abandon.  The tradition's vibrant social singing style and unique notation system make it possible for absolutely anyone to sing, and an experience singing this music is a  must for anyone interested in American traditional and old-time music.

Want to learn more? A comprehensive resource is the www.fasola.org website, which is run by the  Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, you should definitely check out the Pacific Northwest Sacred Harp Singers website. Here is a nice NPR feature on a shape note gathering, with audio.

Shape Note Singing & Old-Time Dance Tunes

A brief note from Dirk Powell on the upcoming Southern Mountain Traditions gathering in November:

In the mountains of Southern Appalachia, old-time dance music and shape-note singing were two expressions of the same worldview, one which focused on small local farms, close families, and an impassioned zeal for life.  While these styles have been separated in today's compartmentalized world, they fit together in the same way that differing emotions exist within one person. 

Come and celebrate the way in which these traditions inspire each other. Participants can study vocals with Tim or old-time banjo/fiddle with Dirk and Riley, then get together for group events that revel in the social aspect of the music.  The setting is intimate and the feeling will be like that of a mountain family reunion of years gone by. We'll all be together in one house and it will literally be like a wonderful reunion. 

We will all get together for an ancient rite called a "party." I know most people haven't heard of such things, but we'll show them. We'll do focused workshops, then we'll sing together, we'll dance together, we'll eat good food and drink good wine. Inhibitions and "lack of separation" anxiety will be attacked full on.

Hope you can join us! Register today.

A brief note from Dirk Powell on the upcoming Southern Mountain Traditions gathering in November:

In the mountains of Southern Appalachia, old-time dance music and shape-note singing were two expressions of the same worldview, one which focused on small local farms, close families, and an impassioned zeal for life.  While these styles have been separated in today's compartmentalized world, they fit together in the same way that differing emotions exist within one person. 

Come and celebrate the way in which these traditions inspire each other. Participants can study vocals with Tim or old-time banjo/fiddle with Dirk and Riley, then get together for group events that revel in the social aspect of the music.  The setting is intimate and the feeling will be like that of a mountain family reunion of years gone by. We'll all be together in one house and it will literally be like a wonderful reunion. 

We will all get together for an ancient rite called a "party." I know most people haven't heard of such things, but we'll show them. We'll do focused workshops, then we'll sing together, we'll dance together, we'll eat good food and drink good wine. Inhibitions and "lack of separation" anxiety will be attacked full on.

Hope you can join us! Register today.