shape-note singing

[sheyp-noht]

noun

1. a traditional style of a capella singing using shape-note notation.

Word History and Origins

Origin of shape-note singing¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

SAT-SUN Community singing, no auditions or rehearsals, no experience needed, shape-note singing is a participatory musical art form, practiced in the USA for over 200 years, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m., doors open 9 a.m.

Read more on Seattle Times

Since shape-note singing uses syllables instead of specific notes, the scale is somewhat more fluid, but the group still hits the same note to start.

Read more on Washington Times

She added she likes to watch videos of people shape-note singing on YouTube, both for enjoyment and for guidance.

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The show consistently relies on outside expertise: the folk singer Sam Amidon gives a helpful summary of the tradition of shape-note singing that underlies Marshall’s “Hymnodic Delays”; in the new season, the Columbia musicologist Walter Frisch drops by the studio to discuss the Los Angeles environs of composer Arnold Schoenberg.

Read more on The New Yorker

The event kicks off Friday at the McKissick Museum at 4 p.m. with talks on shape-note singing, African-American spirituals and other music traditions unique to the South.

Read more on Washington Times