I waited because I thought someone would give an overview for why shape
notes were adopted in the US.

My general take on this is that the rise of Protestantism tended to suppress
church music.  Catholicism and the Orthodox tradition  institutionalized
church liturgical music.  Calvinism, in particular, turned away from that
(Lutheranism did not:  hence J. S. Bach and an entire tradition of Lutheran
music.)

With the exception of the Quakers who held (and hold) silent meetings, the
urge to bring music back into worship swept through American Protestantism
but didn't bring with it the centuries of musical training that
characterized Catholicism.  From Puritan hymnals to sacred harp singing to
black spirituals, none arose with the complex music theory or notation
created in Europe.  That doesn't make these forms of sacred music any less
beautiful.

The radical divergence of musical culture arising from the Reformation is
now all but forgotten but it had a profound effect on the development of
sacred music in what became the US as compared to say Mexico.

Harold S. Forsythe
----- Original Message -----
From: "Barbara C. Batson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, January 08, 2007 9:00 AM
Subject: Shape Notes


> The quickest answer to your question is for you to take a look at the web
> sites listed below. They explain shape note, and particularly Sacred Harp,
> very well.
> http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/harp.html
> http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/resource/
> http://fasola.org/introduction/note_shapes.html
> http://www.paperlesshymnal.com/shapnote/shaped.htm
>
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