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Shape notes are a musical notation designed to facilitate congregational and social singing. The notation, introduced in late 18th century England, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools.
Shape notes are a system of music notation designed to facilitate choral singing. Shape notes of various kinds have been used for over two centuries in a variety of sacred choral music traditions, all of them rooted in the Southern United States.
Shape-notes, also known as patent, character or buckwheat notes, get their name from their unique shape on the page of music. Unlike round notes, shape-notes each have a unique symbol which corresponds with a sound on the scale, similar to Do, Re, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do.
Shape notes are a variant system of Western musical notation whereby the note heads are printed in distinct shapes to indicate their scale degree and solmization syllable (fa, sol, la, etc.). Since 1801 shape notes have been associated with American sacred music, specifically with singing schools, with musical conventions, and with all-day ...
Shape Note Singing. Nineteenth century American song books that used notes in different shapes to aid singers and teach singing came to be known as "shape-note hymnals" and the style of singing from these "shape-note singing." Christian hymnals using this system were among the most enduring uses of this notation.
The name of the tradition comes from the title of the shape-note book from which the music is sung, The Sacred Harp. This book exists today in various editions, discussed below. In shape-note music, notes are printed in special shapes that help the reader identify them on the musical scale.
A note’s scale degree or position in the current key. In shape note the shape of a note and its position on the staff indicate its position within the key or scale, rather than its absolute pitch, which is not indicated. It works like a moveable-do system.
