Shape note

Singing schools

Grassroots 18th-century American educational institutions led by itinerant masters to teach music reading and improve congregational hymn singing.

Lining out

A hymn-singing practice where a leader chants each line of a psalm or hymn and the congregation repeats it back in unison.

Shape-note notation

A musical notation system using distinct geometric shapes paired with syllables to simplify sight-reading of pitch intervals for amateur singers.

First New England School

A group of self-taught early American sacred music composers who bypassed European classical rules in favor of a homegrown, accessible style.

The Sacred Harp

An 1844 shape-note hymnal compiled in Georgia by Benjamin Franklin White and Elisha King that remains widely used in modern singing gatherings.

Daniel Read

An 18th-century tanner, composer, and singing master of the First New England School who compiled The American Singing Book and wrote Sherburne.

The American Singing Book

A 1785 collection compiled by Daniel Read containing psalm tunes, fuging tunes, and musical instruction for singing schools.

Fuging tune

An early American choral form that begins in homophonic harmony before transitioning into an energetic polyphonic section with staggered vocal entrances.

Sherburne

A celebrated 1785 Christmas-themed fuging tune composed by Daniel Read, featuring open parallel intervals and staggered voice entrances.

Voice part carrying the main melody in traditional shape-note music

Tenor

Singing schools

Grassroots 18th-century American educational institutions led by itinerant masters to teach music reading and improve congregational hymn singing.

Lining out

A hymn-singing practice where a leader chants each line of a psalm or hymn and the congregation repeats it back in unison.

Shape-note notation

A musical notation system using distinct geometric shapes paired with syllables to simplify sight-reading of pitch intervals for amateur singers.

First New England School

A group of self-taught early American sacred music composers who bypassed European classical rules in favor of a homegrown, accessible style.

The Sacred Harp

An 1844 shape-note hymnal compiled in Georgia by Benjamin Franklin White and Elisha King that remains widely used in modern singing gatherings.

Daniel Read

An 18th-century tanner, composer, and singing master of the First New England School who compiled The American Singing Book and wrote Sherburne.

The American Singing Book

A 1785 collection compiled by Daniel Read containing psalm tunes, fuging tunes, and musical instruction for singing schools.

Fuging tune

An early American choral form that begins in homophonic harmony before transitioning into an energetic polyphonic section with staggered vocal entrances.

Sherburne

A celebrated 1785 Christmas-themed fuging tune composed by Daniel Read, featuring open parallel intervals and staggered voice entrances.

Southern Harmony

An influential shape-note hymnal compiled in 1835 by William Walker that became widely used in Southern singing schools and churches.

Voice part carrying the main melody in traditional shape-note music

Tenor