Shapenote

ArE yOu A ShApE-nOtE sInGeR aNd JUST DON`T KNOW????
So you been bindin` up the corn sheaves since sun-up and are feelin` mighty blessed to have your labors yield such a heavy fall harvest. Now it`s time to let your joys be known! There`s a gathering on a porch, in a church, in a courthouse, in a schoolhouse, and the rest of the town is all geared up for some full voiced, no-nonsense unaccompanied singing. And they are singing SHAPE-NOTE. Shape-note singing is among the oldest continually sung bodies of original American music. It has carried the spirit and the music of early American life through centuries because of its beauty, its POWER and its accessibility. It is music for the people, by the people, music written to be thrilling to sing. It is music with a sound and a sentiment from a different time, but it has been found relevant by each new generation because of its relative simplicity, its sincere force, its challenge to us to sing directly and fearlessly to the ideas of death, hardship, the divine, and true abiding joy. And while the lyrics are often expressing a Christian faith, as most of life was still very centered around the church in communities where this music was composed, people of many different worldviews have found the spirit of the music can still resonate with a passion and vision within them.
Another habit of the tradition is to make an instant community of those who gather to sing. From a first-time singer to a life-time singer, sharing in the joy and openness of making bright and roaring harmony shows us all what it can feels like to come to a situation as who we are, with our own individual voice, and see that it can compliment and amplify each other voice to make something bigger and fully than ourselves. This is the project and the promise of community with the brilliance and immediacy of song. There is no rehearsal. There is no performance. There is just a song being brought to life in whatever form people are able to bring it. It is direct Democracy in action as singers sit all facing one another and each takes a turn choosing a song, its pitch, its tempo, and which verses they want to sing. There are organizers, but no leaders. There are customs, but not hard rules, most of them just serving to give everyone their best chance to sing comfortably and have a fulfilling experience.

If interested please contact Dan Hunter at danhunt1985@verizon.net
And please feel most welcome and invited to our next sing:
Sunday, December 14th 6-8pm at Touchstone Theatre in south Bethlehem.
Let me emphasize that one of the original aims of this music was to teach untrained people to sing and enjoy, so you need absolutely no experience or skill, just interest J!