Rocky
Mountain Shapenote Singers 
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FASOLA : The National Shapenote Web site
The -Fa(a flag shaped note)
-SO(a round note
-La(a box shaped note) web page
is the
shapenoter's communication and information site.
All sources known to shapenote lovers have links from here and you may
subscribe
to an active "chat" line that will answer all your questions and much
more. top
Warren
Steel's web page
Steven Sobel's resources
pages
Singing books ( ie: books used at Shapenote
singings) The only way our books sing is with a person attached and engaged.
Music
High Desert Harmony - 4 original songs by
Daniel Davis - University of New Mexico
Sorroco (2002),
Ojo Caliente (1999), La Bajada (1999), Sleeping Ute Mountain (2004)
Steven
Smith's pages contain examples of music
Recordings of
Shapenote music index CD's and tapes
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Rocky Mountain Singers Online Newsletter
Editor:
Pete Mathewson at 71mgbgt41@gmail.com
719 648-2274 (cell)
<>
(articles and inclusions gratefully accepted)
email Pete with your email address and receive it online
top Shapenote newsletter Oct 07.pdf
The
18th Annual Rocky Mountain Sacred Harp Convention
The 22nd and 23rd
of September 2007 in Boulder, Colorado
Was
well attended. A good time was had by
all with new people arriving all three days.
Wow !! what a bang up affair this was. The committee out did itself in every way, shape and form. The weekend kicked off in Kelly's Barn with a singing school led by Terry and Sheila Wootten of Ider, AL. There was perhaps a 25% increase in attendance over the one in 2005 with a lot of new faces wearing local name tags. The question always gets asked "Why do so many experienced Sacred Harp singers attend these rather basic convention singing schools? This evening it was decidedly about the teachers. Terry and Sheila's insights were beautifully complimented by the presence of David Lee of Hoboken, GA who happened to be in Fort Collins on business and decided to drop in on our convention. These three combined to provide the class with a 10% technical 90% cultural view into Southern singing. Rich in meaningful dialog; responses to both technical and cultural questions; and powerful examples of the points made, one left that evening anxious for Saturday morning to arrive.
And arrive it did. At the Wild Sage Co-Housing meeting house 80 singers met together. They hailed from 10 states (AL, CA, CO, GA, IL, NM, OR,TX, UT and WA) and one foreign country: the United Kingdom, up from about 65 singers in 2005. Through the weekend 48 leaders led 85 songs on Saturday and 80 more on Sunday. Keying through the weekend was shared by Terry Wootten, Sharon Kermeit, Ginnie Ely, Gaylon Powell and David Lee. Their efforts were more than sufficient to the need and the front bench was mighty. Dinner on the grounds was superb and bountiful and the weather was our usual sunny temperatures of the Rocky Mountain fall. Eating outside on the patio with great comfort and companionship, we gathered strength for the powerful afternoons. How can one really describe the feeling of a well done singing weekend together. It is almost impossible to transmit complete satisfaction and well being with the written word.
*with thanks (and some editing) to RM News Letter
editor Pete Mathewson 71mgbgt41@gmail.com
*and a special thank
you to Anita Landess who arranged for this conference at her Wild Sage
Co-housing – it was the perfect spot for a resounding weekend.
Our singing school teachers Terry & Sheila Wootten from Ider, Al. taught us Northerners lots of Southern customs interesting and new to us and David Lee told his stories. Thank you to all our visitors; you joyfully enrich our singing.
The Rocky
Mountain Singers 19th. Annual Convention will be held in the Balloon
Museum in Albuquerque New Mexico
The 4th. weekend in September
2008.
Shapenote Singers in
The 1st Monday of the month at St.Luke's Church in
the Chapel,
2000
Stover Street , Fort
Collins
from 7:00 - 8:30 with no break
please click link below to obtain more details
http://members.aol.com/fcsingings/
Hill Grimmett
fcsingings@aol.com
Shapenote Singers in Boulder
usually on the 2nd. Friday from 7 - 9:00pm
Please confirm before you come
Contact:
MaryLou VanLaanen vmarylou@indra.com
Denver
Meets the fourth Sunday of each month from 1:00-3:00
PM,
at St. Andrew’s Church,
Singing books include red (The Sacred Harp), blue (Sacred
Harp by B.F.White) and black (Norumbega Harmony)
All books will be at the singings as loaners
Directions from I-25. Mapquest recommends that if coming from
the south, you exit
onto Colfax Avenue eastbound, or if from the north, take the West 38th Avenue/
Park Avenue eastbound. If coming north from within Denver, take Lincoln north
to 21st St, turn right one block and turn again onto Glenarm.
Practice group singings on the 2nd. 3rd and 4th.
Monday evenings
from 6:40 -8:40.
Everyone is welcome! If you are interested in Sacred
Harp and other traditional American singing styles, we hope you will join us.
And if you like to sing in any style, or if you're
just curious, you're welcome too -- come and try something different.
Dates,
times, and place subject to change.
Call before coming,
especially if you haven’t been for a while
. October Monthly
Singing
Sunday, October 28
1-3 p.m.
New location: St. Mark's Orthodox Church
1405 So. Vine St., at East Arkansas Avenue
For a map and driving directions, see
<http://www.westernorthodox.com/stmark/visitor>
Easy, quick access from I-25 University Blvd. exit.
Enter the building through the North-facing Arkansas-Avenue entrance.
Contact:
Pat Dolan ruralplain@aol.com
or 303 778-6297 or
Sharon Kermit 303-322-8389
Colorado Springs
Note
there are changes –we are singing on the 3rd Sundays in April and
May
2nd Sundays from 1:30– 3:30
Pikes Peak Primitive Baptist Church
12th and Pikes Peak
Colorado Springs, CO 80904
Contact: Pete Mathewson 719 469-5241
cell 71mgbgt41@gmail.com
You'al come now or you will never know how much fun
singing can be.
Experience the old hymns sung in the old way. We use both the Cooper and the
Denson Revised Sacred Harp. Books will be available for loan at the singings.
Singings in Albuquerque
New
Mexico
Second and fourth Sundays, 2:00-5:00pm at the
Contact: Nancy Nortz n.nortz@worldnet.att.net
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Utah www.utahsacredharp.org
First Tuesdays 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.,
Please call for the location
801-766-4482
Second Tuesdays 7:00-9:00 pm,
St.Mary's Episcopal Church,
50 West - 200 North.
Fourth Tuesdays 7:00-9:00pm.
1480 East Edison (1480 South- 145 East), Salt Lake City,UT
Contact: Jenny Jensen jenny@utahsacredharp.org
801-766- 4482.
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The Sacred Harp Singing Tradition
The use of shaped notes does
not have a very long history as singing goes. One of the very early American
occupations was the singing schoolmaster. The original books came out of
Scotland with immigrants and soon new books were written created from memory
and contained favorite hymns plus the addition of pop tunes of the day edited
into the shapenote format. For example the Sacred Harp book contains Lest Olde
Acquaintance Be Forgot (Plenary #162) and Du Du liegst mir im Herzen (Soft
Music #323b) plus many waltz and jig tunes. The schoolmaster (mistress) went
from place to place teaching groups of people to sing with the aid of these shaped
notes. Originally most of the tunes were in three parts (treble,tenor and bass)
with the tenor singing the melody line, but today most of the songs have an
alto line added to provide the four part harmony we seem to be most comfortable
with. The treble is the highest staff, the alto is on the second staff, the
tenor is on the third staff down and still contains the melody, and bottom
staff was and is the bass. Both men and women sing in all the parts. It depends
purely upon the range of your voice and how you feel ...the parts are very
closely harmonized and often cross over each other. The sound has been
described as open, tonal, filled with energy and joy. New songs are being
written today by young and old composers. The older books can still be found in
attics,bookshops, and church basements, but we sing from newly published
songbooks. Shapenoters with great joy upon finding old books will sing some of
the old tunes out in their local shapenote groups. Both favorite selections and
new songs are found in the recently published books. To obtain books it is best
to attend a singing as one of the group will have the particular book they are
currently using and usually extras for sale/loan.
All conventions will have books for sale as well as the book, tapes and CD's.
Books
Different
Shapenote books are used by different singing groups. Books contain differing
shapes, i.e. four shapes (ours), seven shapes (some southern singing groups)
and other systems (nine shapes) that are either seldom or never sung. The
Rocky Mountain Shapenote Singers use The Sacred Harp (no -
harp is not the instrument. Harp refers to the voice as a harp. Singing is
without the use of any instruments). The best way to obtain singing books
is to go to a singing where they will be available for sale.
THE
SACRED HARP Sacred Harp Publishing Company,
SACRED HARP SINGINGS, 1995
-96 directory. Shelbie Sheppard,
This minutes paperback contains lists of: 1) name, address and date of each
convention held during each year, listed by month; 2) names and addresses
of singers, and 3) every song called and who called it during each
convention. (do you want to know the popular songs? this is your
resource)
AN AMERICAN CHRISTMAS HARP, 1994. K.E.Willard. ed,
The B.F.White SACRED HARP - Revised Cooper Edition, 1992 Sacred Harp Book Co., Inc. Samson, Al
THE SACRED HARP CONCORDANCE -
Chris Thorman 1991 ed. Click on FASOLA for more info.
and a lot more singing books
Sandy Klein, webmaster: dakspk@lamar.colostate.edu
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