2. Books and Booklets About Shape-Note Music

Note: This list includes some important monographs that were in print within the past ten years but are now out of print. One may find them in large libraries. Alternatively one may inquire with Internet book search services, which can access inventories of distributors and second-hand book stores.

The Sacred Harp: A Tradition and Its Music, by Buell E. Cobb, Jr. This excellent and unique scholarly account of all aspects of the Sacred Harp tradition has been required reading for every serious Sacred Harp singer. Although in need of updating, it is still the preferred monograph for providing a detailed overview of the tradition and the music. The author is an Alabamian who was drawn into Sacred Harp in his college years and later wrote a Master's thesis on the subject. While some scholarly studies examine the tradition from the outside, Mr. Cobb, a gifted writer and singer whose phenomenal treble voice is heard at many singings each year, observes and analyzes the musical and social aspects of the Southern tradition from the inside, yet with objectivity and perspicacity. This book was initially published in hardback in 1978 and was reissued in paperback (Brown Thrasher edition, 254 pages) in 1989 with an updated preface describing the status of Sacred Harp singing in 1988. Because much has changed in the expanding Sacred Harp world since Mr. Cobb wrote the book and the later preface, the book does not describe the nationwide revival in Sacred Harp in the 1990s and later. Furthermore, the appendix listing all Southern singings, not revised since 1978, is no longer accurate. (For current singing information, see minutes books listed later in this chapter.) The 1989 paperback edition was out of print but has reappeared in the catalog of the publisher, the University of Georgia Press. It is also available through major online outlets such as Amazon.com. ISBN of 0-8203-2371-3. The price is $22.95.

[NEW] Traveling Home Sacred Harp Singing and American Pluralism by Kiri Miller. Published in late 2007, this 264-page book by a Sacred Harp singer and assistant professor of music at Brown University is an expansion of her doctoral dissertation in ethnomusicology at Harvard University. This book deals in depth with the development and national expansion (which she calls "diaspora") of Sacred Harp singing during the past two decades, examining how and why people from diverse backgrounds throughout America and beyond became attracted to Sacred Harp singing and joined the expanding community of singers. The book is a sociological analysis, scholarly in style albeit anecdotal and somewhat rambling, of important issues, debates, changes, and growing pains within this diverse community. It should be highly interesting reading for active "diaspora" or "revivalist" Sacred Harpers. Dr. Miller researched the book extensively through interviews with many singers at traditional Sacred Harp singings, particularly in Chicago, Massachusetts, Alabama, Georgia, and California. This book is in the Music in American Life series. Prof. Miller previously compiled a sourcebook on the Chattahoochee Musical Convention (described below). Clothbound. ISBN 0-252-03214-4. The list price is $45.00. It is listed on Amazon.com as well.

Public Worship, Private Faith: Sacred Harp and American Folksong, by John Bealle. This 320-page book by a Cincinnati historian and long-time Sacred Harp singer was published in October, 1997. The publisher's catalog states (in part): "Bealle surveys definitive moments in American musical history from the vantage of the distinctive musical idiom [of the Sacred Harp]: from the lively singing schools of the New England Puritans to the dramatic theological crises that split New England Congregationalism, from the rise of the genteel urban mainstream in frontier Cincinnati to the bold "New South" movement that sought to transform the Southern economy, from the nostalgic culture writing era of the Great Depression to the rise of the post-WWII folksong revival. Although Bealle finds that much has changed in the last century, the custodians of the tradition of Sacred Harp singing have kept it alive and accessible in an increasingly diverse cultural marketplace. Public Worship, Private Faith is a thorough and readable analysis of the historical, social, musical, theological, and textual factors that have contributed to the endurance of Sacred Harp singing." University of Georgia Press, 330 Research Drive, Athens, Ga. 30602-4901. Hardback, ISBN 082031921X, $50.00. Paperback ISBN 0820319880, $20.00.

[NEW] A Sacred Feast: Reflections on Sacred Harp Singing and Dinner on the Ground by Kathryn Eastburn. This hardcover 212-page book is scheduled to appear in April 2008. It is written by a freelance journalist and published by the University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-1831-4. The publisher writes: "Some have called Sacred Harp singing America's earliest music. This powerful nondenominational religious singing, part of a deeply held Southern culture, has spread throughout the nation over the past two centuries. In A Sacred Feast, Kathryn Eastburn journeys into the community of Sacred Harp singers across the country and introduces readers to the curious glories of a tradition that is practiced today just as it was two hundred years ago. Each of the book's chapters visits a different region and features recipes from the accompanying culinary tradition - dinner on the ground[s], a hearty noontime feast. From oven-cooked pulled pork barbeque to Dollar Store cornbread dressing to red velvet cake, these recipes tell a story of nourishing the body, the soul, and the voice. The Sacred Harp's deeply moving sound and spirit resonate through these pages, captured at conventions in Alabama, Kentucky, Texas, Colorado, and Washington, conveyed in portraits of singers, and celebrated in the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of all-day singing and dinner on the ground echoing through generations and centuries." ISBN 978-0-8032-1831-4. Price $24.95.

The Chattahoochee Musical Convention, 1852-2002: A Sacred Harp Historical Sourcebook, edited by Kiri Miller. Ms. Miller, anethnomusicologist and Sacred Harp singer, has provided a sourcebook on the oldest still-convening Sacred Harp singing convention, the Chattahoochee of west Georgia. The core of the collection is Georgia singer Earl Thurman's previously unpublished monograph The Chattahoochee Musical Convention, 1852-1952, which provides a detailed history of the first hundred years of the convention. Miller provides an interesting introductory chapter, convention minutes, letters, photos, and newspaper clippings about the convention. Finally, there are contemporary interviews with singers Dan Brittain, Charlene Wallace, Amanda Denson, Lonnie Rogers, Karen Rollins, Hugh McGraw, Marcia Johnson, Dean Slaton, Felton and Josephine Denney, and D.J. Hatfield. There is an afterword chapter by Richard DeLong. The book should be of considerable interest to singers who have spent time in the world of traditional Sacred Harp singing in north Georgia and Alabama and who wish to gain a deeper insight into this world and the people who are part of the tradition. Project coordinator John Plunkett. Published by The Sacred Harp Museum, Carrollton, GA ISBN 1-887617-13-1. Paperback. One can order limited quantities for $15.00 plus basic shipping of $2 (no credit cards) from Mr. Plunkett in Georgia. Contact him at bildad12@hotmail.com for details. All proceeds go to the Chattahoochee Convention.

Approaching 150: A Brief History of the East Texas Musical Convention and Sacred Harp in East Texas by Robert L. Vaughn. The annual East Texas Sacred Harp Convention in Henderson, Texas, featuring singing from the Cooper Edition of The Sacred Harp, was founded in 1855 as the East Texas Musical Convention. It is the second oldest continuous Sacred Harp singing convention in the United States. Robert Vaughn, who is a Texan, fifth generation Sacred Harp singer, and member of the East Texas Convention, has written a history of this convention, relating its history, officers and important singers, locations, and traditions, as well as memories of living participants. Published in 2005 by Mr. Vaughn through Waymark Publications, Mt. Enterprise, TX. ISBN 1-59872-040-6. Softbound, 86 pages. Price $11.99 postpaid. Order from Mr. Vaughn at 3528 County Rd. 3168 West, Mt. Enterprise, TX 75681. For additional information, consult the Web site or e-mail Mr. Vaughn at rl_vaughn@yahoo.com.

Judge Jackson and The Colored Sacred Harp by Joe Dan Boyd with accompanying CD. According to the publisher, the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture, this hardbound book tells the story of Judge Jackson of Ozark, Alabama, who in 1934 published The Colored Sacred Harp (see tunebook section), a small book of religious songs written by and for African-American shape-note singers. It continues with the formation and rise to prominence of the Wiregrass Sacred Harp Singers, led by Dewey Williams and Japheth Jackson, son of Judge Jackson. The volume contains an introduction by historian John Bealle and fifty black and white photos. It is accompanied by a CD of songs from The Colored Sacred Harp and the Cooper Revision of The Sacred Harp. The recorded songs include one made by folklorist John Work in 1938, one made by Judge Jackson and family in 1950 at a coin-operated recording booth in Dothan, and 25 others made primarily by Joe Dan Boyd (1969) but including two from Doris Dyen's tapes (1972) made during her dissertation research. The book/CD costs $25.00 plus shipping and may be ordered online or by phone at 334-242-3601. A radio interview with Joe Dan Boyd concerning this book is available on the Web. See the Internet Resources chapter.

The Sacred Harp Concordance, by Chris Thorman, updated in 2007. Originally published in book form in 1992, the Concordance of The Sacred Harp 1991 Edition has been updated in 2007 with many corrections and theinclusion of previously omitted entries. The Concordance is an alphabetical listing of words found in Sacred Harp song texts, and for each appearance of a given word, the entire phrase or clause, song title, and page number are given. The Concordance is available in both printed and online formats. The 230-page printed version can be ordered from lulu.com for the printing cost ($9.13) plus shipping (various options available). It can also be downloaded for free as a PDF or HTML file from Chris Thorman's Web page on the Concordance. The online Concordance is actually a component of Chris' Sacred Harp Indexes.

Minutes of Sacred Harp Singings

Shape Note Bibliography, compiled by John Bealle. Extensively expanded in 1998, this is a most impressive and useful guide to books, journal articles and other materials on shape note singing (at least up through 1998), compiled by an historian/folklorist/sociologist who has sung Sacred Harp music for decades. The listings are classified under the following headings: bibliographic sources, concepts, culture groups, geographic regions, influences, musical forms, tunebook compilers, and tunebooks. The work is available only on the Internet (see Internet Resources) but is listed here also because of its value. The URL is http://fasola.org/bibliography/ .

A Beginner's Guide to Shape-Note Singing, by Lisa Grayson, Third Edition This excellent 28-page booklet written by a notable and gifted alto in Chicago, has been updated in 2001. It contains chapters, such as Basics of Shape-Note Singing, The Story of Shape-Note Music, Anatomy of a Sacred Harp Tune, and First Steps in Sight Reading for Absolute Beginners. There is also an excellent chapter on song leading by Becky Browne of St. Louis. There is a list of easy tunes to lead for the first time and some thoughts on "The true Sacred Harp" by Clark Lee of Hoboken, Georgia. The price is $4.00 postpaid for one copy; quantity discounts have been available in the past. Order from The Chicago Sacred Harp Singers, 1807 West North Ave., Chicago, IL, 60622.

"First time at a Sacred Harp singing?" is a two-page handout adapted by Lisa Grayson from her beginner's guide described above. It is an ideal handout at singings and conventions. Sections are entitled "Where should I sit?," "Shape notes," and "Seven frequently asked Sacred Harp questions." Ms. Grayson has placed it online as a PDF file for free use by anyone at http://www.publica.com/beginners.html.

A Lexical Companion to the Hymns of the Sacred Harp: A Guide to the Hymns of the 1991 Edition and the Cooper Book, by Lee Bradley. This book, published in 2005, contains explanations of over 325 words and phrases selected from hymns (lyrics) used in The Sacred Harp, 1991 Edition and 2000 Cooper Revision. The selected words are those generally unfamiliar to modern readers and singers, e.g. "elysian," "refulgent," "fain", and "Ebenezer." The Preface by Buell Cobb and the Introduction by Lee Bradley can be read on the book's Web site. The book contains an alphabetical glossary of selected words and phrases, followed by lists of hymns from the 1991 Edition and Cooper Revision in numerical order with definitions of difficult terms extracted from the glossary. This book has been highly acclaimed by several Sacred Harp singers, who found that it finally enabled them to "sing with understanding." ISBN 1-883640-19-9. The price is $15.00 per book including shipping and handling. Order from and address checks to Lee Bradley, 602 West Park Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia 31602-2805. Credit cards not accepted. Profits from the sale of this book go to the Joe Beasley Memorial Foundation.

Sacred Harp: Four Shape Music Notation Primer for Young Children by John Bayer. Mr. Bayer, a Sacred Harp singer in Ohio, compiled this book out of a "desire that my children will learn to read, understand, and grow to love the music as much as I do." John Bealle writes: "The book is 82 pages, spiral bound (oblong) from letter sized photocopies. There are four sections: "Shape Names" (pages 1-36), "Notes and their Values" (37-38), "Rests and their Values" (59-75), and "Repeat Marks, Dots, Hold Signs, Modes, Scales, and Examples" (76-82). The focus is mostly on recognition of the different symbols, so there are shapes to color, pages of mixed shapes to count and fill in with different colors, shape cut-outs, and mazes where "fa" must find its way to "sol," "la," and "mi" The treatment of values follows along these same lines, with exercises like "Trace the Half Notes," "Circle the Quarter Notes" (from a mixture), and "Draw a line from the center note to other of the same value." All but the last section uses music staffs 1-1/2 inches high....Age five or six seems about right for this book." To order, send $6 postpaid for each primer to John Bayer, Jr., 9555 West 3rd St., Dayton, Ohio 45427. For more information, contact him by e-mail at JohnBayer@juno.com.

A Shape-Note Singing Lesson, in Smithsonian in Your Classroom, by Stephen Binns, Leanne Wiberg, and Ella Wilcox, with photos and graphics by Miriam Kilmer. The 16-page October 2000 issue of this quarterly magazine, used in grades 3-8 of schools throughout the country, is an excellent presentation of historical, cultural, and musical aspects of shape-note singing traditions from New England to the South, with inspiring photographs of traditional singings (in the mid-Atlantic area and the South) and of children leading songs in the hollow square. A lesson plan for grades 3-8 is included to teach the four shapes used in Sacred Harp singing and to sing "Yankee Doodle" and "Chester" by Billings. Availability of printed copies is uncertain, but a PDF of the document is available free from the Smithsonian Education Web site (after opening this page, click on the link entitled "Visit: A Shape-Note Singing Lesson"). If multiplecopies are desired, check on availability by contacting Miriam Kilmer at timiriam@risingdove.com.

In the Spirit: Alabama's Sacred Music Traditions (Booklet and audio recording), edited by Henry Willett, director of the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture. This 127-page book, issued in 1995 and reissued in 2002, contains twelve interesting essays on a variety of little-known and well-known Alabama folk-religious music traditions, and is bundled with a CD (or cassette if requested) featuring examples of music described in the book. Of interest to shape-note singers are essays by Buell Cobb ("Sand Mountain's Wootten Family: Sacred Harp Singers"), Henry Willett ("Judge Jackson and the Colored Sacred Harp"), Anne H. F. Kimzey ("The Deasons: A Christian Harmony Family"), Joyce Cauthen ("Shape-Note Gospel Singing on Sand Mountain"), and Charles Wolfe ("Seven-shape-note Gospel Music in Northern Alabama.") The companion recording contains interesting examples not found elsewhere. Of particular note to shape-note singers are bands by the Wootten family (singing at home and recorded by Keith Willard), Judge Jackson leading black Sacred Harp (Cooper Revision) singers in 1938, and the Deason family. ISBN 1-881320-54-5. The price of the booklet plus CD (or cassette if requested) is $15.00 plus $2.50 shipping. (Make checks payable to Alabama Folklore Association. The Web page for the Center's traditional music offerings contains some downloadable audio files from the recording. Order from Alabama Center for Traditional Culture, 410 North Hull St., Montgomery, AL 36104, phone 334-242-3601.

A Checklist of Four-Shape Shape-Note Tunebooks, by Richard J. Stanislaw. Institute for Studies in American Music Monograph No. 10. This 1978 booklet is a guide to the existence and location of every four-shape tunebook published in the U.S. from 1798 to 1860 and those published later that were directly connected with those published earlier. Information about the compiler, date of publication, full title, size, and location of each tunebook is given, as well as an indication of the nature of the tunes as "urban" or "rural." There is a list of books and doctoral dissertations pertaining to shape-note music. This 62-page booklet is of great value to the serious scholar of shape-note music, and is of interest to the devoted singer also. ISBN 0-914678-10-8. Price $10.00 postpaid. Published by the I.S.A.M., Dept. of Music, School of Performing Arts, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York 11210, phone 718-951-5286.

A Companion to The New Harp of Columbia by Marion J. Hatchett. Dr. Hatchett was Professor of Liturgics and Music and Benedict Professor of Pastoral Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN and a noted authority on shape-note singing in East Tennessee from the New Harp of Columbia. This work, published by the University of Tennessee Press was published in March, 2003. ISBN 1-57233-203-4. 476 pp. Cloth. This book has been recently on sale at 75% off the list price of $70.00 plus shipping.

The Harmonia Sacra Handbook, by James Nelson Gingerich and Matthew Lind. This excellent softbound booklet, published in June 1994 and updated in December 1994, lists the following information for every song in the 25th edition of the Harmonia Sacra, (compiled by James Nelson Gingerich, see Tunebook chapter): tune name, first line, meter, doremi (incipit or beginning notes of tune), alternate name, composer, date, earlier source of tune if any, text author, date, and source of text if known. The Harmonia Sacra itself has little if any information on composer and author attributions, so this handbook represents a welcome source of this information as well as a document of considerable scholarship. There are indices of authors, composers, and sources, tune names, and doremi (incipit). There are a table of additional verses for some songs, errata for the Harmonia Sacra, 25th edition, and a bibliography. Copies are available for $7.00 each, postpaid, from James Nelson Gingerich, 214 Crescent St., Goshen, IN 46526. The entire document is available also on the World Wide Web (624 kbytes) at http://www.entish.org/hs/hb.html.

Books and Music Collections by George Pullen Jackson

Sing to Me of Heaven. by Dorothy Horn. 1970. This 212-page book is a musicological analysis of music from three "old harp" books, The Sacred Harp, Southern Harmony, and The New Harp of Columbia. The late Dr. Horn, who was an emeritus professor of music theory, analyses modes, gapped scales, harmony, and origins of many Southern folk hymns. The book is now out of print at its publisher, University Press of Florida. One might find this book in large university libraries.

Yankee Singing Schools and the Golden Age of Choral Music in New England, 1760-1800 by Alan Clark Buechner. This work is an important dissertation (Harvard Univ., 1960) which has been published for the first time recently. Professor Buechner (d. 1998) examines the decline of Congregational music in early eighteenth-century New England, the establishment of regular singing in selected eastern Massachusetts and Connecticut Valley parishes, the rise of the singing school as an educational institution in the region, and the golden age of choral music. 158 pp. 50 illustrations and music examples, 3 appendixes, tables, bibliography, and index. $30.00 plus $2.00 for shipping. Make checks payable to Boston University Scholarly Publications, 985 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston MA 02215.

Music and Musicians in Early America, by Irving Lowens. This 1964 book by a foremost historian of early American music, is now out of print, according to its publisher, W.W. Norton (New York). One may find it in libraries.

American Fuging Tunes, 1770-1820: A Descriptive Catalog, by Karl Kroeger. Music Reference Collection Series, no. 41, published in November, 1993. Karen Willard writes: "Kroeger lists almost 1300 tunes, listed alphabetically by tunename, and each entry does include the numeric incipit. There are also biographical sketches of composers and a first line index of the texts." (Music Reference Collection Series, no. 41.) Published in November, 1993. ISBN 0-313-29000-8. This book is stated to by out of stock indefinitely by the publisher, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, phone 800-225-5800.

Fuging Tunes in the Eighteenth Century, by Nicholas Temperley and Charles G. Manns (Detroit Studies in Music Bibliography, No. 49.) This 493-page book, published in 1983, consists of a brief musicological treatise on English and American fuging tunes published prior to 1800, a list of pre-1800 tunebooks containing fuging tunes, and a extensive census of tunes organized mathematically according to the first line of melody. The book is of interest mainly to scholars since the music itself is generally not presented. ISBN 0-89990-017- 8. Now out of print, it was available for $35.00 postpaid (by check, no credit cards) from Harmonie Park Press, 23630 Pinewood, Warren, MI 48091.

Hymn Tune Index: A Census of English-Language Hymn Tunes in Printed Sources from 1535 to 1820 by Nicholas Temperley, assisted by Charles G. Manns, and Joseph Herl. The publisher's description of this four-volume magnum opus states: "This unique reference is the first systematic guide to the history of the English-language hymn tune, as represented in printed sources from the earliest (Coverdale's Goostly Psalmes) to 1820. Using a simple numerical code to represent the first two lines of each melody, the book allows the reader to look up any of nearly 20,000 British and American hymn tunes without advance knowledge of the composer, name, or text. Each entry provides an array of information on the tune's first printing, composer, the texts to which it was sung, and its later history. The work contains a historical introduction; a theoretical introduction; chronological and geographical lists of sources; indexes of tunes by name, composer, text, and metre; and tables of concordances with early German and French tunes." Published by Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-311150-0. Apparently out of print and replaced by the online index described below.

The Hymn Tune Index Web Site contains an online search engine for querying the Hymn Tune Index database for specific information, including tune name, incipit (beginning of melody), composer, and attribution, as well as hymn texts (first two lines). For example, one can find all listed tune(s) having a given incipit, all listed tunes by a given composer, or all listed tunes associated with a given text. This important tool is found at the URL http://hymntune.library.uiuc.edu//.

American Sacred Music Imprints, 1698-1810: A Bibliography by A. Britton, I. Lowens, and R. Crawford. It was published in 1990 for the American Antiquarian Society by the University of Virginia Press, Charlottesville, VA, phone 804-924-3468. ISBN 091229695X. Out of print.

Divine Song on the Northeast Frontier: Maine's Sacred Tunebooks, 1800-1830 by Linda Gilbert Davenport. This 1996 monograph was originally Davenport's Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Colorado-Boulder. It is a study of 18 tunebooks, their compilers, and related musical, historical, and social aspects. It features extensive biographies of the prominent composer Supply Belcher (compiler of Harmony of Maine in 1794), Abraham Maxim, compiler of The Northern Harmony (1805-1819), and Japheth Coombs Washburn, compiler of The Temple Harmony in 1818-1827. Eleven tunes are presented in modern notation. There is an annotated index to the Belcher, Hartwell, Maxim, Robbins, and Washburn tunes printed in Maine collections and a list of locations for extant Maine tunebooks. 440 pp. Cloth binding. ISBN 0-8108-3025-6. Price $75 plus shipping. Published by Scarecrow Press. Phone for orders: 800-462-6420.

William Billings of Boston: Eighteenth Century Composer, by David McKay and Richard Crawford. This 1975 clothbound monograph (ISBN 0691-091188) was available for $50.00 (plus shipping) from the Princeton University Press, but it is out of print currently.

Catalog of the Musical Works of William Billings, compiled by Karl Kroeger. (MusicalReference Collection, no. 32). 1991. 184 pp. ISBN 0-313-27827-x. Available for $59.95 plus shipping from the publisher, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, telephone 800-225-5800.

Amazing Grace: The Story of America's Most Beloved Song by Steve Turner. This 306-page book published in 2002 describes the life of John Newton, author of the text, the shape-note origins of the tune New Britain commonly used to sing Amazing Grace, the song's popularity in gospel music, and its adoption by folk singers in the latter half of the 20th century. Turner is a British biographer. His exposition of the origin of the tune appears to be detailed and well researched, as he cites the research of relevant academic scholars. Published by Harper Collins, Hardcover: ISBN 0-06-000218-2, list price $23.95. A paperback (publisher, Ecco) has an ISBN 0-06-000219-0 and list price $11.95. However, the book is no longer listed on the Harper Collins Web site and is apparently out of print. It should be available from online used book sellers, some of whom are listed on Amazon.com.

Tracing the Roots of Southern Gospel Singers, by B. F. McLemore. This spiralbound 45-page book published in 1988 is very readable and interesting chronology of, in the words of the author, "where Southern gospel music came from, from Pythagoras and Guido's scales, then the English, the New Englanders, where our shaped notes came from, a little about the 4-note esystem, continuing to the Ruebush-Kieffer Co. in the Shenandoah Valley, and on up to modern times, i.e., A.J. Showalter, V.O. Stamps, James D. Vaughan, etc." The author is a singer of Sacred Harp and gospel music in Texas and draws on his own experience and research. He sells it at cost, which in early 2000 was $5.00 per book plus $1.00 for mailing. Write to Mr. McLemore at Rt. 4, Box 424, Jasper, TX 75951 (e-mail bobmc@jas.net).

Foxfire 7 - Chapter on Christian Harmony Singing, by Edith Card. Charles Whitmer writes: The highly respected Foxfire series of about a dozen or so books covers many aspects of southern mountain living in rural Appalachia. Foxfire 7 , a 510-page paperback edited by Paul F. Gillespie and his students and published in 1982, deals with the traditions of mountain religious heritage and includes an 18-page chapter on the Christian Harmony singing tradition of north Georgia and western North Carolina, where the 1873 tunebook is used. ISBN 0385152442. Published by Anchor. Some online book stores, such as Amazon.com, offer it for sale.

The African-American Shape Note and Vocal Music Singing Convention Directory, by the Mississippi Folklore Society and the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi (published in 1994). Prof. D. Warren Steel of the University reports:

"The Directory is the work of Chiquita G. Willis, coordinator of the African American Shape Note Music Project. [The Directory] consists of an introduction, a listing of convention dates and locations, a list of songbooks used in the singings, and a list of archival materials and donors. The booklet is illustrated with excellent black and white photographs. The conventions include five devoted primarily to singing from The Sacred Harp and nineteen which sing mainly from "seven-note yearbooks" (shapenote songbooks from gospel music publishers). They cover mainly north and central Mississippi and adjoining parts of Alabama...The editors plan to update the Directory every two years."

Limited numbers of a cassette tape of singing from the 1993 West Harmony Singing Convention in Mississippi have been available. Check on the availability of these items by contacting the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi, Hill Hall, University, MS 38677, phone 800-390-3527.

"Thomas Commuck and his Indian Melodies, Wisconsin's Shape-Note Tunebook," by James P. Page. This 5-page article discusses a 4-shape-note tunebook, Indian Melodies, compiled by a Narragansett Indian who appears to be the first American Indian composer to have his music published. Indian Melodies (not in print) contains folk hymns and airs composed by Commuck himself. The article reproduces "Missionary" or "White Pilgrim," the first publication of the melody now known as "The Lone Pilgrim." Available for $1.00 from James Page, 29 E. Wilson St. #203, Madison, WI 53703-3401.

Out-of-print reprints of books on early American music from Da Capo Press. In the 1970s and 80s, Da Capo Press of New York City published hardcover reprints of a number of books, listed below and in chapter 1 related to early American music. However, apparently all of these are out of print (with the possible exception of Wyeth's Repository), and Da Capo Press (phone 800-321-0050) is now under different ownership (Perseus Book Group with distribution of some of the DaCapo line by Harper-Collins). The likelihood that any of these will be printed again is unclear. To find these books, one can check large libraries and used bookseller networks, such as that accessed through Amazon.com.

Monographs on American Music with Chapters on Shape-Note Hymnody

Sacred Songs in America: Religion, Music, and Public Culture by Stephen A. Marini. From the publisher's description: "Marini examines the role of sacred song across the United States, from the musical traditions of Native Americans and the Hispanic peoples of the Southwest, to the Sacred Harp singers of the rural South and the Jewish music revival to the music of the Mormon, Catholic, and Black churches. Including chapters on New Age and Neo-Pagan music, gospel music, and hymnals as well as interviews with iconic composers of religious music, Sacred Song in America pursues a historical, musicological, and theoretical inquiry into the complex roles of ritual music in the public religious culture of contemporary America." Prof. Marini of Wellesley College is general editor of the tunebook Norumbega Harmony (see chapter 1). The book has been well received, as it describes the importance of shape-note hymnody/psalmody in the development of American sacred song. Hardcover; 395 pages. Published by University of Illinois Press in 2003. ISBN 025202807. List price $34.95.

America's Musical Life: A History by Richard Crawford. This large, ambitious and comprehensive history of American music by one of the foremost academic authorities in the field was published in 2001. There are 40 chapters covering the full range of American music, including colonial and shape-note psalmody and hymnody. See glowing reviews on www.amazon.com. 976 pages, hardbound. ISBN 0393048101. Published by W.W. Norton and Co. List price $45.00 (less at online stores).

America's Music: From the Pilgrims to the Present, by Gilbert Chase. This 712-page book, the revised third edition of which was published in 1987, is a good general survey of most (North) American music. For readers interested in early American music, the first half includes interesting, albeit brief, chapters on music in the colonies, New England psalmody, shape-note music, and revival hymns and spiritual songs, along with other chapters describing concurrent musical developments. Each chapter has a few references. The book received the 1989 Special Commendation from the Sonneck Society for American Music. Formerly available in a cloth edition and now available in paperback. Published by the University of Illinois Press (Urbana and Chicago), ISBN 0-252-06275-2. Approximate retail price $24.95. Available in large bookstores.

Monographs on Christian Hymnody

A Survey of Christian Hymnody, Revised Edition by David W. Music and Milburn Price. This is the most recent edition (1999) of a text by William J. Reynolds and Milburn Price published in 1987. It is a concise synopsis of Christian hymnody through the ages and is an excellent source of information for the novice hymn-lover. The older edition had chapters dealing with early church song, the Lutheran Chorale, psalmody, English hymnody, and American hymnody (including early American singing schools, camp-meeting songs, folk hymnody, shaped notation, Gospel hymnody, and twentieth-century developments). Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Music are supporters of the Sacred Harp tradition. ISBN 0-916642-67-4. Order from the publisher, Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL.

A Portion for the Singers, by R. Paul Drummond. 1988. This 486-page illustrated work is a scholarly account of the history of Primitive Baptist music since 1800. Much of it deals with singing-school music found in The Sacred Harp and other shape-note tunebooks, because this denomination has cherished the folk hymns of the early American tunebooks long after most other denominations rejected them. This book is derived from the doctoral dissertation of the author. $25.00 plus $2.50 for postage. Order from the Christian Baptist Library and Publishing Co., Atwood TN 38220.

The Sound Of The Dove - Singing In Appalachian Primitive Baptist Churches by Beverly Bush Patterson. This is a 248 page-book with associated hour-long cassette tape of field-recorded music. Chapters deal with the current religious and singing practices of Primitive Baptist congregations of the central Blue Ridge. Paul Drummond writes: "[The book] provides an excellent and detailed examination of singing that represents one of the oldest congregational traditions of religious worship...[and] contains extensive transcriptions of both individual and congregational performances of hymns that convincingly portray the singing style, especially when supplemented with the recordings on the accompanying audiocassette....an excellent ethnomusicological study." ISBN for hardbound is 0-252-02123-1 and for paperbound is 0-252-07003-8. It is available from the University of Illinois Press, 1325 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820. Check the Web site for prices. (See also a description of the audiocassette in the chapter Lined-Out Hymnody and Psalmody.)

Singing Baptists: Studies in Baptist Hymnody in America, by Harry Eskew, David W. Music, and Paul A. Richardson. 1994. This 223-page book is a collection of fifteen essays by foremost Baptist hymnologists who are also authorities on early American shape-note hymnody. Thus, this book has considerable material on shape-note hymnody. Part 1 deals with early New England psalmody. Part 2 deals with five Baptist pastors of the 19th-century South. Part 3 deals with Southern shape-note singing-school tunebooks,. Part 4 treats the various Southern Baptist hymnals from 1845 to the present. ISBN 0-8054-9824-9. Published by the Broadman and Holman, division of LifeWay, Nashville, TN. Check ordering information at this Web site.

Sing With Understanding, by Harry Eskew and Hugh McElrath, 2nd edition, 1995. According to the Hymn Society Book Service, this text is a comprehensive and general study of hymns, covering historical, musical, theological, and practical aspects of hymnody. Shape-note hymns are treated throughout the book, but particularly in a chapter called "The American Tradition." The 2nd edition is published by the Music Department, Church Leadership Services Division, The Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. It is available from LifeWay Christian Stores.com.

Baptist Offspring, Southern Midwife: Jesse Mercer's Cluster of Spiritual Songs (1810): A Study in American Hymnody by Kay Norton (Detroit Monographs in Musicology, no. 34). The publisher's Web page writes: "In addition to unraveling the musical implications of an early-nineteenth century hymnal, this book addresses an area of American musical history that has not received its due attention: pre-shape-note, Southern sacred music. Mercer managed to found several Baptist churches, supervised educational mission schools for the Creek and Cherokee Indians, championed the cause of higher education, developed and refined an influential hymn repertory, a project that spanned nearly half of his 53 year ministry." Hardcover, 202 pages. Published in 2001 by Harmonie Park Press, 23630 Pinewood, Warren, MI 48091, phone 800-422-4880. ISBN 08-99901093.

With Ever Joyful Hearts: Essays on Liturgy and Music: Honoring Marion J. Hatchett, edited by J. Neil Alexander. This festschrift volume published in 1999 honors Marion J. Hatchett, Professor of Liturgics and Music and Benedict Professor of Pastoral Theology at University of the South (Sewanee) in Sewanee, Tennessee. Prof. Hatchett was on the committee that compiled the Episcopal Hymnal 1982 and was responsible in part for its inclusion of numerous early American shape-note tunes. He is also an authority on shape-note singing in East Tennessee from the New Harp of Columbia. In the festschrift volume, there is one article directly about shape-note hymnody, by Prof. Harry Eskew, "Returning to Our Musical Roots: The Use of Early Shape-Note Tunes in Recent American Hymnals." ISBN 0898693217. Published by Church Publishing, Inc. The book no longer appears on their Web site, but Amazon.com has an entry for it.

Hymns and Tunes: An Index, by Katharine S. Diehl. Published in 1979. Hardbound. 1242 pages. Karen Willard writes: "Katharine Diehl used the tune incipit scheme (with Doremi syllables) to index the tunes. She indexed the major American church hymnals of this century for first line, authors, composers, tune names, and tune incipits." ISBN 0810800624. List Price $97.50. Published by Scarecrow Press, phone 1-800-462-6420. There is a cryptic Web page describing this book on the Scarecrow Press Web site, and it can be found by using the search engine.

The Dictionary of American Hymnology Project (DAH). To quote from the Web site: "[The DAH project], with the support of the Oberlin College Library and the Hymn Society in the U.S. and Canada, provides data related to hymns and hymnwriters as well as the history of congregational song in America. The project comprises four sources for research: an index of first lines of hymns from 1640 to 1978 with a supplementary index 1978 to present; a bibliography of some 5000 hymnals published in America (1817 denominational + 3192 non-denominational); an author file; and a bibliographical file. Address queries to Mary L. VanDyke, DAHProject, Oberlin College Library, Oberlin, OH 44074 (216/775-8622), or to dhymns@oberlin.edu." According to Karen Willard, this index currently exists on microfilm in a small number of libraries. Volunteers are entering the information into an electronic searchable database which will become available on several CDs in the not too distant future. The Sacred Harp was one of the hymnals indexed.

Encyclopedia Articles (including online encyclopedias)

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia which has articles that anyone can create and edit, has an increasing number of articles on aspects of Sacred Harp and shape-note singing. These articles have been undergoing continual revision, expansion, and improvement by several knowledgeable Sacred Harp singers, starting with Robert Vaughn. Because of the free-for-all nature of the editing process, articles in this encyclopedia may not be uniformly accurate but will improve with time. Current articles include, but are not limited to, the following:

New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Volume 1: Religion edited by C. R. Wilson and W. Ferris. The original one-volume Encyclopedia of Southern Culture is excellent and readable 1634-page tome written by 800 scholars and writers. It has excellent concise articles entitled "Sacred Harp" by Harry Eskew, "All-Day Singings" by Bill C. Malone, and "Revival Songs and Shape Note Singing Schools" by D. Warren Steel. Published by the University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. 1989. ISBN 0-8078-1823-2. This book is now out of print and is being replaced by the four-volume New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. Volume 1: Religion edited by Samuel S. Hill was published in April 2006 and probably has updated chapters on the topics listed above. This volume (272 pp) is available in paperback (ISBN 0807856746) and hardback (ISBN 0807830038).

New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie, first edition, published by Grove's Dictionaries of Music, division of MacMillan. Volume 17 contains a 6-page article by Prof. Harry Eskew under the heading Shape-Note Hymnody. This article is an excellent historical account providing a broad and detailed account of all shape-note singing traditions in the U.S., including seven-shape-note gospel hymnody. It puts Sacred Harp singing in perspective. This edition (the first) of the Dictionary is out of print, and a mammoth Second Edition is now published in both print and online formats.

New Grove Dictionary of American Music, edited by H.W. Hitchcock and Stanley Sadie, 1986. This 2700-page four-volume work contains many articles on shape-note music and relevant composers. Published by Grove's Dictionaries of Music, division of Oxford University Press, but this work no longer appears on their Web site. Amazon.com has it for sale.

The New Georgia Encyclopedia, a large online work in progress, has an extensive article entitled "The Sacred Harp" written by Malinda Snow of the Georgia State University. Accompanying the text are photographs of a traditional Georgia singing and links to three video clips of Hugh McGraw teaching about Sacred Harp singing. NGE is a project of the Georgia Humanities Council in partnership with the Office of the Governor, the University of Georgia Press, and the University System of Georgia/GALILEO.

The Handbook of Texas Online has an article about Sacred Harp music written by Francis E. Abernethy. The article, which features Sacred Harp singing in Texas, at the end erroneously links the Cooper Book with the "Denson book" publisher.

[NEW] Stormy Banks and Sweet Rivers: A Sacred Harp Geography by James B. Wallace of Emory University. This article (2007) in the Southern Spaces online journal provides an overview of Sacred Harp singing and includes photos, maps, and links to audio files of singing and commentary by members of the Wootten family.

Cook/Art/Gift Books

Blessings at Noon: The Sacred Harp Cookbook, compiled by the St. Louis Shape Note Singers. One of the more important aspects of the Sacred Harp tradition is "dinner on the grounds" at all-day singings. By popular demand, a cookbook of recipes contributed by singers from all parts of the U.S. has been compiled by Karen Isbell and Shelly Robbins (with helpers) of St. Louis. The introduction states in part, "These recipes are from some of the best cooks in the United States. Not only can they whip up a mouth-watering, lip-smacking meal in the comfort of the own kitchens, they also know how to pack it up to carry it to a Sacred Harp singing. There it is enjoyed immensely at the noon recess, along with the warm fellowship which is so important in the shape note tradition." The softcover, comb-bound cookbook, published by the Fundcraft Co., contains around 200 recipes, with Southern cooking very well represented. A most interesting feature is a collection of photos of dinners on the grounds at Southern singings and short essays by singers sprinkled throughout the book. The price is $8.00 each plus $2.00 shipping for mail orders. Orders of 10 or more books have free shipping. The cookbooks are also available wholesale for singing groups and church groups desiring to use the book as a fund raiser. Make checks out to Wings of Song and send orders to St. Louis Shape Note Singers, c/o Presley Barker, 5508 Windmill Rd., Imperial, MO 63052.

Blessings at Noon, Volume 2 is being prepared for publication by the Missouri Historical Society Press.
Steven L. Sabol (sabol@his.com)
HTML version by Warren Steel (mudws@olemiss.edu)

Last modified 17 February 2008
Copyright © 1995-2008 Steven L. Sabol. All rights reserved.

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