APPALACHIAN HARP MUSIC / OLD-TIME, SHAPED-NOTE SINGING SCHOOLS IN THE MOUNTAINS OF EAST TENNESSEE:

Some of my fondest childhood memories included the old-time "Singing Schools" that our community mountain churches held.  Many of the churches could not afford instruments, and some did not allow musical instruments (according to their interpretation of the New Testament Gospel).  In order to be able to learn new songs, the church would bring in a local Singing School "Teacher" to teach the congregation how to learn to "sing" Harp Music... or "shaped notes" as we called it.  Learning the shaped notes was much easier (and faster) than learning the lines and spaces.  This made it easier for the congregation, and their song leader, to learn new songs when they purchased new hymnals.  These hymnals were purchased every year, or two years, and they were almost always paperback, as the hardback hymnals were considerably more expensive.  With every singing school that the church held, the congregation got better and better at reading and "singing" the notes.  This simple, yet very effective techinique, allowed many people (including myself) to learn how to play instruments using this mountain music theory.  It was easier to transpose/change keys, and easier to learn the harmony (although most of my relatives had a natural "ear" for harmony).  Many of my relatives could not afford instruments, so they made their own:  banjos, dobos, fiddles, mandolins, guitars... and my grandmother and aunt could "play" the spoons, which was a thrill to watch!  As a very small child, I remember how easy it was to associate the sound with the shape.  It was a big thrill for a poor mountain girl, like me, to get to attend these singing schools.  My parents tried to take me to all of the surrounding churches when they held these events.  The church would "pass the hat" and take up a love offering for the teacher, on the last day of the school, and the singing teacher usually took turns spending the night with church members, as it was expensive to travel back then, and some of them actually did not own vehicles, and still rode horses to church.  We learned this theory from the "Rudiments of Music" booklet (I still have my grandfather's copy), and every night we began by reciting the definition of music (from this book).  We children especially loved learning this, because at the end of the week, if we could stand up in front of the congregation and recite this definition, the old singing school teacher would give us each a piece of hard candy, and that was the highlight of my week!  There are still Harp Music Conventions held, today. One such convention is held at Cade's Cove, near Townsend, Tennessee - just outside of Pigeon Forge.  This harp singing was featured in the movie, "Cold Mountain", and is one of the many rich elements of our Appalachian way of life.  Mountain life was hard, and our families were somewhat isolated from the rest of the world (some parts still are, today), so music was a favorite pastime for us, all. I can still hear the whole congregation joining in to sing the shaped notes, each person singing the notes for their particular part of music:  Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass.  It almost sounded like we were singing in a different language, and well... I suppose we were!  DO-RE-MI-FA-SO-LA-TI-DO

MUSIC IS THE SCIENCE OF SOUND, OR A RHYTHMICAL SUCCESSION, OR A COMBINATION OF PLEASING TONES.