<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style><![endif]--><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:10.0pt;
margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-ligatures:standardcontextual;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1027" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>PATHers,<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I realize this is not going to be of interest to many, but for those who are interested, the Settlers’ Museum is planning to hold an introductory Shape-Note Sing at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at the museum, 1322 Rocky Hollow Road in Atkins, Va. It’s free and will be led by Chris Wolf, an experienced leader from Floyd, Va. A couple of PATHers have expressed interest, thus the reason for this message. Feel free to call or email for more information. Or see below.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Tom Dillon, 336-725-2760<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Shape Note Music from the Sacred Harp<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Shape note music is one of the oldest musical styles in America. In the 18<sup>th</sup> and especially 19<sup>th</sup> centuries, it was one of our most popular musical forms, yet until recently it was little known outside a small region of Georgia and Alabama, where it survived as a living tradition. The Sacred Harp has been the best-known collection of shape note music ever since its first publication in 1844, and it has been republished many times, most recently in 1991. Other books of the period include The Christian Harmony (1805) and the Southern Harmony (1835).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The term “shape note” has two meanings. The first refers to the practice, originating in Colonial America, of printing music notes on the staff in shapes – diamonds, triangles, squares, circles. The shapes permit untrained singers to follow melody lines more easily. Obviously any music can be printed in shapes, and even today many hymnals in rural churches print standard hymns in either the four shapes used by Sacred Harp or the seven shapes used by Christian Harmony. There is much of the latter in western North Carolina.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The second meaning of “shape note” refers to a compositional style and performance characteristic of 18<sup>th</sup> century New England Congregational churches. The idea was full participation by all members; therefore, unlike modern music with the melody in the high soprano, the melody of shape note is in the tenor (third line down) and is sung by men and women. That means the melody is often obscured for casual listeners by the strong harmony lines. The music is loud, vigorous and meant to be sung, not listened to. Full of modal melodies, gapped scales and old folk tunes, the tunes of Sacred Harp are a direct link to nearly-buried traditions of American and British music.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" o:spt="75" o:preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f">
<v:stroke joinstyle="miter" />
<v:formulas>
<v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0" />
<v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0" />
<v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1" />
<v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2" />
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth" />
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight" />
<v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1" />
<v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2" />
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth" />
<v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0" />
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight" />
<v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0" />
</v:formulas>
<v:path o:extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" />
<o:lock v:ext="edit" aspectratio="t" />
</v:shapetype><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_1" o:spid="_x0000_s1026" type="#_x0000_t75" style='position:absolute;margin-left:0;margin-top:-.15pt;width:105.35pt;height:22.8pt;z-index:-251658240;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;mso-wrap-distance-left:9pt;mso-wrap-distance-top:0;mso-wrap-distance-right:9pt;mso-wrap-distance-bottom:0;mso-position-horizontal:absolute;mso-position-horizontal-relative:text;mso-position-vertical:absolute;mso-position-vertical-relative:text;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;mso-width-relative:page;mso-height-relative:page'>
<v:imagedata src="cid:image001.jpg@01D972D6.7DEEA560" o:title="" />
<w:wrap type="tight"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><![if !vml]><img width=140 height=30 style='width:1.4583in;height:.3125in' src="cid:image002.jpg@01D972D8.9E983D60" align=left hspace=12 v:shapes="Picture_x0020_1"><![endif]><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>A characteristic of shape note singings is the practice of “singing the notes” – fa for a triangle, sol for a circle, la for a square and mi for a diamond. The tradition of singing the song once through with the syllables helps the singers grasp the tune firmly and permits a remarkably sophisticated level of sight reading among experienced singers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>