From the time I was small I remember that the music in our church hymnal was different that other musical notations. All others had round notes, but ours had a series of shapes. As I grew older I was able to attend “Singing School.” This was a two week camp where we were trained on the shapes and their associated pitches. The style i learned is a 8 note shape scale. The Hymnal we used at Church was the “Church Hymnal” or as we called it the Red Book. It is a collection of 4 part harmony set with shapes. It is not “fa-sol-la” singing but similar. Fa-sol-la repeats the same 3 shapes, ours is based on a full scale. What i remember is that one time at singing school I watched someone write down a song without a staff just using the shapes and others were able to sing it as written. I could see why, in the years before mass copies, having such an easily transmittable form of music was popular.

Across the south various singing groups get together and practice this craft. What I find amazing is that there are 4-5 new signing books produced every year with 60-80 new songs in each book. All written in shaped notes and all fun to sing. At these singing gatherings the organizer goes around the room giving each person an opportunity to lead a song from one of these books. Every time I go to one of these I know I will be sight reading for 90% of the time. It is a great musical experience.

Last night I went to the 5th Sunday night singing at Duncan’s Creek. After a great supper we started singing at 7pm. We did one song right after another and sang through until 8:47pm. About 50 singers were there with almost the same amount of listeners. There were a few good Bass lines (my favorite) and always a lot of solid Alto Chorus leads. Several piano players rotated across the keyboard including a post-doctoral from Brazil. We “sang the notes” on one song and I’d have to say I nailed most of it.

If you are ever in Gwinnett County on a 5th Sunday night from May through September, swing by Duncan’s Creek Congregational Church. There is a covered dish dinner at 6pm and the singing starts at 7pm. Come in a listen or pick up one of the songbooks and dive in. It is worth your time. Below are a couple of sounds from the night and a picture of one of the songs I enjoyed. When you listen remember, most of these folks are sightread these songs for the first time.