Skip to content

Random Connections

A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Photos
  • Resources
  • Other Voices
  • Post Archives
  • Home
  • Local
  • Shape Note Singing at Furman

Shape Note Singing at Furman

Posted on May 11, 2008May 13, 2015 By Tom 1 Comment on Shape Note Singing at Furman
Local, Music
Random Connections
Random Connections
Shape Note Singing at Furman
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file | Play in new window

Open Square Formation

Saturday morning I skipped out on a bunch of gardening chores that Laura had lined up for me and went to a shape note singing at Furman. When I arrived, there were about thirty singers already in their open square configuration, singing away.

Unlike the William Walker Memorial Singing at Wofford a couple of months ago, this event was held in a room designed for singing. The sound in Herring Hall (where the Greenville Chorale rehearses) was much more resonant, and the tunes sounded much better than they did in the dead room at Wofford.

The group started singing from the Southern Harmony, which has the more traditional do-re-mi scale. Even so, I struggled with the note names on the initial sing-through, and wound up singing “la” for most of the notes. For the second hour of the morning, they switched to the Sacred Harp, which uses the four-shape fa-so-la scale. It was much harder, and I never really got the hang of the note names. There was a break when we switched from one tune book to the other, and I had a chance to talk with several of the singers. I was told that Southern Harmony tends to be a bit more subdued, whereas Sacred Harp singing is always more raucous. Even though the notes were more difficult for me, I was up for high-energy raucous singing.

I found that it’s really difficult to document AND participate. I didn’t want to stop to take photos during a song which I was enjoying. Therefore, lots of my photos were shot with camera in one hand with my fast f/1.8 lens and my tune book in the other. I also had my field recorder going. However, I still haven’t gotten the hang of adjusting the levels. Even with the device set for automatic level adjustment, the sounds are blown out and distorted. None of the recording was really usable.

At one point the group secretary turned to me and asked if I would be interested in leading. I like to think that I know a good bit about Southern Harmony and Sacred Harp, but I was nowhere near versed like these folks, who sing just about every other week. Each leader picks the next song to sing, and I did not want to commit a social faux pas by selecting someone else’s favorite song to lead, or by picking a song that was passe’.

Hesitating, I agreed to lead. After all, I’ve been a music director at various churches for nearly 25 years. To quote Jeremy Clarkson, “How hard can it be?” I found out how hard. I picked Morning Trumpet, because that has a lively tempo and is one of the songs with which I’m more familiar. I had someone else give the pitches, and we started out. I set a brisk tempo, attempting to “conduct” the group. You don’t do that. You simply keep a beat and try to lead. Once we got past my fumbling over the note names, and actually got into singing the song, my leading improved, and I started to enjoy it. I think it was a successful first attempt. However, the next time I take a notion to lead, I’ll have a song picked out ahead of time and make sure I can sing the fa-so-la note names.

Audio of me leading Morning Trumpet, number 85 in The Sacred Harp

I only stayed for a couple of hours in the morning. There would be a lunch and the singing would continue until 3:00. However, those chores that I had skipped out on were calling, and I needed to get back. This singing was much more enjoyable than the one at Wofford. My favorite was still the one in Owings, and I do want to attend a singing at some little white frame church. It’s just that between my multitude of other interests, I don’t know how I might squeeze that in.

Shape Note Song LeaderVilluliaShape Note SingingShape Note SingingShape Note Song LeaderShape Note SingingShape Note Song Leader

[tags]Sacred Harp, Shape Note Singing, Southern Harmony[/tags]

Tags: Christian Harmony hymns Music Sacred Harp Shape Note Shape Note Singing singing

Post navigation

❮ Previous Post: PicLens and Apture
Next Post: Seero – Geospatially Aware Video ❯

One thought on “Shape Note Singing at Furman”

  1. Don WIley says:
    October 10, 2008 at 4:03 am

    There is a Christian Harmony singing this coming Sunday in Rutherdfordton, NC. It’s in a wonderful building on Main Street, the Old St John’s Historical Church. Details at http://www.christianharmony.org

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Categories

  • EdTech (200)
  • Entertainment (202)
  • Family (121)
  • Gear (115)
  • General Technology (99)
  • Geocaching and Maps (208)
  • History and Genealogy (266)
  • Internet (144)
  • Local (451)
  • Miscellaneous (550)
  • Music (196)
  • Paddling (248)
  • Photography (779)
  • Podcast (6)
  • Rambling (227)
  • Rants (161)
  • Recipes (34)
  • Religion (48)
  • Restaurants (165)
  • Science (48)
  • Things Overheard (29)
  • Travel (411)
  • Uncategorized (129)
  • Washington Sabbatical (113)
  • Weirdness (60)

Recent Posts

  • In Search of the Road Builder
  • The Phoenix Riots and Dr. Benjamin Mays – An MLK Day Ramble
  • An Obsession with Steak Knives
  • An Epiphany on Patriotism
  • Kayaking Bates Old River and Running Creek

Recent Comments

  • Kris Chappell on The Sad Fate of Chappells
  • Joel Nagy on Old Pickens Court House
  • Derek May on The Haunting of Farr’s Bridge
  • Roger Combs on Mystery Cemetery
  • Roger Combs on Mystery Cemetery

Tags

blogging cemetery Christmas Columbia Edisto River edtech Entertainment family Flickr Florida Furman Furman University gear Georgia geotagging Ghost Town Ghost Towns Google Earth Google Maps GPS Greenville Greenville Chorale history Instructional Technology kayaking Lake Jocassee LCU Lowcountry Unfiltered maps Music North Carolina Paddling Photography rambling restaurant Restaurants review singing social networking South Carolina time-lapse Travel video Washington Washington State
February 2023
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728  
« Jan    

Copyright © 2023 Random Connections.

Theme: Oceanly by ScriptsTown