Shape notes are a musical notation designed to facilitate congregational and social singing. The notation became a popular teaching device in American singing schools during the 19th century.

shape-note singing, a musical practice and tradition of social singing from music books printed in shape notes. Shape notes are a variant system of Western musical notation whereby the note heads are printed in distinct shapes to indicate their scale degree and solmization syllable (fa, sol, la, etc.). Since 1801 shape notes have been ...

Shape notes The music in The Sacred Harpis written in standard nota-tion, except that the notes appear in four different shapes (see illustration); therefore the music is also called “shape-note.” Itinerant early American tunesmiths and singing masters used this four-note system to teach sight-reading to people without musical training.

Nineteenth century American song books that used notes in different shapes to aid singers and teach singing came to be known as "shape-note hymnals" and the style of singing from these "shape-note singing."

Shape notes are a music notation designed to facilitate congregational and community singing. Links to more information on shape note are available on the More Notation Systems Page, under the heading “Systems that use the traditional diatonic staff”.

It is a system of music notation that makes sight-reading accessible to those who might otherwise be intimidated by regular music. Each degree of the standard musical scale is assigned a different name and shape, making it only necessary to memorize the …

Mar 27, 2009 · Shape-note singers collectively sightread a form of solfege or solmization known as "fasola" before singing the words of each song. Different notes appear in standard musical notation but with different shapes to correspond to each note's position in a scale.

Feb 10, 2014 · Think of Shape Note music as a combination of three components. After singers identify the key of the piece, they perform it by linking together the notes on the musical scale, the shapes of the provided notes, and then the syllables (or words) of the song.

Jul 22, 2016 · What are ‘shape notes’? ‘Shape notes,’ it turns out, are a shorthand for writing choir music. The different styles of the note heads help singers find the right pitch. The method is said to make sight-reading, as well as four-part singing, much easier and more widely accessible.

3 days ago · Some of the music is shared with the more commonly used European-style hymn tradition, like Amazing Grace, but not all of it. One aspect of shape-note singing that’s different for many is that the melody is on the tenor line, not the soprano line. “Once people get familiar with the songs, they love it and keep coming back,” said Martin.