60-471: The Kentucky Harmony is a shape note tunebook, published in 1816 by Ananias Davisson . It is the first Southern shape-note tunebook. The first edition of the Kentucky Harmony was 140 pages and contained 143 tunes. Davisson released four more editions: 1817 (which expanded the book to 160 pages), 1819, 1821 and 1826. The 1817 edition used fewer northern tunes but included more Southern folk melodies;
120-602: A different letter (this also freed up Si for later use as Sol-sharp). "Ti" is used in tonic sol-fa and in the song " Do-Re-Mi ". Guido is somewhat erroneously credited with the invention of the Guidonian hand , a widely used mnemonic system where note names are mapped to parts of the human hand. Only a rudimentary form of the Guidonian hand is actually described by Guido, and the fully elaborated system of natural, hard, and soft hexachords cannot be securely attributed to him. In
180-421: A different shape and syllable to every note of the scale. Such systems use as their syllables the note names "do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do" (familiar to most people due to the song " Do-Re-Mi " from The Sound of Music ). A few books (e.g. "The Good Old Songs" by C. H. Cayce) present the older seven-note syllabification of "do, re, mi, fa, so, la, si, do". In the seven-shape system invented by Jesse B. Aikin ,
240-466: A fluent triple mental association, which links a note of the scale, a shape, and a syllable. This association can be used to help in reading the music. When a song is first sung by a shape note group, they normally sing the syllables (reading them from the shapes) to solidify their command over the notes. Next, they sing the same notes to the words of the music. The syllables and notes of a shape note system are relative rather than absolute; they depend on
300-666: A monastery of the Avellana of the Camaldolese order near Arezzo, as many of the oldest manuscripts with Guidonian notation are Camaldolese. The last document pertaining to Guido places him in Arezzo on 20 May 1033; his death is only known to have been sometime after that date. Works by Guido of Arezzo Four works are securely attributed to Guido: the Micrologus , the Prologus in antiphonarium ,
360-473: A music publication is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Shape note 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. Shapes were added to the noteheads in written music to help singers find pitches within major and minor scales without
420-411: A semitone, are indicated mi-fa. This means that just four shapenotes can adequately reflect the "feeling" of the whole scale. The system illustrated above is a four-shape system; six of the notes of the scale are grouped in pairs assigned to one syllable/shape combination. The ascending scale using the fa, so, la, fa, so, la, mi, fa syllables represent a variation of the hexachord system introduced by
480-516: A shift from major to minor while maintaining the same tonic pitch. It was reprinted in many of the early shape note tunebooks, but not in the Sacred Harp (1844), in which Jeremiah Ingalls 's "Christian Song" is the only song that modulates (in this case, from D minor to D major). As noted above, the syllables of shape-note systems greatly antedate the shapes. The practice of singing music to syllables designating pitch goes back to about AD 1000 with
540-667: A statue of Guido in 1847 that is included in the Loggiato of the Uffizi , Florence. A statue to him was erected 1882 in his native Arezzo; it was sculpted by Salvino Salvini . Modern namesakes include the computer music notation system GUIDO music notation , as well as the "Concorso Polifónico Guido d'Arezzo" (International Guido d'Arezzo Polyphonic Contest) hosted by the Fondazione Guido D'Arezzo in Arezzo. A street in Milan , Via Guido D'Arezzo,
600-760: A substantial part of his De musica as a commentary on chapter 15 of the Micrologus . Other significant commentaries are anonymous, including the Liber argumentorum and Liber specierum (both Italian, 1050–1100); the Commentarius anonymus in Micrologum (Belgian or Bavarian, c. 1070–1100 ); and the Metrologus (English, 13th century). Guido of Arezzo and his work are frequent namesakes. The controversial mass Missa Scala Aretina (1702) by Francisco Valls takes its name from Guido's hexachord. Lorenzo Nencini sculpted
660-432: A variety of songs from 18th-century classics to 20th-century gospel music . Thus today denominational songbooks printed in seven shapes probably constitute the largest branch of the shape-note tradition. In addition, nondenominational community singings are also intermittently held which feature early- to mid-20th century seven-shape gospel music such as Stamps-Baxter hymnals or Heavenly Highway . In these traditions,
SECTION 10
#1732844819427720-496: Is because of his stay of about a dozen years there later in life. Disagreeing with Van Waesberghe's conclusions, Mafucci argued that were Guido born in Pomposa, he would have spent nearly 35 years there and would thus more likely be known as 'of Pomposa'. Mafucci cites the account of the near-contemporary historian Sigebert of Gembloux ( c. 1030 –1112) who referred to Guido as "Guido Aretinus" (Guido of Arezzo), suggesting that
780-465: Is known for having changed the name of note "Ut" (C), renaming it "Do" (in the "Do Re Mi ..." sequence known as solfège ). A seventh note, "Si" (from the initials for "Sancte Iohannes," Latin for Saint John the Baptist ) was added shortly after to complete the diatonic scale. In anglophone countries, "Si" was changed to "Ti" by Sarah Glover in the nineteenth century so that every syllable might begin with
840-419: Is that the parts of a vocal work can be learned more quickly and easily if the music is printed in shapes that match up with the solfège syllables with which the notes of the musical scale are sung. For instance, in the four-shape tradition used in the Sacred Harp and elsewhere, the notes of a C major scale are notated and sung as follows: A skilled singer experienced in a shape note tradition has developed
900-407: Is the first Southern shape-note tunebook, and was soon followed by Alexander Johnson's Tennessee Harmony (1818), Allen D. Carden's The Missouri Harmony (1820) and many others. By the middle of the 19th century, the "fa so la" system of four syllables had acquired a major rival, namely the seven-syllable "do re mi" system. Thus, music compilers began to add three more shapes to their books to match
960-658: Is understandable that several locations in Italy claim the honor of having given birth to G[uido]". There are two principal candidates: Arezzo , Tuscany or the Pomposa Abbey on the Adriatic coast near Ferrara . Musicologist Jos. Smits van Waesberghe [ nl ] asserted that he was born in Pomposa due to his strong connection with the Abbey from c. 1013–1025 ; according to Van Waesberghe, Guido's epitaph 'of Arezzo'
1020-500: The Kentucky Harmony consistently contained four part settings for its tunes. Fifty-seven of the 143 tunes of the first edition are fuguing tunes , and the first Southern fuguing tunes appear, such as Reubin Monday's "New Topia," in which there is call-and-response between dueting voices (alto & bass for 4 measures, followed by treble & tenor for 4 measures), rather than individual voices coming in soon after one another. Roughly 60% of
1080-420: The Micrologus , or in full Micrologus de disciplina artis musicae . The work was both commissioned by and dedicated to Tedald. It was primarily a musical manual for singers and discussed a wide variety of topics, including chant, polyphonic music , the monochord , melody , syllables , modes , organum , neumes and many of his teaching methods. Resuming the same teaching approach as before, Guido lessened
1140-660: The Northern Harmony . Of a hybrid nature, in terms of reviving Ananias Davisson 's Kentucky Harmony but taking the further step of incorporating songs from 70 other early tunebooks, along with new compositions, is the Shenandoah Harmony (2013). Thomas B. Malone has specialized in the revival of works by Jeremiah Ingalls, and has published a four-shape edition of Ingalls' 1805 The Christian Harmony . Malone organizes an annual mid-July singing in Newbury, Vermont, where Ingalls
1200-517: The Regulae rhythmicae and the Epistola ad Michaelem . The Epistola ad Michaelem is the only one not a formal musical treatise; it was written directly after Guido's trip to Rome, perhaps in 1028, but no later than 1033. All three musical treatises were written before the Epistola ad Michaelem , as Guido mentions each of them in it. More specifically, the Micrologus can be dated to after 1026, as in
1260-490: The Saint-Maur-des-Fossés near Paris; and unsupported rumours that he was imprisoned because of plots from those hostile to his innovations. The primary surviving documents associated with Guido are two undated letters; a dedicatory letter to Bishop Tedald of Arezzo and a letter to his colleague Michael of Pomposa, known as the Epistola ad Michaelem . These letters provide enough information and context to map of
SECTION 20
#17328448194271320-458: The 11th century monk Guido of Arezzo , who originally introduced a six-note scale using the syllables ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la. The four syllable variation of Guido's original system was prominent in 17th century England, and entered the US in the 18th century. Shortly afterward, shapes were invented to represent the syllables. (see below). The other important systems are seven-shape systems, which give
1380-464: The 12th century, a development in teaching and learning music in a more efficient manner arose. Guido of Arezzo's alleged development of the Guidonian hand, more than a hundred years after his death, allowed musicians to label a specific joint or fingertip with the gamut (also referred to as the hexachord in the modern era). Using specific joints of the hand and fingertips transformed the way one would learn and memorize solmization syllables. Not only did
1440-508: The Abbot Grimaldus of Arezzo. His presentation incited much interest from the clergy and the details of his visit are included in the Epistola ad Michaelem . While in Rome, Guido became sick and the hot summer forced him to leave, with the assurance that he would visit again and give further explanation of his theories. In the Epistola ad Michaelem , Guido mentions that before leaving, he
1500-737: The Bay Psalm Book was printed with the initials of four-note syllables (fa, sol, la, me) underneath the staff. In his book, Tufts substituted the initials of the four-note syllables on the staff in place of note heads, and indicated rhythm by punctuation marks to the right of the letters. Compositions of the " Yankee tunesmiths " ("First New England School") began to appear in 1770, prior to the advent of shape notes, which first appeared in The Easy Instructor by William Little and William Smith in 1801 in Philadelphia . Little and Smith introduced
1560-433: The Guidonian hand become a standard use in preparing music in the 12th century, its popularity grew more widespread well into the 17th and 18th centuries. The knowledge and use of the Guidonian hand would allow a musician to simply transpose, identify intervals, and aid in the use of notation and the creation of new music. Musicians were able to sing and memorize longer sections of music and counterpoint during performances and
1620-467: The amount of time spent diminished dramatically. Almost immediately after his death commentaries were written on Guido's work, particularly the Micrologus . One of the most noted is the De musica of Johannes Cotto ( fl. c. 1100 ), whose influential treatise was largely a commentary that expanded and revised the Micrologus . Aribo ( fl. c. 1068–78 ) also dedicated
1680-666: The custom of "singing the notes" (syllables) is generally preserved only during the learning process at singing schools and singing may be to an instrumental accompaniment, typically a piano. The seven-shape system is also still used at regular public singings of 19th-century songbooks of a similar type to the Sacred Harp , such as The Christian Harmony and the New Harp of Columbia . Such singings are common in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, and generally preserve
1740-547: The early use of such a designation means Guido's birthplace was Arezzo. Citing recently unearthed documents in 2003, Mafucci identified Guido with a Guido clerico filius Roze of the Arezzo Cathedral . If Mafucci is correct, Guido would have received early musical education at the Arezzo Cathedral from a deacon named Sigizo and was ordained as a subdeacon and active as a cantor . "Guido [...] perhaps attracted by
1800-753: The extra syllables. Numerous seven-shape notations were devised. Jesse B. Aikin was the first to produce a book with a seven-shape note system, and he vigorously defended his "invention" and his patent. The system used in Aikin's 1846 Christian Minstrel eventually became the standard. This owes much to the influential Ruebush & Kieffer Publishing Company adopting Aikin's system around 1876. Two books that have remained in continuous (though limited) use, William Walker 's Christian Harmony and M. L. Swan's New Harp of Columbia , are still available. These books use seven-shape systems devised by Walker and Swan, respectively. Although seven-shape books may not be as popular as in
1860-479: The fame of what was considered one of the most famous Benedictine abbeys, full of hope of new spiritual and musical life, he enters the monastery of Pomposa, unaware of the storm that, in a few years, it would hit him. In fact [...] it will be his own brothers and the abbot himself who will force him to leave Pomposa." Angelo Mafucci, trans. from Italian Around 1013 Guido went to the Pomposa Abbey, one of
Kentucky Harmony - Misplaced Pages Continue
1920-455: The four-shape system shown above, intended for use in singing schools . In 1803 Andrew Law published The Musical Primer , which used slightly different shapes: a square indicated fa and a triangle la , while sol and mi were the same as in Little and Smith. Additionally, Law's invention was more radical than Little and Smith's in that he dispensed with the use of the staff altogether, letting
1980-414: The key change is easy for instruments but difficult for singers, the new tonality is usually established by instrumental accompaniment; accordingly, the choir will also sing in the temperament of the instrument rather than the just intonation of the human voice. Modulation is sometimes said to be problematic for shape-note systems, since the shapes employed for the original key of the piece no longer match
2040-400: The key of the piece. The first note of a major key always has the triangular Fa note, followed (ascending) by Sol, La, etc. The first note of a minor key is always La, followed by Mi, Fa, etc. The first three notes of any major scale – fa, sol, la – are each a tone apart. The fourth to sixth notes are also a tone apart and are also fa, sol, la. The seventh and eighth notes, being separated by
2100-470: The main events and chronology of Guido's life, though Miller notes that they do "not permit a detailed, authoritative sketch". Guido was born sometime between 990 and 999. This birthdate range was conjectured from a now lost and undated manuscript of the Micrologus , where he stated that he was age 34 while John XIX was pope (1024–1033). Swiss musicologist Hans Oesch's [ de ] dating of
2160-422: The manuscript to 1025–1026 is agreed by scholars Claude V. Palisca , Dolores Pesce and Angelo Mafucci, with Mafucci noting that it is "now unanimously accepted". This would suggest a birthdate of c. 991–992 . Guido's birthplace is even less certain, and has been the subject of much disagreement between scholars, with music historian Cesarino Ruini noting that due to Guido's pivotal significance "It
2220-478: The most famous Benedictine monasteries of the time, to complete his education. Becoming a noted monk , he started to develop the novel principles of staff notation (music being written and read from an organized visual system). Likely drawing from the writings of Odo of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés [ sv ] , Guido began to draft his system in the antiphonary Regulae rhythmicae , which he probably worked on with his colleague Michael of Pomposa. In
2280-650: The most significant European writer on music between Boethius and Johannes Tinctoris , after the former's De institutione musica , Guido's Micrologus was the most widely distributed medieval treatise on music. Biographical information on Guido is only available from two contemporary documents; though they give limited background, a basic understanding of his life can be unravelled. By around 1013 he began teaching at Pomposa Abbey , but his antiphonary Prologus in antiphonarium and novel teaching methods based on staff notation brought considerable resentment from his colleagues. He thus moved to Arezzo in 1025 and under
2340-515: The notes of a C major scale would be notated and sung as follows: There are other seven-shape systems. A controlled study on the usefulness of shape notes was carried out in the 1950s by George H. Kyme with an experimental population consisting of fourth- and fifth-graders living in California. Kyme took care to match his experimental and control groups as closely as possible for ability, quality of teacher, and various other factors. He found that
2400-597: The past, there are still a great number of churches in the American South, in particular Southern Baptists , Primitive Baptists , almost all of the non-instrumental Churches of Christ , some Free Methodists , Mennonite , some Amish , United Pentecostals , and United Baptists in the Appalachian regions of West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky, that regularly use seven-shape songbooks in Sunday worship. These songbooks may contain
2460-409: The patronage of Bishop Tedald of Arezzo he taught singers at the Arezzo Cathedral . Using staff notation, he was able to teach large amounts of music quickly and he wrote the multifaceted Micrologus , attracting attention from around Italy. Interested in his innovations, Pope John XIX called him to Rome . After arriving and beginning to explain his methods to the clergy , sickness sent him away in
Kentucky Harmony - Misplaced Pages Continue
2520-468: The preliminary dedicatory letter to Tebald, Guido congratulates him for his 1026 plans for the new St Donatus church. Though the Prologus in antiphonarium was begun in Pomposa (1013–1025), it seems to have not been completed until 1030. Guido developed new techniques for teaching, such as staff notation and the use of the "ut–re–mi–fa–sol–la" (do–re–mi–fa–so–la) mnemonic ( solmization ). The syllables ut-re-mi-fa-sol-la (do-re-mi-fa-sol-la) are taken from
2580-636: The prologue to the antiphonary, Guido expressed his frustration with the large amount of time singers spent to memorize music. The system, he explained, would prevent the need for memorization and thus permit the singers extra time to diversify their studies into other prayers and religious texts. He began to instruct his singers along these lines and obtained a reputation for being able to teach substantial amounts of music quickly. Though his ideas brought interest from around Italy, they inspired considerable jealousy and resistance from his fellow monks, who felt threatened by his innovations. Among those disapproving
2640-711: The scale degrees of the new key; but the ability to use of sharp and flat symbols along with shape notes is a matter of the range of sorts available to the typographer and musical preferences. The development of musical preferences is partly documented by surviving copies of B.F. White's Organ from the 1850s. Justin Morgan 's "Judgment Anthem", which first appeared in shapes in Little and Smith's The Easy Instructor (1801), appears to shift keys (and key signatures) from E minor to E♭ major, then back to E minor before concluding in E♭ major. Morgan, however, may be supposed to have intended simply
2700-755: The seven-shape note system. The four-shape tradition that currently has the greatest number of participants is Sacred Harp singing. But there are many other traditions that are still active or even enjoying a resurgence of interest. Among the four-shape systems, the Southern Harmony has remained in continuous use at one singing in Benton, Kentucky , and is now experiencing a small amount of regrowth. The current reawakening of interest in shape note singing has also created new singings using other recently moribund 19th-century four-shape songbooks, such as The Missouri Harmony , as well as new books by modern composers, such as
2760-500: The shapes be the sole means of expressing pitch. Little and Smith followed traditional music notation in placing the note heads on the staff, in place of the ordinary oval note heads. In the end, it was the Little/Smith system that won out, and there is no hymnbook used today that employs the Law system. Some copies of The Easy Instructor, Part II (1803) included a statement, on the verso of
2820-775: The singing school custom of "singing the notes". The seven-shape (Aikin) system is commonly used by the Mennonites and Brethren . Numerous songbooks are printed in shaped notes for this market. They include Christian Hymnal , the Christian Hymnary , Hymns of the Church , Zion's Praises , Pilgrim's Praises , the Church Hymnal , Silver Gems in Song , the Mennonite Hymnal , and Harmonia Sacra . Some African-American churches use
2880-538: The six half-lines of the first stanza of the hymn Ut queant laxis, the notes of which are successively raised by one step, and the text of which is attributed to the Italian monk and scholar Paulus Deacon (although the musical line either shares a common ancestor with the earlier setting of Horace's Ode to Phyllis (Odes 4.11) recorded in Montpellier manuscript H425, or may have been taken from there) Giovanni Battista Doni
2940-462: The standard 10-year training for the ideal cantor to only one or two years. Italy-wide attention returned to Guido, and Pope John XIX called him to Rome , having either seen or heard of both his Regulae rhythmicae and innovative staff notation teaching techniques. Theobald may have helped arranged the visit, and in around 1028, Guido traveled there with the Canon Dom Peter of Arezzo as well as
3000-455: The students taught with shape notes learned to sight read significantly better than those taught without them. Kyme additionally found that the students taught with shape notes were also far more likely to pursue musical activities later on in their education. Many forms of music in the common practice period employ modulation , that is, a change of key in mid-piece. Since the 19th century, most choral music has employed modulation, and since
3060-834: The summer. The rest of his life is largely unknown, but he settled in a monastery near Arezzo, probably one of the Avellana of the Camaldolese order. Information on Guido's life is scarce; the music historian Charles Burney asserted that the paucity of records was because Guido was a monk. Burney furthered that, in the words of musicologist Samuel D. Miller, "Guido's modesty, selfless abandon from material gain life, and obedience to authority tended to obscure his moves, work, and motivations". The scholarly outline of Guido's life has been subject to much mythologization and misunderstandings. These dubious claims include that he spent much of life in France (recorded as early as Johannes Trithemius 's 1494 De scriptoribus ecclesiasticis ); that he trained in
SECTION 50
#17328448194273120-454: The three subsequent editions made only slight changes to the 1817 edition. The Kentucky Harmony was influenced by the work of John Wyeth and his two "Repositories of Sacred Music", with 98 of the tunes in Kentucky Harmony also being found in Wyeth's books. But Davisson rarely printed any piece of music exactly as it appeared in the books of others. Unlike some books printed prior to and after it,
3180-438: The title page, in which John Connelly (whose name is given in other sources as Conly, Connolly, and Coloney) grants permission to Little and Smith to make use in their publications of the shape notes to which he claimed the rights. Little and Smith did not themselves claim credit for the invention, but said instead that the notes were invented around 1790 by John Connelly of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania. Andrew Law asserted that he
3240-521: The tunes are minor. The influence of the Kentucky Harmony can be seen in later tunebooks, even as late as Walker's Southern Harmony and B. F. White's Sacred Harp . Irving Lowens considered the Kentucky Harmony "one of the most important and influential collections of American folk hymnody ever compiled..." Despite the name Kentucky Harmony , Davisson lived most of his life in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia . This article about
3300-673: The use of more complex information found in key signatures on the staff . Shape notes of various kinds have been used for over two centuries in a variety of music traditions, mostly sacred music but also secular, originating in New England , practiced primarily in the Southern United States for many years, and now experiencing a renaissance in other locations as well. Shape notes have also been called character notes and patent notes , respectively, and buckwheat notes and dunce notes , pejoratively. The idea behind shape notes
3360-544: The work of Guido of Arezzo . Other early work in this area includes the cipher notation of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (18th century), and the tonic sol-fa of Sarah Anna Glover and John Curwen (19th century). American forerunners to shape notes include the 9th edition of the Bay Psalm Book (Boston), and An Introduction to the Singing of Psalm Tunes in a Plaine & Easy Method by Reverend John Tufts . The 9th edition of
3420-454: Was a tavern-keeper and musician between 1789 and 1810. Guido of Arezzo Guido of Arezzo ( Italian : Guido d'Arezzo ; c. 991–992 – after 1033) was an Italian music theorist and pedagogue of High medieval music . A Benedictine monk , he is regarded as the inventor—or by some, developer—of the modern staff notation that had a massive influence on the development of Western musical notation and practice. Perhaps
3480-501: Was approached by the Abbot Guido of Pomposa who regretted his part in Guido's leave from Arezzo and thus invited him to return to the Abbey. Guido of Pomposa's rationale was that he should avoid the cities, as most of their churchmen were accused of simony , though it remains unknown if Guido chose the Pomposa Abbey as his destination. It seems more likely that around 1029, Guido settled in
3540-469: Was the Abbot Guido of Pomposa [ it ] . In light of these objections, Guido left Pomposa in around 1025 and moved to—or 'returned to', if following the Arezzo birthplace hypothesis—Arezzo. Arezzo was without a monastery; Bishop Tedald of Arezzo (Bishop from 1023 to 1036) appointed Guido to oversee the training of singers for the Arezzo Cathedral. It was at this time that Guido began work on
3600-522: Was the inventor of shape notes. Shape notes proved popular in America, and quickly a wide variety of hymnbooks were prepared making use of them. The shapes were eventually extirpated in the northeastern U.S. by a so-called "better music" movement, headed by Lowell Mason . But in the South, the shapes became well entrenched, and multiplied into a variety of traditions. Ananias Davisson 's Kentucky Harmony (1816)
#426573