Gathering together with an entire community for shape note singings was a regular occurrence in the pre-civil war south and is still around today. William Walker (1809-1875), of South Carolina, was dedicated to collecting the songs of the American people and compiling them for use in the church. Walker’s book was titled Southern Harmony and was the most popular tune book during the pre-civil war era. This paper will discuss Southern Harmony, its many republications, and how it led to the development of The Christian Harmony directly after the civil war. The tune books published and distributed during this time period were unique in the system of music notation used to write out the tunes.
These tune books were written using shape notes …show more content…
The first edition was published in 1835 at a publishing company from New Haven, Connecticut (Eskew, 138). This edition contained thirty two pages of introductory material that explains the book’s functions, the notation system, the rhythms, and the scales that the tunes are based on. The second edition published in 1840 added thirteen additional pieces to the existing set (Eskew, 139). Additionally, it included a sixteen page appendix of the hymn tunes in the book. The next revision was published in 1847 and added thirty nine tunes, which was three times the number of tunes added in previous revisions (Eskew, 140). It also included a list of revisions to correct some of the existing tunes. Eight of the thirty nine pieces included in this edition were also found in the first edition of The Sacred Harp, but none of them were close enough to have been taken from directly from the book. The fourth edition was published in 1847 and was called new, improved, and enlarged in comparison to previous editions (Eskew, 141). In this edition more room was made for more pieces by printing two tunes per page and placing lyrics between the musical staves. In 1854 a fifth edition of The Southern Harmony was published that added thirty two pages of music (Eskew, 142). This revision added seventy three pieces, which was even more content than ever before, due to a change …show more content…
Walker compiled an extremely vast collection of hymns and tunes through his travels in the pre-civil war south and transcribed them into a shape note system that allowed people of any educational level to enjoy singing these songs. Using a four note system in his earlier books, Walker was able to compile the most popular collection of its time. This collection went through many revisions, most of which added material, and was eventually abandoned for Walker to pursue the seven note notation system. He began to understand the importance of having a name for each individual note, rather than just having four standard names that were applied to different pitches. From here The Christian Harmony was born and grew to be the best collection of its kind. These tune books and the notation systems used were very important in the culture of the time, because they brought music making and the story told by the lyrics to people in all geographic
These tune books were written using shape notes …show more content…
The first edition was published in 1835 at a publishing company from New Haven, Connecticut (Eskew, 138). This edition contained thirty two pages of introductory material that explains the book’s functions, the notation system, the rhythms, and the scales that the tunes are based on. The second edition published in 1840 added thirteen additional pieces to the existing set (Eskew, 139). Additionally, it included a sixteen page appendix of the hymn tunes in the book. The next revision was published in 1847 and added thirty nine tunes, which was three times the number of tunes added in previous revisions (Eskew, 140). It also included a list of revisions to correct some of the existing tunes. Eight of the thirty nine pieces included in this edition were also found in the first edition of The Sacred Harp, but none of them were close enough to have been taken from directly from the book. The fourth edition was published in 1847 and was called new, improved, and enlarged in comparison to previous editions (Eskew, 141). In this edition more room was made for more pieces by printing two tunes per page and placing lyrics between the musical staves. In 1854 a fifth edition of The Southern Harmony was published that added thirty two pages of music (Eskew, 142). This revision added seventy three pieces, which was even more content than ever before, due to a change …show more content…
Walker compiled an extremely vast collection of hymns and tunes through his travels in the pre-civil war south and transcribed them into a shape note system that allowed people of any educational level to enjoy singing these songs. Using a four note system in his earlier books, Walker was able to compile the most popular collection of its time. This collection went through many revisions, most of which added material, and was eventually abandoned for Walker to pursue the seven note notation system. He began to understand the importance of having a name for each individual note, rather than just having four standard names that were applied to different pitches. From here The Christian Harmony was born and grew to be the best collection of its kind. These tune books and the notation systems used were very important in the culture of the time, because they brought music making and the story told by the lyrics to people in all geographic