{"id":145,"date":"2015-02-23T14:54:51","date_gmt":"2015-02-23T20:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/?p=145"},"modified":"2015-03-22T19:01:58","modified_gmt":"2015-03-23T00:01:58","slug":"a-novel-sight-women-and-southern-singing-conventions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2015\/02\/23\/a-novel-sight-women-and-southern-singing-conventions\/","title":{"rendered":"“A novel sight”: Women and Southern Singing Conventions"},"content":{"rendered":"

A prominent event in Southern music making of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the singing convention. In rural areas of the South, families from neighboring farms would gather to sing sacred Christian music from shape note singing books such as The Sacred Harp<\/em>. The singers used this type of musical notation because its utilization of only four solfege syllables and corresponding symbols made reading music easier (than traditional Western notation), and most people were able to learn the notation by attending local singing schools. In the excerpt below, a journalist from the Atlanta Constitution reports his observations from the 1892 Chattahoochee Musical Convention near Carrollton, Georgia:<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"Screen<\/a>\u00a0Figure 1<\/h3>\n

The journalist seems to be writing for an urban audience that would not be familiar with such a singing tradition.\u00a0By referencing how a mother might sing\u00a0these songs “as a lullaby for her babe,” he emphasizes the music’s importance as a transmitter of culture for rural folk.<\/p>\n

The shape note singing described above ensured that anyone could participate after little practice. The singing style at singing conventions reflected this inclusive attitude as well as valued the individual spirit. Singers were not expected to blend with one another; rather, they sang at full volume in order to praise God at their highest capacity. The ability of individuals to worship depended on their zeal as they sang, not their wealth, community standing, or musical sophistication. The clip below from the 2010 Chattahoochee Musical Convention shows that this atmosphere remains today.<\/p>\n