Singing my heart out
When Corinne Sweet moved to Brighton , the best thing she found , obvs , was a copy of The Whistler . The next thing she found was Shape Note Singing . Shape Note what ?
When I moved her from London about a year ago , the first thing that appeared on my doorstep was The Whistler ( yippee !). I sat traumatised among the boxes and opened it only to see the wonderful list of ‘ What ’ s on at West Hill Hall ’ on the first page . Apart from Pilates and Tai ’ Chi ( faves of mine ) my eye fell on ‘ Shape Note Singers on the second Friday of each month .
My daughter had moved to Bristol from our London home only six months earlier , and had taken me to a Shape Note singing group one drizzly night . It was a small group of people sitting in a square singing their hearts out using songs from a big red book . They were very friendly and welcoming - the experience was very memorable and fun .
Thus , one chilly Friday night after moving , I ventured along to West Hill Hall on my daughter ’ s prompting , my partner in tow for moral support . I again had a really warm welcome and was handed a big red book to sing from . We sang for about two hours with a tea break and biscuits in between . At the end I felt emptied out , relaxed , warmed up , but most importantly welcomed .
The singers made it clear I could simply come along for as long or as little as I liked . I was asked to do a Covid test , which I did anyway , as singing can be a great super spreading experience . There was a hat to put some coins in to cover the cost of the venue .
Although I ’ ve sung in choirs for all my adult life I ’ d never heard of Shape Note singing – or Sacred Harp - as it ’ s properly known . However , it goes back a couple of hundred years and originated in pioneer America . ‘ Shape Notes ’ were devised to help people to sing socially or congregationally who didn ’ t read music or know music theory .
All the songs in the big red book are short , often hymns , or folk songs , with simple harmonies . The first sing through of a song is with shape notes such as so , la , mi , fa represented by circles , triangles and squares . Then the second sing-through is with words and notes .
It ’ s a capella singing , so someone in the group ‘ tunes up ’. You simply sit in a voice part ( soprano , alto , tenor , bass ), but it ’ s not gender-specific and people try out other voices . Someone ‘ leads ’ a song by standing in the middle and beating time . Everyone gets a turn to choose a song , but it ’ s OK to pass , if you don ’ t feel confident or don ’ t want to .
Apart from the evenings in West Hill , and once a month in Lewes , there are ‘ All Day Singings ’. My daughter came from Bristol last Mother ’ s Day and we ended up in a church hall in Staplefield . Again , there was a very warm welcome , there was lots of yummy food to share , and lots of heart-felt singing .
Although Shape Note singing is based in early Quaker / Methodist melodies and words , it is constantly being updated and is not a religion . New songs are being written all the time and lyrics updated for modern sensibilities . People come and sing not only from our four nations , but from Europe and further .
Recently , my daughter was in a backing group of Shape Note singers for a Laurie Anderson gig in Manchester . I find I am surrounded by a wide range of ages and nationalities , with more young adults than I have sung with in more conventional choirs . I ’ ve met some really interesting people and I think it attracts people who simply like belting out a good tune with like-minded singers .
Last Christmas we had the privilege of singing in the Music Room in the Pavilion which was fab . We sang out songs with festive welly under the huge chandelier and had a great time . However , this kind of singing is not focused on perfect performance , or making money , it ’ s sheerly focused on enjoyment of making sound with others . A characteristic of this kind of singing is people sing full-on , from the gut , and , if you join in whole-heartedly , it ’ s wonderfully cathartic .
My daughter came from Bristol recently with a friend and we sang in a lovely Lewes church together all day . I felt like I ’ d had a physical and emotional workout by the end ; it was a great de-stressor . There are a couple of allday singings ( as they ’ re called ) coming up : 8th March in Staplefield and 5th April in Brighton . However , it might be a good idea to try out an evening first : the second Friday of each month at the West Hill Hall , at 7.45 for starters .
www . sacredharp . uk
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