Shapenote Scotland

Fiery folk hymns in heartwarming harmony... just for the joy of it!

The music we sing is unaccompanied three- and four-part vocal harmony in a rustic style dating back to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century America, still a living tradition in the South and being taken up all over the English-speaking world and beyond. The songs are found in "tunebooks" such as the Sacred Harp (1844), the Southern Harmony (1835) and the Christian Harmony (1866/7), and new tunes are constantly being composed. The words are usually (though not always) religious in nature, but people of all faiths and none sing this music, not as an act of worship but for sheer enjoyment. It's not a performance but a communal participative event, and a "good" voice is not necessary. While music-reading ability is an advantage, it's not essential.

There are two regular singings in Scotland (in normal times), one in Glasgow on the first Friday of every month and one in Edinburgh on the third Friday.

News

Because of the Coronavirus, there are currently no singings planned. The 2020 Scottish All-Day Sacred Harp Singing, and the 2020 Shenandoah Harmony All-Day Singing, did not take place, and the 2021 Sacred Harp all-day has also had to be cancelled. Watch this space for happier news when the time comes...

Scotland's first all-day Shenandoah Harmony singing was in Edinburgh on 19 October 2019 at Gorgie Dalry Stenhouse Church of Scotland. minutes here. https://www.facebook.com/events/1102124769982459/

In 2019, the Scottish All-day Singing was in Edinburgh for the first time, on Saturday 13 July. In 2020 we'll be back in Glasgow.

For occasional updates on shapenote singing in Scotland, join our email list.

Our email address is ShapenoteScotland@gmail.com
We have a MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/shapenotescotland
and a group on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/groups/270621299704712/
We are on Twitter as @ShapeNoteScot