X-Nico

unusual facts about shape note



Ignaz Pleyel

Pleyel's fame even reached the then-remote musical regions of America: there was a Pleyel Society on the island of Nantucket off the coast of Massachusetts, and tunes by Pleyel made their way into the then-popular shape note hymnals.


see also

Benton, Kentucky

Shape-note singers gather annually at Benton on the fourth Sunday in May to sing from a tunebook called The Southern Harmony.

Jesse B. Aikin

After the influential Ruebush & Kieffer Publishing Company began using his notehead shapes around 1876 (previously they used Funk's shapes), the Aikin shapes eventually became the prevailing standard in shape note and gospel music publication, although few other compilers adopted his other innovations.

Robert Sterling Arnold

In addition to its popularity at shape note singings and inclusion in Stamps-Baxter's popular Heavenly Highway Hymns, No Tears in Heaven has been recorded by gospel quarters and artists such as Buck Owens, Skeeter Davis, Red Foley, and The Chuck Wagon Gang.