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Nebraska
All-Day Singing April 6, 2013,
plus
a singing every month!
We meet on the second Sunday of each month with an all-day singing every spring. On
April 6, 2013, experience a whole day of powerful four-part folk harmonies
at Saint Vincent's Church, 51st and Lake in Omaha! Contact cmiserez [at] cox [cot] net for more information.
Shape
note music is a living folk hymn tradition with over two hundred years'
history in the United States and with roots that go back centuries before
that. The sound is different than that of any other music, and
the tunes are written in special notes invented to help untrained singers
learn to read music!
The national
web site for shape note singing is at www.fasola.org. But don't forget
to check the calendar below and come to a singing in Omaha!
Calendar of upcoming singings, St. Vincent's Church basement,
51st and Lake Streets:
2013
Jan 1 noon potluck and singing at Sandra's house (email cmiserez [at] cox [dot] net for info)
Jan 13 Sun 1:30
Feb 10 Sun 1:30 pm
Mar 10 Sun 1:30 pm
April 14, 2013. In 2014, contact Cindy for April date, which may change due to Easter.
May 12 Sun 1:30 pm
Jun 9 Sun 1:30 pm
Jul 14 Sun 1:30 pm
Aug 11 Sun 1:30 pm
Sept 8 Sunday 1:30 pm
Oct 13 Sunday 1:30 pm
Nov 10 Sunday 1:30 pm
Dec 8 Sunday 1:30 pm
With rare exceptions, singings occur on the 2nd
Sunday afternoon. If you
have any questions, please feel free to call Cindy Miserez 402-850-8553, or try
Click here for hotel info and directions to the singing.
Many
hundreds of wonderful songs have been composed in this tradition, and many
are still being written today. Developed originally in Revolutionary-era
America from British Isles sources, the tradition lives on in the twenty-first
century in certain southern churches and has spread to many other parts
of the United States.
The
shape-note tradition preserved in such books as The Sacred Harp
(which we use in Omaha) is a capella, four-part harmony music. It
is not the same thing as gospel music, and it is not regular church hymns
printed with different notes. It is its own tradition. (And
by the way, there aren't any harps in The Sacred Harp -- it's all unaccompanied
voice.)
The
sound is both rich and stark, ranging from somber to wild. In many
of the wildest songs, all four parts (bass, tenor, alto, and treble) sing
different melody lines with different words, and each part has a melody
that could stand on its own. Nobody is singing "backup." Everybody
gets a good tune, and the four parts merge into something that is beyond
melody. Men and women sing tenor, and men and women sing treble (the
men sing it lower, of course), which creates the feel of six-part harmony.
Traditionally,
the songs written in minor keys are sung in the Dorian mode, which gives
them an indescribable haunting quality, especially in songs that contain
another shape-note tradition: the "open chord." To understand
this unique and stirring music, you just have to hear it!
Omaha's
shape note singing group meets
because we love the music and want to preserve this great tradition.
And our singers include both trained and untrained musicians from a wide variety of backgrounds and philosophies. Many
of the best shape note singers around the U.S. learned through singing
from The Sacred Harp! So to learn the music in a supportive
environment, come and join our group, which meets in St. Vincent's Church
at 51st and Lake Streets in Omaha, Nebraska.
Sat, April 6: All-Day Singing 10
am to 3:30 pm!
(*Singings might be moved to different dates. Call 402-393-6108 to make sure we are really meeting on a given date.)
cmiserez [at] cox [dot] net or
Kathy Wood khwood [at] cox [dot] net
402-397-4673
Wonderful Singings in Nearby Cities
Missouri Sacred Harp Singing Convention,
one and a half hours west of Saint Louis, Missouri, seven hours' drive
from Omaha. Second Sunday of March and the Saturday before.
Check http://fasola.org for details. This is a great shape note
singing, at a place where northern and southern singers can meet halfway!
Sacred Harp Singing Convention in
Shakopee, Minnesota (just outside Minneapolis)
Late September.
Check http://fasola.org for details. Sing with your national
shape note friends at an excellent singing, one of the Midwest's biggest!