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         We meet twice monthly with an all-day singing on April 5, 2008. On April 5, 2008, experience a whole day of powerful four-part folk harmonies at Saint Vincent's Church, 51st and Lake in Omaha!

Click here for hotel info and directions to the singing.

Click here to read one of Martha Henderson's wonderfully written essays about Omaha's all-day singings.

         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!
         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.

         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:
 

2008

Jan 13 Sun 2:00
Jan 26 Sat 7:30

Feb 10  Sun 2-4 pm
Feb 23 Sat 7:30 pm

Mar 9 Sun 2-4 pm
Mar 29 Sat 7:30 pm

April 5: All-Day Singing 10 am to 3:30 pm!

Apr 13 Sun 2-4 pm
NO SINGING ON Apr 26 Sat 7:30 pm

May 11 Sun 2-4 pm
May 31 Sat 7:30 pm

Jun 8 Sun 2-4 pm
Jun 28 Sat 7:30 pm

Jul 13 Sun 2-4 pm
Jul 26 Sat 7:30 pm

Aug 10 Sun 2-4 pm
Aug 30 Sat 7:30 pm

Sept 14 Sunday  2-4 pm
Sept 27 Saturday 7:30 pm

Oct 12 Sunday 2-4 pm
Oct 25 Saturday 7:30 pm

Nov 9 Sunday 2-4 pm
Nov 29* Saturday 7:30 pm*

Dec 14 Sunday 2-4 pm
Dec 27*  Saturday 7:30 pm*

(*The Saturday singings in November and December might be moved to different dates.  Call 402-393-6108 to make sure we are really meeting this close to Thanksgiving and Christmas.)
 

With rare exceptions,  singings occur on the 2nd Sunday afternoon and the last Saturday night of each month.  If you have any questions,  please feel free to call Jim Solheim (402-393-6108), or try

jim[at]jamessolheim.com or    

Kathy Wood    khwood[at]cox.net        402-397-4673