[net.music] more on Simple Gifts

berry@zinfandel.UUCP (Berry Kercheval) (02/05/85)

In article <279@cmu-cs-cad.ARPA> mjc@cmu-cs-cad.ARPA (Monica Cellio) writes:
>Excuse me... It's not a ShapeNote hymn.  It was something called a Shaker
>hymn, which I suspect is almost the same thing.  Basically, simple songs
>designed for ordinary people to be able to sing.

Well, I don't know for sure about Shaker hymns; the only one I've ever sung was
Simple Gifts.  But last year the chorus I sing with did a set of Shaped Note
hymns from THE SACRED HARP, and they are NOT as easy as they look.  Especially
if you are trying to sing them a capella, and in good tune.  (I.E. perfect 
fifths, none of this equal tempered garbage.)

True, it's not like trying to sing Messiaen (which I've done, too), but it's
hard to do VERY well.

-- 
Berry Kercheval		Zehntel Inc.	(ihnp4!zehntel!zinfandel!berry)
(415)932-6900

mjc@cmu-cs-cad.ARPA (Monica Cellio) (02/08/85)

Excuse me... It's not a ShapeNote hymn.  It was something called a Shaker
hymn, which I suspect is almost the same thing.  Basically, simple songs
designed for ordinary people to be able to sing.

						-Dragon
-- 
UUCP: ...ucbvax!dual!lll-crg!dragon
ARPA: monica.cellio@cmu-cs-cad or dragon@lll-crg

mike@smu.UUCP (02/15/85)

Doesn't Shaker refer to a group of settlers in the 18th century?  I
always thought this.  I don't think it is a musical term, anyhow;
I've seen it used to describe bread.

Mike McNally
smu