They will sing the old time songs

My ego had squirmed a bit when I squeaked out that I had attended something by the name of Camp DoReMi. 

Oh how silly. How goofy. 

It was neither. 

I first stumbled upon a group of Shape Note Singers at a Seattle Northwest Folklife Festival 8-10 years ago. I was both in a pro folk/Celtic group and worshipped Sundays in St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral where we sang hymns (and the Cathedral Choir did anthems that brought tears to my eyes). The tsunami of passionate "old time" singing that almost tore through the walls had my jaw falling open. Over the coming years as I shifted my musical expression into choral and liturgical singing, the intricacies of worshipful madrigal music captivated my heart. That is my core today. 

Shape Note singing pulls at another visceral level.

"Shape note singing began in the late 1700's as a teaching device in American singing schools in the Northeastern United States. People were looking for a way to make singing arts more accessible. Shapes were added to the note heads in written music to help singers find pitches within major and minor scales without the use of more complex information found in key signatures on the staff. This sight-reading device really worked... and still works today." Click HERE for a fine link that continues to expound.

I wove this "music camp" into my summer road trip that focused on the Southeastern corner of the Lower 48. When I finally arrived at Wildacres Retreat up in the teensy mountain hamlet of Little Switzerland, I began to experience occasional moments of cultural discomfort and hiccups of insecurity that can follow showing up somewhere without knowing anyone. I allowed myself to be a rank beginner. This was a useful attitude because, as far as Shape Note or Christian Harmony singing is concerned, I am. Reality check points aside, I struggle when learning new things. At the evening singings which lasted 2 hours I quickly found the strongest readers and vocalists and politely sandwiched myself between them. I cannot sight read "the round notes" particularly well. Interval training with shapes was another experience. I made tiptoes of progress. And I sang my heart out when I could. 

They say that if you can hear your neighbor singing, you're not singing loud enough. This does not work with my Church choir. But it works here. Here's another link on YouTube. Turn up your speakers.

I was the Other.... that Californian who'd driven 'all that way'. I was also one of the beginners. Patiently and excitedly they wanted me to grasp it, to love it as they do. It was a powerful start. 

And the meaning of the sacred harp? 

It's you. It's your voice.