The Subliminal History of New York State Presents:

Shape Note Singing School Workshops with Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg and Carrie Dashow (latest - Saturday Oct 13th at Eyebeam 1-4 pm workshop, 5-6 performance

Singing Component of the Subliminal History of New York State Tour, Summer 2007

Calendar

Click on the gemstone to view a calendar of upcoming events. Look for events labeled “singing school.”

Workshops will last approximately three hours with one short break. Workshops can accommodate any number of participants.

Download a version of this description as a PDF »

Singing master Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg will lead “singing school” workshops, teaching participants to sing original music written about their community, in an invigorating, traditional, community singing style. The singing workshops will focus on the basics of shape note singing, a 200-year-old music tradition, and will prepare participants to take part in a performance of the Subliminal History of New York State directed by artist Carrie Dashow to be held later in the week.

Shape note music is a form of unaccompanied group singing that has been continuously practiced in the United States since the late 1700s. The music features an unique form of notation designed to make reading music easier with the hope of making singing accessible to the widest possible audience. The music is written in distinctively shaped note heads, and each shape corresponds with a syllable (”fa,” “sol,” “la,” and “mi,” see diagram on this page). Singers sing through each song on these syllables before singing on the words, enabling them to read music the more easily.

At a shape note singing, participants sing for themselves, not an audience, and take turns selecting songs to sing. The music features raw harmony, driving rhythms, and full-throated, full-volume, enthusiastic singing. This music is for everyone: experienced singers and newcomers alike.

Shape note music was first brought to upstate New York by itinerant singing masters in the early 1800s. These teachers, composers, and tunebook compilers would travel from town to town holding singing schools as they went. They often wrote tunes along the way and frequently named them after the locations where they were written.

While shape note music had largely died out in the Northeast by the 1830s, the tradition continued in the Deep South and has experienced a resurgence around the country since the 1960s. Singing groups now meet regularly across the Northeast, Midwest, West Coast, and elsewhere. Several groups are active in upstate New York, holding weekly, monthly, and annual singings in locations such as Rochester, Utica, Ithaca, Clinton, Barneveld, Latham, and Kingston.

For the Subliminal History of New York State, Carrie Dashow and Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg become modern-day itinerants, tracing New York’s – and subsequently the United States’ – route of progress along the state’s waterways. Carrie and Jesse are making up to week-long stops at towns along the way to conduct research, write songs, teach workshops, create a community-made video installations, and hold participatory performances. These singing schools are an opportunity to sing brand new music in a venerable style – Music written in and for the community in which the singing schools are taught. The Subliminal History of New York State employs shape note music because of its strong historical ties to upstate New York, because it was presented by traveling singing masters, and because of its pedagogical, community-oriented group dynamic, and beginner-friendly focus.

• Contact us for more information on shape note singing and the singing school component of the Subliminal History of New York State.
• A good internet resource on shape note singing is Fasola.org.
• Read an article on the Subliminal History of New York State in the New York Sun and
• An article on shape note singing in the New York Times.
• Access lyrics and downloadable scores to the songs written so far on the Subliminal History tour.

The Subliminal History of New York State shape note singing schools are made possible with funds from The New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, The Tank, a space for performing and visual arts in New York City, The New York Foundation for the Arts and the Arts Center of the Capital Region, and a generous donation from the Roland Corporation.

Read more about the project in the Subliminal History of New York State section of this site or read about the video workshop component of the Subliminal History tour.