O, tell me young friends, while the morning's fair and cool,
O where, tell me where, shall I find your singing school.
You'll find it under the tall oak where the leaves do shake and blow,
You'll find a half hundred a-singing faw, sol, [law].
from The Social Harp (1855)[1]
A singing school is a school in which students are taught to sightread vocal music. Singing schools are a long-standing cultural institution in the Southern United States. While some singing schools are offered for credit, most are informal programs.
Historically, singing schools have been strongly affiliated with Protestant Christianity. Some are held under the auspices of particular Protestant denominations that maintain a tradition of a cappella singing, such as the Church of Christ and the Primitive Baptists. Others are associated with Sacred Harp, Southern Gospel, and similar singing traditions, whose music is religious in character but sung outside the context of church services.
Often the music taught in singing schools uses shape note or "buckwheat" notation, in which the notes are assigned particular shapes to indicate their pitch. There are two main varieties: the four-note, or fasola, system used in Sacred Harp music, and the seven-note system developed by Jesse B. Aikin used in southern gospel music. Some churches, including some Baptist churches (though fewer and fewer), use hymnals printed in shape notes.
- ^ Sung to the tune of Bluebells of Scotland. The Social Harp was compiled by John Gordon McCurry in Georgia in 1855. This song is attributed to J. H. Moss. The last three syllables are the ordinary designations for the musical pitch of the last three notes in the song in four-shape systems of shape notes. Information from Art of the States: Singing School, which also offers a recorded performance.