The Shaped-Note System
The shaped-note or “Fasola” tradition is one of unaccompanied singing, that is, without any assistance by instruments. Thus, when singing shaped-note hymns, it is practice first to "sing the notes," that is, to sing the fa-sol-la syllables corresponding to the shapes in the music before singing the text. This serves to set the tune in memory and enables a person to more easily sight-read previously unseen or unheard music. Tunes are sung in relative pitch, rather than at an absolute pitch.
Early colonists brought the shaped-note singing tradition with them from Europe where the method was invented to enable common people to more readily sing worship and praise songs. The first book in America printed with shaped-note heads, using "patent notes," was the Easy Instructor, by Wm. Smith and Wm. Little, in 1801. The shapes used then are still in use to this day: Fa, Sol , La , and Mi. The tradition of singing by shaped notes was welcomed and is carried on to this day, particularly in the southern regions of the United States.
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