On her early material -- she began a solo recording career in the mid-1950's -- her light, pure voice sounded instrumental, with curved, beautifully shaped notes.
This practice is central to shape-note singing, where the syllables are represented in the hymnbook by musical notation using square, triangular and other types of note heads.
Growing up in rural northeastern Alabama, the Loudermilk brothers were exposed to a variety of early country music influences, including the Carter Family, Charlie and Bill Monroe, and the Blue Sky Boys, as well as to shape-note hymnal singing.
Shape-note singing, a musical practice and tradition of social singing from music books printed in shape notes.
"Shape Notes," the only piece not originally commissioned by a choreographer or performance artist, was a lovely, dignified rendering for woodwind quartet of the group interaction and craggy melodic shapes found in traditional American "shape-note" hymn singing.
Shape notes were a form of notation developed in the early 1800s to teach congregations how to sing together.
Shape notes, also called character notes or patent notes, are one of many notational innovations that, like solmization syllables, attempted to make sight reading easier.
After the American Civil War, singing schools and shape notes became increasingly identified with the South, while declining in popularity in other regions.
Shape notes are a variant system of Western musical notation whereby the note heads are printed in distinct shapes to indicate their scale degree and solmization syllable (fa, sol, la, etc).. Since 1801 shape notes have been associated with American sacred music, specifically with singing schools, with musical conventions, and with all-day gatherings known as "singings".
Shape notes are a variant system of Western musical notation whereby the note heads are printed in distinct shapes to indicate their scale degree and solmization syllable (fa, sol, la, etc.).
