A uniquely American phenomenon, shape-note singing traditions of the Shenandoah Valley have been around since the early 1800s with origins stemming from Europe. Throughout the nineteenth century there were many shape-note songbooks published by individuals and companies in the Shenandoah Valley. As time progressed, shape-note music traditions spread from the Shenandoah Valley to the south, north, and west to eventually be located throughout all of North America. Today, shape-note music is sung by groups across the globe, even including a group located in Japan, nearly 6,757 miles away from the Shenandoah Valley. Shape-note singing is one of many musical traditions shared by people across cultures throughout time and has the power to unite people through a common bond in times when there are so many divisions throughout the world.
The Shenandoah Valley in Virginia geographically encompasses approximately 150 miles from the north end to the south end and includes the main cities of Roanoke and Salem on the south end; Staunton, Waynesboro, and Harrisonburg in the center; and Winchester on the north end. During the late 1800s and into the early 1900s, shape-note traditions extended to outlying places such as Elkhart, Indiana; Cincinnati, Ohio; Lawrenceburg, Tennessee; Lubbock,Texas; and Dalton, Georgia, where publishing businesses that printed shape-note music, musical magazines, and religious printed materials were established.
This website invites you to explore the who, what, where, when and why of shape-note singing traditions in the Shenandoah Valley throughout the nineteenth century and beyond. This includes both the four note shape-note system and the seven note shape-note system used by Joseph Funk and Sons Printing Press and the Ruebush-Kieffer Company and published by other shape-note printers in the Shenandoah Valley and throughout the United States.
Learn what a shape-note is and why it became popular in certain areas of the United States in the 1800s. Learn who the main contributors were in the Shenandoah Valley with shape-note music during the 1800s.
Make discoveries as you explore the map of how shape-note music spread across the country in the mid 1800s, who the shape-note music publishers were, and discover the communities that sang them. Discover who produced shape-note music and when the various shape-note tune-books were printed. Discover what the data and findings mean.
Visit the Melodious marketing exhibit at Rocktown History Museum, located in Dayton, Virginia which highlights the marketing strategies used by shape-note music publishing companies in the Shenandoah Valley in the 1800s.
Search through the original documents shared by archives located throughout the Shenandoah Valley and beyond now contained in the Histories Along the Blue Ridge digital collection called Shape-Note Traditions: Joseph Funk and Sons and Ruebush-Kieffer Companies.
This website is made possible through collaboration with Rocktown History, James Madison University History Department, and JMU Libraries.
To find a four note method shape-note group near you visit Sacred Harp Singing or if you are located near the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia visit the Harmonia Sacra Society website to see a schedule of singings for the seven note method.