If you are ever on Jeopardy, this might be something you would want to know. Shape-notes, also known as patent, character or buckwheat notes, get their name from their unique shape on the page of music. Unlike round notes, shape-notes each have a unique symbol which corresponds with a sound on the scale, similar to Do, Re, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do. Instead of being an elliptical shape they were shapes such as rectangles, triangles, and diamonds. This music notation is part of the cultural traditions of the early Euro-American settlers of the Shenandoah Valley, brought down with them from the Philadelphia area and evolved over time with each generation of shape-note music singers. 

The Shenandoah Valley of Virginia was instrumental in the promotion of shape-notes and the many traditions associated with them. Shape-Note singing traditions from the people in the Shenandoah Valley spread over time throughout North America during the nineteenth century and into the twentieth. These traditions developed a culture which unfolded through community and business development, religion and education, and home and family relationships.

Over the course of the 1800s shape-notes evolved to have either a four note system, or a seven note system.