The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 86, July 1982 - April, 1983 Page: 42
616 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
school, usually two or three weeks in length, usually in summer, though
not allied to a church, met in a church and concentrated on religious
songs. To make learning the notes easier they used the solmization
system and adapted ancient shapes into a shaped note system with a
different shape for each note: do D , re V , mi O , fa < , sol O ,
la 0 , si 8 , with do repeated for the eighth.
Roughly simultaneous with the development of the singing school
was the publication of "harmonies," religious songbooks with songs
collected from old hymn makers and revival meetings. As towns grew,
as town churches became more formal in their services, printing hymn-
books became an industry. Congregations could choose, from among
others, The Missouri Harmony, The Kentucky Harmony, The South-
ern Harmony. Accent on the south was intentional. These books
brought together songs from the oral tradition, usually with the tradi-
tional tune, at times with a new tune from a local tunesmith. Some
were adapted to fit the four-line stanza, the common meter. Songs set
in the responsive pattern were likely to be left unchanged. Hymns
from Watts and other hymn makers at times appeared with tunes from
the oral tradition.
Tunes that might have come from a square dance or a country two-
step, tunes that set hands to clapping, feet to tapping, were often omit-
ted as too old-fashioned. The old-time religion also meant old-time
shouting and dancing for the Lord, and, as fun makers said, on a hot
night was hard on the clothes. Congregations in town churches became
more reserved and more aware of appearances. Deacons were known
to have helped out the door old women who lost control of themselves
and "got happy." The era of the nineteenth century hymn makers with
their balanced sentimentality and optimism was under way.
In the decade when Texans were fighting against Mexicans, Ameri-
can inventors were remaking the European harmonium into the reed
or parlor organ, a keyboard instrument less expensive than the piano,
lighter in weight, and easier to transport by boat or wagon. The larger
country churches could afford them. Singing school teachers could add
classes in instrumental music. If the fiddle was the voice of the devil,
the organ was the voice of angels, and the country music master was
in rank close after preacher and teacher as cultural sponsor.
My first music teacher was my mother, who had learned what she
knew from the Skaggs brothers-Will, John, and Lonnie-itinerant
musicians from a farm family who lived in the Crossroads community
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 86, July 1982 - April, 1983, periodical, 1982/1983; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101209/m1/62/?q=barker: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.