Jordan’s Shore

The roots of Southern (and Christian) Harmony singing (like The Sacred Harp) are found in the American colonial era. In 1801, a book called The Easy Instructor by William Smith and William Little was published for the use of this movement; its distinguishing feature was the employment of four separate shapes that indicated the notes according to the rules of solfege. To avoid proliferating shapes excessively, each shape (and its associated syllable) except for mi was assigned to two notes of the musical scale. A major scale in the system would be sung Fa – Sol – La – Fa – Sol – La – Mi – Fa, and a minor scale would be La – Mi – Fa – Sol – La – Fa – Sol – La.

It should be noted that the traditional methods of this rich heritage (still practiced by thousands today) dictate that the choir begin singing a piece with the appropriate solfege syllable for each pitch, using the shapes to guide them. Once the shapes have been sung, the group then sings the actual text of the song.

The traditional practice of shape-note singing calls for the hymns to be sung without instruments, allowing the voice alone to carry the melody. However, many melodies in these collections were originally folk tunes, which were then harmonized and given new religious texts. Similarly, the tunes and texts in such collections surely were not “protected” from then being utilized by other musical traditions. This arrangement of “Jordan’s Shore” reflects this idea, with the notes and words being used from the shape note source, but featuring instruments and a decidedly “Kentucky” flair.