Blue Ridge Shap Notes: Singing a New Song in an Old Way

Join gospel shape note singers of the Blue Ridge as they celebrate their faith with songs of worship and praise. Experience the beauty and simplicity of shape note music as singers of all ages in two North Carolina mountain communities participate in learning and passing on this rich and history heritage. A Watauga Arts Council Production. Produced and Directed by Mary C. Greene.

The first public screening of the documentary occurred at Watauga County High School auditorium on August 21, 2005 at 3 p.m. The event was attended by a number of the shape note leaders and singers featured in the documentary, as well as project director, Mary Greene.

“What is unique about this project is the collaboration between the film-making process and the singers, themselves. This project tries to accurately represent the beliefs of the singers, the motivations for their song, and the human ties that bind these singers together. It’s more than a presentation of a particular form of music, it’s a chance to get to know, through the film, the heart of the people who carry on this particular tradition.” -- Producer Mary Greene.

A little of the history of Shape Notes ...

Welcome to the world of shape note gospel music! It's a world rich in memories, in relationships deepened by years of singing and walking out their faith together, and by joy in their salvation. It's also filled with the sounds of young voices learning to sing a new song in an old-fashioned way.

Shape notes came to the mountains of North Carolina in the mid-1800's. Singers first sang out of The Southern Harmony -- then The Christian Harmony -- songbooks.

A new type of shape note singing called gospel music, emerged at the turn of the 20th century. This new music was so popular that hundreds of thousands of small paperback hymnals were published to meet the public demand.

Shape note singing peaked in the 1940's. The churches that continue to enjoy using shape notes often sing from songbooks published yearly as well as a church hymnal. Some of these singers are also published composers. The living tradition in Watauga County, North Carolina is part of the front wave of present-day shape note activity in America.

DVD/VHS Order Info

The Shape Note DVD and VHS are available at the following locations: Cornerstone, Black Bear Books, Rydell Music, Appalachian Music Shoppe, Grapevine, ArtWalk, or at the Jones House Community Center.

Copies may be obtained for $16 each (in either format). North Carolina orders need to add $1.12 for sales tax. To have the dvd/vhs shipped, please add $3.00. To purchase a copy from the Arts Council, email Mark Freed at mark@watauga-arts.org, call 264-1789 or mail your order with check or credit card (Mastercard, Visa or Discover) to WCAC, PO Box 366, Boone, NC 28607.

Download Intro

View the first two minute introduction to Blue Ridge Shape Notes. These files are Windows Media Player files. These files are quite large. For those of you that have dial-up Internet access, it is recommended that you start the download and then make some coffee, read a newspaper, etc.

high quality movie (4.4 MB)     medium quality movie (2 MB)     low quality movie (.5 MB)