Chapter 10 - Singing Schools and Camps

10. Singing Schools and Camps

List of Upcoming Singing Schools on the World Wide Web. Prof. Warren Steel lists on the Web upcoming shape-note singing schools consisting of at least five sessions on different days. The Web address is: http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/schools.html

Camp Fasola: An Old-Fashioned Summer Camp for Learning and Singing Sacred Harp with two sessions at two locations in northern Alabama during June, and in 2012 for the first time, [NEW] Camp Fasola Europe near Gdansk, Poland in September. The Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association has held since 2003 an annual five-day summer camp, called Camp Fasola, for teaching Sacred Harp singing, history, and traditions. Multiple daily sessions are devoted to teaching Sacred Harp singing, as well as time for recreation, rest, fellowship, and singing. The camps have drawn increasing numbers of singers of widely varying ages and singing experience and have been reported to be tremendously enjoyable and educational, musically and socially. Starting in 2008, two separate camp sessions have been held annually. Session 1 is programmed with an emphasis for adults (fewer recreation options, more singing elective classes) and has been held at Camp McDowell between Jasper and Double Springs. Session 2 is programmed with an emphasis for youth and adults under age 30 (full recreation schedule, few singing elective classes) and has been held at Camp Lee near Anniston, Alabama. Most spaces in Session 2 are reserved for youth and parents desiring to accompany them. More than 200 campers have attended Camp Fasola in recent years. Nearby traditional Sacred Harp singings are scheduled for dates before and after each session. Registration for Camp Fasola generally begins in January. The organizers anticipate more applicants than spaces available and thus encourage early application. More information and application instructions are found on the camp's Web page. Send e-mail inquiries to camp@fasola.org or telephone 404-237-1246. Camp Fasola has been made possible in part by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Sacred Harp Publishing Company.

Camp DoReMi, a singing school for the Christian Harmony and other seven-shape tunebooks, is held annually in early August the Wildacres Retreat in the Little Switzerland area of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, approximately 50 east of Asheville. Camp DoReMi is a four day immersion in learning to sing shape note music in the seven shape (do re mi) traditions. It offers classes for complete beginners as well as intermediate and advanced shape note singers. The instructors are veteran shape note singers and singing school masters. The song books will be William Walker's The Christian Harmony (the Carolina book), the Deason-Parris Revision of The Christian Harmony (Alabama Book), and The New Harp of Columbia. For further information, the registration form, and interesting photos of Camp DoReMi 2008, visit the Camp Doremi web site or the Christian Harmony Web site , or contact Jane Spencer, the camp director, at ejanespencer-at-yahoo.com.

Village Harmony Summer Camps directed by Larry Gordon and staff. As described in the Village Harmony/Northern Harmony Web page, the Village Harmony Summer Camps in Vermont and abroad draw together dedicated teenage and adult singers from around the world with a particular interest in an unusual and expanding repertoire which features shape-note and Appalachian music, Balkan village songs and dances, and traditional music from several countries, as well as medieval, renaissance, baroque and contemporary music. The annual schedule lists four types of camps: (1) residential (non-touring) camps in New England, (2) residential camps abroad (different countries each year) (3) touring camps in the U.S. (New England and elsewhere), and (4) touring camps abroad in musically interesting countries (South Africa, Bulgaria, and elsewhere). Each camp is led by several accomplished teachers and performers in the areas of musical focus. For more information about this remarkable program, first check the Web site, and then contact Larry Gordon and staff at the Village Harmony Summer Camp, 5748 Hollister Hill Rd., Marshfield, VT 05658, phone 802-426-3210, e-mail vharmony@sover.net.

Singing school resources on the Internet or on videos (mostly reiterated from other chapters):

"Sacred Harp Singing School Workbook" and audio files by David I. Lee and Karen E. Willard, July 2005 edition. David Lee of Hoboken, GA and Karen Willard of Seattle, WA collaborated to produce an outstanding 45-page booklet with 27 audio files, for teaching the rudiments of music written in the fa-sol-la-mi four-shape notation and for singing Sacred Harp music. It is ideal for potential singers who have not attended an actual singing school or who are having trouble learning Sacred Harp singing. Karen Willard writes: "At the above website you'll see a PDF workbook for beginners that you can download and print out. Then depending upon whether you want MP3 files or the much larger .wav audio files, you can download the many many examples that illustrate the workbook. The scales are repeated numerous times, both major scale and minor scale, in both a male voice and a female voice." This resource has helped many people without a strong musical background learn to sing.
"Teach Me Some Melodious Sonnet: Sacred Harp Singing School" taught by Elder J. L. Hopper. The Joe Beasley Memorial Foundation produced in 2004 an instructional video. This two-VHS cassette or two-DVD package contains over three hours of instructional material taught in 18 easy-to-understand lessons with illustrations using 29 songs. According to Gary Smith, "The tape includes lessons by Elder Hopper, along with illustrations and demonstrations recorded at the singing at Gum Pond Primitive Baptist Church in Morgan County, Alabama in the summer of 2003. The lessons start with the very beginning of the Rudiments, and go through the complexities of the chromatic scale." A 2-DVD set is $22.50, and a 2-VHS set is $30.00, postpaid.
"Hoboken in Seattle," Pacific Northwest Sacred Harp Convention, Feb. 21, 1998. David and Clarke Lee and other members of the Lee family of Hoboken, Georgia, conducted a singing school as part of the 1998 Pacific Northwest in Seattle. They described their spiritual approach to Sacred Harp singing from the Cooper Edition and their unique styles of Sacred Harp singing and leading (including "walking time") which developed in isolation from other Sacred Harp singers. The video was made by the Seattle singers and professionally edited by Wayne Murphree. If it is still available, the price of a single copy is $35.00 including shipping. Order from (and make checks out to) Wayne Murphree Enterprises, Inc., 25735 Alabama Highway 71, Flat Rock, AL 35966, phone 256-632-2427, e-mail info@wmeiphoto.com.
Singing School taught by Jeff and Shelbie Sheppard, 1997, Chicago. The Sheppards, life-long traditional singers and Sacred Harp masters from Glencoe, Alabama taught a two-day singing school which was videotaped by Gary Gronau of St. Louis on amateur equipment. A 54-minute video was prepared. According to Mr. Gronau, "This was not an ordinary singing school of the rudiments; rather it was more of a master class in technique, style, and graces of effective leading (including footwork!), combined with a living history lesson and "family stories" of an earlier time, of Tom Denson, A.M. Cagle ..." To order a copy by mail, send a check, payable to Wings of Song, for $10.00 per copy to Gary Gronau, 6240 Rosebury, St. Louis, MO 63105.
"Among That Band: Christian Harmony Singing School" 4-DVD set. This singing school, organized by Emily Creel, took place 2009 at Old County Line Church, Corner, AL, and featured lessons on the history of Christian Harmony, history of the seven-shape notation, rudiments, and keying songs, taught by three accomplished singing school masters Cassie Franklin Allen, Tim Cook, and Bill Hogan. The singing school was captured on video in high-definition and is available on a 4-DVD set, priced at $27.50 postpaid.

Steven L. Sabol (sabol@his.com)
HTML version by Warren Steel (mudws@molemiss.edu)