The Singing School: An American Tradition :: essays research papers

The notification School An the Statesn TraditionThe Singing School was an institution that was uniquely American. it was establish to serve a doubled purpose the desire to create music and the need forsociability. Generations were taught to read and gibber music by itinerant tellingmasters, who developed characteristic methods and materials of pedagogics, and distinctive performance practices. Through this institution, many people weregiven the opportunity to embark in music, either as a singer, a teacher, oras a composer. The Singing School foreshadowed the development of church choirsand musical societies. primal settlers in this country brought with them their native Englishmusic, both sacred and secular. They do use of various Psalters compiled inEurope. It was not until 1640, however, that the Puritan ministers in Americamade their own translation of the psalms. The Bay Psalm Book was the offshoot bookprinted in British North America and was widely used. The virtually distinguishingfeature of this book was its rhymed and metered English poetry. This allowed afew tunes, having the comparable rhythms as the poetry, to be used as melodies formany psalms. In addition, the textual matter employed the vernacular, and consequentlypromoted memorization. The ninth edition of the Bay Psalm Book, print in1698, was the initiatory edition published with tunes. This edition had printed theletters F-S-L-M, representing the solmization syllables fa, sol, la, and mi,under the notes. This indicates that there was a familiarity with and aninterest in music instruction as applied to psalmody.It was not until the early 18th century, however, that as a directresult of agitation by ministers for a reformation in congregational singing,arguments were advanced promoting regular singing and the eventual establishmentof singing schools.The singing school grew out of the employment by the churches in bare-assedEngland of regular singing. Records indicate that the firs t singing school wasprobably conventional in Boston, the most advanced town in New England, almost1720.The singing school gradually spread throughout New England during the near twenty-five years. Throughout the eighteenth century, the scope and span ofthe singing schools continue to grow. The advent of the 19th century sawsinging schools established from Maine to Pennsylvania.The first singing schools were church-oriented, due to the face that theoriginal purpose of the schools was to improve congregational singing. Afterselecting a date (usually two to four weeks during the winter or betweenplanting and harvesting of crops), a teacher was secured (in most cases, the local school master or an itinerant singing teacher), and location wasestablished (either in the local school house or some otherwise public building).