Pitching Sacred Harp music
Encyclopedia
In Sacred Harp
music, it is the custom to sing a song not necessarily in the pitch in which it is notated in the hymnbook itself, but rather in a key chosen for the moment. Pitching (also: keying) is the term used to describe the task of finding a key in which to sing a song. A person to whom this task has been entrusted is called a "pitcher" or "keyer".
s. It is feasible to switch keys at the moment of singing because Sacred Harp singing is an a cappella
tradition; hence there are no instruments that would have to transpose
on the spot, often a difficult task. Most singers transpose effortlessly.
). However, only a few singers exercise this option; most defer to the pitcher, since the pitcher usually has more experience and skill. In addition, delegating the task of pitching lets the leader focus undistracted on the choice of tempo.
There are various factors that determine what key the pitcher will choose. Most plainly, the pitcher can inspect the notes of all of the vocal parts in a particular song, and pitch in a way that will avoid excessively high or low notes. Another factor to be weighed is the time of day; in the first morning hours of a singing, the singers' voices will not yet be warmed up and the pitcher may opt for a lower key than might be used at other times; lower keys may also be adopted during the final hours of a singing.
Once the pitcher has found a good key, he or she must communicate this choice to the singers. Methods of doing this vary; Cobb suggests that pitchers generally give the opening note of the song, in the tenor and possibly other parts. Singing master
David Ivey teaches pitchers "to sound the tonic
... first, and follow with the other first notes of the parts."
Whatever pitches are given, they are sung using the standard names ("fa, sol, la, mi") in the system of shape note
s used in Sacred Harp singing. The singers join in with their initial notes, likewise sung on the proper syllable, and then all begin the song, following the motions of the leader.
, to help them find the right pitch. (Such aids may be more common at small local singings.)
How Sacred Harp pitchers (who generally do not possess perfect pitch) achieve their ends without mechanical help is not a fully understood question. It probably helps that pitchers typically know the songs very well, and that they have the opportunity to test out how a particular key "feels" when they sing the first note aloud. Sometimes a pitcher will try one opening note, find it unsatisfactory, then execute a glissando
to a neighboring pitch.
Cobb lists some ways in which pitchers make up for the lack of a pitch-giving device. Some use their own voices as a kind of reference, for instance by knowing the lowest note they can comfortably sing. Others have a kind of "reference song"; a song so familiar that when they summon it to mind it is in the original key, which then can be used as a reference point. For many singers, however, good pitching seems to be a purely intuitive activity, a skill they possess but cannot explain. One experienced pitcher told Cobb "it's kind of like learning to fix an automobile--you just got to have a knack for it."
Sacred Harp singers in South Alabama, the pitcher position is a paid one, appointed in advance and given a special seat at the singing. But even in the usual case where the pitcher is a volunteer, singers recognize "the degree to which the skill and flexibility of the pitcher make possible the success of the singing."
The earliest roots of Sacred Harp singing are found in the singing schools and composers of 18th-century New England. An early allusion to the task of pitching appears in the 1698 edition of the Bay Psalm Book
:
Later on in the New England tradition, it appears there may have been move to emphasize the desirability of singing to the printed pitch. This was the recommendation of the leading composer of the period, William Billings
, who wrote the following in the introduction to his book The Continental Harmony:
Elsewhere, Billings makes the same recommendation, though somewhat less firmly, and suggests a pitch pipe as the best means to match the composer's pitch:
The use of a pitch pipe by the New England singers can be noted in early fiction portraying the period: in James Fenimore Cooper
's classic novel The Last of the Mohicans
(1826), the singing master character David Gamut carries (and frequently uses) a pitch pipe.
The 19th century singing master William Walker
, whose Southern Harmony
was an immediate ancestor to The Sacred Harp, evidently used a tuning fork
. This is known because his fork was handed down through later generations. The Sacred Harp scholar George Pullen Jackson
was shown the fork when he attended the Southern Harmony-based Big Singing in Benton, Kentucky in 1931. Walker addresses issues of pitching in the Rudiments section of The Southern Harmony. His discussion is not transparent, but he mentions the use of a pitch pipe, and apparently also endorses choosing a key for the occasion rather than necessarily adhering to the composer's key.
Around the time that The Sacred Harp was first prepared, it appears that pitchers sometimes used a pitch pipe, sometimes not. In 1849, five years after the initial appearance of The Sacred Harp, the singing master Lazarus J. Jones published a competing volume, The Southern Minstrel. An evaluative preface written by George McCormick praised Jones for including a method for pitching without the use of a pitch pipe:
David Warren Steel summarizes the pitching method taught by Jones as follows:
B. F. White
, who (with E. J. King) was the originator of The Sacred Harp, evidently judged that it was appropriate to pitch a song for the occasion. In his preface to the 1860 edition, he wrote:
He includes a definition of "pitch pipe" in his musical glossary, but makes no recommendation concerning whether or not a pitcher should employ one.
The history of the abandonment of pitch pipes and tuning forks by Sacred Harp singers is unknown to the editors of this encyclopedia. Cobb asserts only that "Probably in a few areas pitch pipes were once used in Sacred Harp singings, but they are never seen today".
Sacred Harp
Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music that took root in the Southern region of the United States. It is part of the larger tradition of shape note music.- The music and its notation :...
music, it is the custom to sing a song not necessarily in the pitch in which it is notated in the hymnbook itself, but rather in a key chosen for the moment. Pitching (also: keying) is the term used to describe the task of finding a key in which to sing a song. A person to whom this task has been entrusted is called a "pitcher" or "keyer".
Why pitchers are needed
According to Sacred Harp scholar Buell E. Cobb, the notation of Sacred Harp songs is often a notation of convenience, arranged to keep the notes within the staff on each part, minimizing the use of ledger lineLedger line
A ledger line or leger line is musical notation to notate pitches above or below the lines and spaces of the regular musical staff. A line slightly longer than the note head is drawn parallel to the staff, above or below, spaced at the same distance as the lines within the staff .Notes more than...
s. It is feasible to switch keys at the moment of singing because Sacred Harp singing is an a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
tradition; hence there are no instruments that would have to transpose
Transposition (music)
In music transposition refers to the process, or operation, of moving a collection of notes up or down in pitch by a constant interval.For example, one might transpose an entire piece of music into another key...
on the spot, often a difficult task. Most singers transpose effortlessly.
The pitcher's task
At Sacred Harp singings, the choice of the key in which to sing a song is, in principle, given to the person leading the song (see Leading Sacred Harp musicLeading Sacred Harp music
The Sacred Harp musical tradition is unusual in choral music in that the task of leading it is not delegated to a single expert, but is rotated among participants...
). However, only a few singers exercise this option; most defer to the pitcher, since the pitcher usually has more experience and skill. In addition, delegating the task of pitching lets the leader focus undistracted on the choice of tempo.
There are various factors that determine what key the pitcher will choose. Most plainly, the pitcher can inspect the notes of all of the vocal parts in a particular song, and pitch in a way that will avoid excessively high or low notes. Another factor to be weighed is the time of day; in the first morning hours of a singing, the singers' voices will not yet be warmed up and the pitcher may opt for a lower key than might be used at other times; lower keys may also be adopted during the final hours of a singing.
Once the pitcher has found a good key, he or she must communicate this choice to the singers. Methods of doing this vary; Cobb suggests that pitchers generally give the opening note of the song, in the tenor and possibly other parts. Singing master
Singing school
Historically, singing schools have been strongly affiliated with Protestant Christianity. Some are held under the auspices of particular Protestant denominations that maintain a tradition of a cappella singing, such as the Church of Christ and the Primitive Baptists...
David Ivey teaches pitchers "to sound the tonic
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
... first, and follow with the other first notes of the parts."
Whatever pitches are given, they are sung using the standard names ("fa, sol, la, mi") in the system of shape note
Shape note
Shape notes are a music notation designed to facilitate congregational and community singing. The notation, introduced in 1801, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools...
s used in Sacred Harp singing. The singers join in with their initial notes, likewise sung on the proper syllable, and then all begin the song, following the motions of the leader.
Pitch pipes, tuning forks, etc.
Strikingly, pitchers at singing conventions generally do not use any mechanical aid, such as a pitch pipe or tuning forkTuning fork
A tuning fork is an acoustic resonator in the form of a two-pronged fork with the prongs formed from a U-shaped bar of elastic metal . It resonates at a specific constant pitch when set vibrating by striking it against a surface or with an object, and emits a pure musical tone after waiting a...
, to help them find the right pitch. (Such aids may be more common at small local singings.)
How Sacred Harp pitchers (who generally do not possess perfect pitch) achieve their ends without mechanical help is not a fully understood question. It probably helps that pitchers typically know the songs very well, and that they have the opportunity to test out how a particular key "feels" when they sing the first note aloud. Sometimes a pitcher will try one opening note, find it unsatisfactory, then execute a glissando
Glissando
In music, a glissando is a glide from one pitch to another. It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French glisser, to glide. In some contexts it is distinguished from the continuous portamento...
to a neighboring pitch.
Cobb lists some ways in which pitchers make up for the lack of a pitch-giving device. Some use their own voices as a kind of reference, for instance by knowing the lowest note they can comfortably sing. Others have a kind of "reference song"; a song so familiar that when they summon it to mind it is in the original key, which then can be used as a reference point. For many singers, however, good pitching seems to be a purely intuitive activity, a skill they possess but cannot explain. One experienced pitcher told Cobb "it's kind of like learning to fix an automobile--you just got to have a knack for it."
The value of skilled pitchers
Errors in pitching tend to produce quite noticeable results. An excessively high pitch will lead the singers to struggle, producing a loud but thin, unsonorous sound. An excessively low pitch will lead to a rendition lacking in energy. These undesirable outcomes, together with the relative rarity of good pitching skills, lead to high esteem among Sacred Harp singers for good pitchers. Cobb notes that among certain communities of African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
Sacred Harp singers in South Alabama, the pitcher position is a paid one, appointed in advance and given a special seat at the singing. But even in the usual case where the pitcher is a volunteer, singers recognize "the degree to which the skill and flexibility of the pitcher make possible the success of the singing."
History
Historical evidence can sometimes be brought to bear on two questions concerning pitching: first, whether it was considered desirable for singers to select their own key, and second whether it was advisable to use a tuning fork or pitch pipe as an aid.The earliest roots of Sacred Harp singing are found in the singing schools and composers of 18th-century New England. An early allusion to the task of pitching appears in the 1698 edition of the Bay Psalm Book
Bay Psalm Book
The Bay Psalm Book was the first book, that is still in existence, printed in British North America.The book is a Psalter, first printed in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Psalms in it are metrical translations into English...
:
- Some few directions for ordering the Voice in Setting these following Tunes of the Psalms.
- First observe of how many Notes compass the Tune is. Next, the place of your first Note; and how many Notes above & below that: so as you may begin the Tune of your first Note as the rest may be sung in the compass of your and the peoples voices, without Squeaking above, or Grumbling below.
Later on in the New England tradition, it appears there may have been move to emphasize the desirability of singing to the printed pitch. This was the recommendation of the leading composer of the period, William Billings
William Billings
William Billings was an American choral composer, and is widely regarded as the father of American choral music...
, who wrote the following in the introduction to his book The Continental Harmony:
- Every letter has its own peculiar air, which air is very much hurt if the tune is not rightly pitched; for instance, if a tune is set on A natural, and in pitching the tune, you set it a tone too low, you transpose the key into G, which is perhaps quite different from the intention of the author, and oftentimes very destructive to the harmony, for there is a certain pitch for every tune where it will go smoother and pleasanter than it would on any other letter whatsoever....The best general rule I know of, is, to set the tune on the letter the author has set it, unless he has given directions to the contrary.
Elsewhere, Billings makes the same recommendation, though somewhat less firmly, and suggests a pitch pipe as the best means to match the composer's pitch:
- Great Care should also be taken to Pitch a Tune on or near the Letter it is set, though sometimes it will bear to be set a little above and sometimes a little below the Key, according to the Discretion of the Performer; but I would recommend a Pitch Pipe, which will give the Sound even to the nicety of a half a Tone
The use of a pitch pipe by the New England singers can be noted in early fiction portraying the period: in James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo...
's classic novel The Last of the Mohicans
The Last of the Mohicans
The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 is a historical novel by James Fenimore Cooper, first published in February 1826. It is the second book of the Leatherstocking Tales pentalogy and the best known...
(1826), the singing master character David Gamut carries (and frequently uses) a pitch pipe.
The 19th century singing master William Walker
William Walker (composer)
William Walker was an American Baptist song leader, shape note "singing master", and compiler of four shape note tunebooks, most notable of which was The Southern Harmony.-Life:...
, whose Southern Harmony
Southern Harmony
The Southern Harmony is a shape note hymn and tune book compiled by William Walker. The book was released in 1835 under the full title of The Southern Harmony, and Musical Companion. It is part of the larger tradition of shape note singing....
was an immediate ancestor to The Sacred Harp, evidently used a tuning fork
Tuning fork
A tuning fork is an acoustic resonator in the form of a two-pronged fork with the prongs formed from a U-shaped bar of elastic metal . It resonates at a specific constant pitch when set vibrating by striking it against a surface or with an object, and emits a pure musical tone after waiting a...
. This is known because his fork was handed down through later generations. The Sacred Harp scholar George Pullen Jackson
George Pullen Jackson
George Pullen Jackson was an American educator and musicologist.Jackson was a native of Monson, Maine. He was a pioneer in the field of Southern hymnody. Many consider him the "most diligent scholar of fasola singing" in the 20th century and one of the foremost musicologists of American folk songs...
was shown the fork when he attended the Southern Harmony-based Big Singing in Benton, Kentucky in 1931. Walker addresses issues of pitching in the Rudiments section of The Southern Harmony. His discussion is not transparent, but he mentions the use of a pitch pipe, and apparently also endorses choosing a key for the occasion rather than necessarily adhering to the composer's key.
Around the time that The Sacred Harp was first prepared, it appears that pitchers sometimes used a pitch pipe, sometimes not. In 1849, five years after the initial appearance of The Sacred Harp, the singing master Lazarus J. Jones published a competing volume, The Southern Minstrel. An evaluative preface written by George McCormick praised Jones for including a method for pitching without the use of a pitch pipe:
- The rules, as laid down by most authors, are so vague and indefinite, as to render it almost impossible to arrive at a correct conclusion on the subject. Their rule requires us, in keying tunes, to depend entirely upon the pitchpipe, which is not only uncertain, but often impracticable, on account of its absence. The author of the work now before us, for this purpose, has given us rules entirely independent of any instrumental aid. His directions are of the greatest utility among students in vocal music, when without a pitchpipe.
David Warren Steel summarizes the pitching method taught by Jones as follows:
- Jones's solution was to count up from the low G of the average male voice:
-
- Q. But how shall we get the sound of the natural keys?
- A. The lower line of the bass stave is considered the first degree, or lowest sound in the general scale of music; no tune should be keyed so low, but that a note on the lower line of the bass could be distinctly sounded by a medium voice. You will therefore ascend the degrees of sound in regular succession, either by the order of the notes, or by numbers, one, two, three, &c., from the lower line of the bass, or first degree, to the second or fourth, the places of the natural sharp and flat keys.
- Although Jones's directions are somewhat obscure and do not account for the possibility of transposition to accommodate varying vocal ranges, their mere presence appears to be unique in a Southern tunebook.
B. F. White
Benjamin Franklin White
Benjamin Franklin White was a shape note "singing master", and compiler of the shape note tunebook known as The Sacred Harp. He was born near Cross Keys in Union County, South Carolina, the twelfth child of Robert and Mildred White.-Musical career:White and Elisha J...
, who (with E. J. King) was the originator of The Sacred Harp, evidently judged that it was appropriate to pitch a song for the occasion. In his preface to the 1860 edition, he wrote:
- Care should be taken that all the parts (when singing together) begin upon the proper pitch. If they are too high, difficulty, and perhaps discords, will be the consequence; if too low, dulness and languor. If the parts are not united by their corresponding degrees, the whole piece may be run into confusion and jargon before it ends; and perhaps the whole occasioned by an error of only one semitone in the pitch of one or more of the parts.
He includes a definition of "pitch pipe" in his musical glossary, but makes no recommendation concerning whether or not a pitcher should employ one.
The history of the abandonment of pitch pipes and tuning forks by Sacred Harp singers is unknown to the editors of this encyclopedia. Cobb asserts only that "Probably in a few areas pitch pipes were once used in Sacred Harp singings, but they are never seen today".
External links
- At Camp Fasola, experienced singing teachers regularly teach pitching practice. Their teaching over the several years the camp has been in existence is recorded in the Minutes of Sacred Harp singing, http://fasola.org/minutes/search/?q=camp+fasola.