2010-06

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M Y Dad took me to my first ever Sacred Harp Singing Convention when I was 14 years old – I had never heard anything like it. Sixty voices in four-part harmony all singing from their gut with raw passion and energy. I had sung lots of music and been in choirs before but never heard anything like this. That’s because this was Shape Note music. The tradition is American, but has its roots in early 18th century English choral music which traveled over to New England. Singing schools were set up to teach young people sacred music, and from this came the invention of the shaped notes, each with an associated syllable to make sight reading music easier. In normal musical notation note heads are round, but this system uses triangles (‘fa’), squares (‘la’) and diamonds (‘mi’) as well as the traditional circles (‘so’). This is like the more familiar system of ‘do re mi’ but with only four shapes with the pattern repeating up the scale so the reader knows the interval between the notes. For example, a major scale is: fa so la fa so la mi fa. Due to its roots as a form of worship, Sacred Harp singing is not a performance for an audience. We are singing for each other so we sit in a hollow square facing inwards, with one side for each of the four parts – tenor (melody line), bass, treble and alto. Each person is given the opportunity to ‘lead’ a song of their choice by standing in the centre of the square and beating time to keep the singers together. The centre of the square is the best place to hear a song – a wonderful wall of sound from all sides. Having your fellow singers encouraging you, supporting you, celebrating with you, or even just simply enjoying the music with you, can be the most uplifting and moving of experiences. Sings can last all day – some even last 2 or 3! We sing as many as 80 songs per day, so food and refreshments are a integral part of the Sacred Harp tradition. Food is provided on a ‘bring and share’ basis so everyone gets to enjoy each other’s cooking. To me, Sacred Harp singing means community. Everyone is welcomed, regardless of beliefs or musical ability. We sit with each other all day: singing, talking and eating together, sharing something of ourselves with each song. After I’d been to a few sings I started associating the music with people, either because they’d always choose the same song to lead, or because a song had particular meaning for them on a certain day; a few of my friends sang Sacred Harp songs at their weddings; some songs remind me of singers who have passed on; others remind me of special occasions – anniversaries, christenings, even for getting new jobs or houses. To me, the songs and the people who sing them are now inseparable. Sacred Harp singing is not just about a bunch of great songs, it’s about the people who come together to sing them and the community they create each time they sit down to “sing the shapes”. Carmel St Chads Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats email: office@stchads.org Church Offices: 15 Camping Lane, Sheffield S8 0GB Page 10 website: www.stchads.org Tel: (0114) 274 5086
W OOD-TURNING is not all about round shapes! Applying your God given skills of creativity, dexterity and imagination through wood turning can result in some very unusual and often beautiful shapes. To understand how some of the more naturally beautiful and unusual shaped pieces are achieved you have to understand where, from the tree, the wood is taken for the item being turned. For table legs and other spindle shapes obviously the grain has to run lengthways through the piece for strength. The converse is true for turning platters, bowls and other receptacles. For these items many people imagine the wood is cut transversely from a tree trunk or a branch to give you a circular piece from which you turn your bowl. This is not so. The piece has to be cut so the grain runs sideways through the bowl. This guy is cutting himself some bowl blanks from a log. The short “planks” will then be cut on a band saw to give the circular piece for mounting on the lathe. Now, if you want to turn a natural edged bowl, having a rim that is uneven, then the bowl will be taken from the outer “plank” and the shape will be turned so that the outer surface or bark surface will be un-cut and remain on the finished shape. The rougher and more fissured the bark is then the more complex and beautiful the shape is. Some trees have unusual growths on their trunks, these are known as “burls” or “burrs”. The surface of the burl is often very uneven and the grain is extremely random. These burls are very sought after to make fantastic natural edged bowls with wonderfully unusual figuring of grain. Finally some extremely skilful wood turners can create very unusual shapes by mounting the piece on more than one axis and the results can be amazing—literally eccentric! If you can, type this link into your web browser and take a look at this video you’ll be amazed! http://www.in.com/videos/ watchvideo-woodturning-eccentricgoblet-2-2788459.html Jonathan Siddall St Chads Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats email: office@stchads.org Church Offices: 15 Camping Lane, Sheffield S8 0GB Page 11 website: www.stchads.org Tel: (0114) 274 5086
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2010-06

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