THE SINGING SCHOOL: AN AMERICAN TRADITION
The Singing School was an institution that was uniquely American. it was established to
serve a dual purpose: the desire to create music and the need for sociability.
Generations were taught to read and sing music by itinerant singing masters, who
developed characteristic methods and materials of instruction, and distinctive
performance practices. Through this institution, many people were given the opportunity
to participate in music, either as a singer, a teacher, or as a composer. The Singing
School foreshadowed the development of church choirs and musical societies.
Early settlers in this country brought with them their native English music, both sacred
and secular. They made use of various Psalters compiled in Europe. It was not until 1640,
however, that the Puritan ministers in America made their own translation of the psalms.
The Bay Psalm Book was the first book printed in British North America and was widely
used. The most distinguishing feature of this book was its rhymed and metered English
poetry. This allowed a few tunes, having the same rhythms as the poetry, to be used as
melodies for many psalms. In addition, the text employed the vernacular, and consequently
promoted memorization. The ninth edition of the Bay Psalm Book, published in 1698, was
the first edition published with tunes. This edition had printed the letters 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 an interest in music instruction as
applied to psalmody.
It was not until the early 18th century, however, that as a direct result of agitation
by ministers for a reformation in congregational singing, arguments were advanced
promoting regular singing and the eventual establishment of singing schools.
The singing school grew out of the employment by the churches in New England of regular
singing. Records indicate that the first singing school was probably established in
Boston, the most advanced town in New England, around 1720.
The singing school gradually spread throughout New England during the next twenty-five
years. Throughout the eighteenth century, the scope and span of the singing schools
continued to grow. The advent of the 19th century saw singing schools established from
Maine to Pennsylvania.
The first singing schools were church-oriented, due to the face that the original
purpose of the schools was to improve congregational singing. After selecting a date
(usually two to four weeks during the winter or between planting and harvesting of
crops), a teacher was secured (in most cases, the local school master or an itinerant
singing teacher), and location was established (either in the local school house or some
other public building).
After the middle of the 18th century, most singing schools were conducted by itinerant
singing masters, who operated them for their own profit. Although a few teachers devoted
themselves full-time to teaching, the majority of them maintained other occupations such
as school teaching, retail sales, or farming. These schools, taught by itinerant singing
masters, were usually not affiliated with a church. Each student was charged a tuition
fee, in addition to being required to purchase his own text.
A logical outgrowth of the singing schools was the establishment of the church choir. At
first it consisted of those who had attended the singing school and rehearsed the psalms,
sitting together at church services. This eventually developed into the formal
organization of the church choir.
The singing school movement also gave rise to several publications designed for use in
the schools. These were often published by the singing masters themselves, and served as
a supplement to their meager incomes. There were three types of materials: manuscript
books, printed "Gamuts" and tune-books. The manuscript books were simply bound pages of
manuscript paper designed for the student to record the various rudiments of music and
such tunes as the singing master specified. "Gamuts" were printed books containing a
summary of the rules of music, a few standard pieces, and blank manuscript pages on which
to write tunes. Tune-books, produced in large quantity during the eighteenth century,
were the most important instructional materials of the time. They consisted of an
introduction, which listed the complete rules of music, and a large collection of printed
music. The printed music was often graded according to difficulty. Tune supplements were
similar to tune-books, but were designed to be bound with Psalters and hymnals, and
included a short summary of the rules of music followed by a number of plain psalm
tunes.
Organized teaching methods gradually emerged from the growing singing school movement.
These rules were often listed at the beginning of tune-books, and ranged from extremely
simple to very complex. The directions, for example, printed in Tunes in Three Parts,
were:
TO THE LEARNER
Get a pitchpipe tuned to the Note A. Sound that note with your voice, and then raise or
lower your voice note by note till you come to the first note of your tune, and you have
its true pitch.
These directions are characteristic of those appearing in tune-books of this era. The
simple directions were designed to be further explained by a teacher, while the more
complex ones were designed to be expounded upon. The tune-books not only listed methods
of instruction, they included rules for the organization and operation of the schools and
an explanation of the results desired.
The student in the singing school first memorized the rudiments of music. The second
step, once memorization was begun, was the solmization of exercises and tunes. The
singing school also embraced voice production, which included breath management,
articulation, pronunciation, in addition to some quality.
Once the rudiments of music had been completely mastered, the next step was to apply
this knowledge to the music in the tune-book. The student progressed from a simple tune
harmonized in a straight four-part setting with few rhythmic variations, to more complex
fuging tunes and other pieces.
An interesting characteristic of the singing school was the maintenance of a steady beat
during the performance of tunes. This was accomplished by having the students all beat
time as they sang. Several tunes books contained complete and elaborate instructions for
beating time, while others maintained a simple up and down motion of the hand or foot
wood suffice.
The singing school movement was eventually incorporated into the public school system of
the United States. Those responsible for this growth, however, received their early
training in the singing school. Luther Mason, in 1864, introduced music in the primary
schools of Boston. His involvement with the singing school movement began very early in
his career, and lasted, with many changes and variations, throughout his lifetime. In
1870 he published a monumental work, the National Course, which outlined methods that
were widely adopted and in use for many years. The new National Course emphasized methods
of school music teaching, and made the older type of music and instruction employed in
the singing school obsolete. Only in isolated, rural areas did singing schools continue
to exist.
The contributions of this early American institution can be traced directly to the
current music curriculum in the public school system in America, and the singing school
must be viewed as a very important factor in the development of American music.
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