Shape, rattle and roll: The amazing survival of shape-note singing

Shape-note singing was America's first music craze, and 150 years on, it's still going. Alfred Hickling tries itIn a disused chapel in Gateshead, the chairs have been set out for an unusual form of service. Members of the congregation sit on four sides of a square, facing each other. Anyone is free to walk to the centre and call out a number. The singers turn to the relevant page in their hymn books and, with no instrumental accompaniment to guide them, beginning humming to establish a pitch.Wha...

Read full article Share article