Folk Music and Variants
Many songs in shape note books were composed for publication in those works. But often shape note songs were based on preexisting folk music. Below are some examples of folk music included in shape note song books.
- Old Fashioned Bible 342-Denson
- Sawyer's Exit 338-Denson
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The Dying Californian 410-Denson, 398-Cooper
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Plenary 162
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The Royal Band 360
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The Spiritual Sailor 150 Cooper (41 Southern Harmony)
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Captain Kidd 50-Southern Harmony
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Sweet Home 161
Variants
Variants are similar tunes that are likely descendants of a single common tune. Folk songs often exist in multiple variants. Below are some examples of folk variants that can be found in the shape note song books.Bourbon from the Columbian Harmony and Meditation from the Southern Harmony are variants of the ballad, McAfee's Confession. George Pullen Jackson also considered Restoration (312-Denson/268-Cooper) to be a variant of this ballad.
Two folk songs: "Miss Lula" and "Go Tell Aunt Rhody." account for an unusually larget number of variants in the shape note song books.
- Miss Lula and its variants are: Abbeville 33/68; Webster 31; The Hill of Zion 553
- Go Tell Aunt Rhody and its variants are: Sweet Affliction 145; Mullins 323a; Return Again 335