The Texas Historian, Volume 37, Number 5, May 1977 Page: 1
30 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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THE FA-SOL-LA OR THE DO-RE-MI
by Louis DAIGLE
Jefferson High SchoolSACRED HARP SINGING, the first form of
Anglo-American religious music introduced in
Texas, was the contribution of the Primitive
Baptists, a fundamentalist religious sect whose
practitioners first settled in this state in the
1830's. As a part of the westward movement
from Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and
Alabama, this religious folk music formed an
integral part of the immigrant's religious and
social life, and was one facet of American cul-
ture transferred from the Atlantic seaboard
states to the East Texas frontier, its final
stronghold.
Sacred music, born of the necessity for a
strong, spiritual communion among colonial
communities, evolved in two basic forms and
become firmly implanted during the American
national period. This form of religious ex-
pression never lost its appeal with rural
America. It reached Texas in its original form,
and then gradually underwent changes as new
conditions altered the lifestyle of rural East
Texas society. Primitive Baptists today still
carry on English traditions transplanted in
Texas almost a century-and-a-half ago. The
on-going gospel music tradition follows a
clearly defined line of cultural traditions that
is very much alive and well today in the Piney
Woods of East Texas.
Lacking a native folk music tradition, earlyAmericans drew from the familiar English
tunes they had known in their European home-
land, which they adapted to their new en-
vironment. This music, therefore, evolved as
a cross between the .traditional church hymns
and the folk tunes created by the American
frontier experience. The composit, thus,
became a trademark of American spiritual life
during colonial times. The earliest songs con-
tained a primitive spiritual fervor that ex-
pressed the religious beliefs of the practi-
tioners.
The Pilgrims brought with them from Eng-
land a system of singing unfamiliar music at
sight, called solmization, which they passed
on to their descendants. This system, also
identified as the "sol-fa" system of singing,
eventually combined a set of syllables and
corresponding shaped-notes on the musical
staff, identified as do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, and
ti. Even before the development of the printed
musical staff, singers were able to acquire a
mental association of musical pitches for each
scale tone by employing this system.
Dr. Lowell Mason, one of Amerca's greatest
hymnist of the early 1800's, encouraged the
public to learn and to appreciate music as sung
in the "sol-fa," or seven-tone system. Mean-
while, the mid-Atlantic and southern commu-
nities preserved the four-tone, or Sacred Harp
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Texas State Historical Association. The Texas Historian, Volume 37, Number 5, May 1977, periodical, May 1977; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391336/m1/3/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.