Toward a Typology of Four-Shape Shape-Note Tunebooks

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Kevin Isaac from Baltimore

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Jul 16, 2025, 8:17:17 AMJul 16

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As I've shared here before, I'm working on a bibliography of four-shape shape-note tunebooks (and tunebooklets!). After some excellent discussion in this group, I narrowed the scope and decided to begin with “modern” books—mainly to make the project more manageable.

Which, of course, immediately raised the question: What exactly counts as a modern four-shape shape-note tunebook?

So I dusted off my rarely-used thinking cap (right next to my well-worn dunce cap) and started sketching it out.

I’ve now put together a working draft of a typology, organizing tunebooks by both historical period and editorial function. It’s available on SingLoud.org, but not yet linked from the main site:

https://www.singloud.org/projects/tunebook-typology/

I’d really welcome your thoughts—corrections, additions, disagreements, refinements—anything is fair game.

This is an attempt to bring some clarity to what is, admittedly, a big, tangled subject. I don’t think it’s been approached quite like this before. Obviously, any system like this can only be so nuanced, and there will always be outliers (some of which I’ve tried to acknowledge), but I think those outliers don’t negate the general patterns I'm trying to describe.

I may have bogged it down a bit with some “non-book” trends, but I think those are relevant to the larger publishing and cultural story these periods aim to reflect.

Feel free to reply to the list or message me directly. I really appreciate your time and feedback.