Romance of shape-note music

AMERICAN pop music and entertainment may hold sway over the world, but there's more to its culture which is unknown outside the country and largely ignored at home, notes American musicologist Tim Eriksen.

Take the folk music of the Appalachian mountains, characterised by its shape-note music often sung a cappella and without accompaniment. It achieved some attention through the movie Cold Mountain, but it's hardly heard much outside otherwise.

"Shape-note music is a living tradition, and it is based on a social singing tradition rather than choir singing," explains Eriksen, who will be in Singapore for The Espla…