Singing school

Singing School is a term used primarily in North America to refer to a series of instructional sessions in which students learn to read Western music notation, sing in groups, and lead group singing. These skills typically are taught using multi-part compositions of the sort found in certain Protestant worship and folk-revival traditions: Christian hymns; gospel songs; metrical psalms; fuging tunes; anthems; set pieces; and service music. The emphasis on Protestant vocal compositions reflects the institution’s origins in the English colonies of North America as a means of improving congregational singing. Singing schools continue today in part because they either support revived...