141-587: Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music that originated in New England and was later perpetuated and carried on in the American South . The name is derived from The Sacred Harp , a ubiquitous and historically important tunebook printed in shape notes . The work was first published in 1844 and has reappeared in multiple editions ever since. Sacred Harp music represents one branch of an older tradition of American music that developed over
282-407: A moveable "do" system. When Sacred Harp singers begin a song, they normally start by singing it with the appropriate syllable for each pitch, using the shapes to guide them. For those in the group not yet familiar with the song, the shapes help with the task of sight reading . The process of reading through the song with the shapes also helps fix the notes in memory. Once the shapes have been sung,
423-469: A 5:4 ratio is an 8:5 ratio. For intervals identified by an integer number of semitones, the inversion is obtained by subtracting that number from 12. Since an interval class is the lower number selected among the interval integer and its inversion, interval classes cannot be inverted. Intervals can be described, classified, or compared with each other according to various criteria. An interval can be described as In general, The table above depicts
564-423: A book of over 250 songs. King died soon after the book was published, and White was left to guide its growth. He was responsible for organizing singing schools and conventions at which The Sacred Harp was used as the songbook. During his lifetime, the book became popular and would go through three revisions (1850, 1859, and 1869), all produced by committees consisting of White and several colleagues working under
705-510: A century. The strength of traditionalism can be seen in the front matter of the two hymnbooks. The Denson book is forthrightly Biblical in its defense of tradition: DEDICATED TO All lovers of Sacred Harp Music, and to the memory of the illustrious and venerable patriarchs who established the Traditional Style of Sacred Harp singing and admonished their followers to "seek the old paths and walk therein". The Cooper book also shows
846-479: A chromatic semitone. For instance, an augmented sixth such as E ♭ –C ♯ spans ten semitones, exceeding a major sixth (E ♭ —C) by one semitone, while a diminished sixth such as E ♯ –C spans seven semitones, falling short of a minor sixth (E ♯ –C ♯ ) by one semitone. The augmented fourth ( A4 ) and the diminished fifth ( d5 ) are the only augmented and diminished intervals that appear in diatonic scales (see table). Neither
987-402: A different tuning system, called 12-tone equal temperament . As a consequence, the size of most equal-tempered intervals cannot be expressed by small-integer ratios, although it is very close to the size of the corresponding just intervals. For instance, an equal-tempered fifth has a frequency ratio of 2 :1, approximately equal to 1.498:1, or 2.997:2 (very close to 3:2). For a comparison between
1128-617: A dozen singers. Large singings have been known to have more than a thousand participants. The more ambitious singings include an ample potluck dinner in the middle of the day, traditionally called "dinner on the grounds". Some of the largest and oldest annual singings are called "conventions". The oldest Sacred Harp convention was the Southern Musical Convention , organized in Upson County, Georgia in 1845. The two oldest surviving Sacred Harp singing conventions are
1269-507: A fourth is augmented ( A4 ) and one fifth is diminished ( d5 ), both spanning six semitones. For instance, in an E-major scale, the A4 is between A and D ♯ , and the d5 is between D ♯ and A. The inversion of a perfect interval is also perfect. Since the inversion does not change the pitch class of the two notes, it hardly affects their level of consonance (matching of their harmonics ). Conversely, other kinds of intervals have
1410-544: A group south where they founded Providence Plantations , which grew into the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in 1636. At this time, Vermont was uncolonized, and the territories of New Hampshire and Maine were claimed and governed by Massachusetts. As the region grew, it received many immigrants from Europe due to its religious tolerance and economy. Relationships alternated between peace and armed skirmishes between colonists and local Native American tribes,
1551-540: A part of Massachusetts, but it was granted statehood on March 15, 1820, as part of the Missouri Compromise . Today, New England is defined as the six states of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. New England's economic growth relied heavily on trade with the British Empire , and the region's merchants and politicians strongly opposed trade restrictions. As
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#17327839887951692-495: A resurgence in popularity, as it is discovered by new participants who did not grow up in the tradition. New singers typically strive to follow the original southern customs at their singings. Traditional singers have responded to this need by providing help in orienting the newcomers. For instance, the Rudiments section of the 1991 Denson edition includes information on how to hold a singing; this information would be superfluous in
1833-448: A rival system, created by Andrew Law (1749–1821) in his The Musical Primer of 1803. Although this book came out two years later than Smith and Little's book, Law claimed earlier invention of shape notes. In his system, a square indicated fa , a circle sol , a triangle la and a diamond, mi . Law used the shaped notes without a musical staff. The Smith and Little shapes ultimately prevailed. Shape notes became very popular, and during
1974-486: A scale are also known as scale steps. The smallest of these intervals is a semitone . Intervals smaller than a semitone are called microtones . They can be formed using the notes of various kinds of non-diatonic scales. Some of the very smallest ones are called commas , and describe small discrepancies, observed in some tuning systems , between enharmonically equivalent notes such as C ♯ and D ♭ . Intervals can be arbitrarily small, and even imperceptible to
2115-416: A separate section . Intervals smaller than one semitone (commas or microtones) and larger than one octave (compound intervals) are introduced below. In Western music theory , an interval is named according to its number (also called diatonic number, interval size or generic interval ) and quality . For instance, major third (or M3 ) is an interval name, in which the term major ( M ) describes
2256-413: A starting point. The leader, or else some particular singer assigned to the task, finds a good pitch with which to begin and intones it to the group. The singers reply with the opening notes of their own parts, and then the song begins immediately. The music is usually sung not literally as it is printed in the book, but with certain deviations established by custom. As the name implies, Sacred Harp music
2397-512: A steady pace from the 1840s until cut off by World War I . The largest numbers came from Ireland and Britain before 1890, and after that from Quebec, Italy, and Southern Europe. The immigrants filled the ranks of factory workers, craftsmen, and unskilled laborers. The Irish and Italians assumed a larger and larger role in the Democratic Party in the cities and statewide, while the rural areas remained Republican. The Great Depression in
2538-465: A third of its industrial workforce. It was also the most literate and most educated region in the country. During the same period, New England and areas settled by New Englanders (upstate New York, Ohio's Western Reserve , and the upper midwestern states of Michigan and Wisconsin ) were the center of the strongest abolitionist and anti-slavery movements in the United States, coinciding with
2679-482: A traditional context, but is important for a group starting up on its own. The tradition of the singing master is still carried on today, and singing masters from traditional Sacred Harp regions often travel outside the South to teach. In recent years an annual summer camp has been established, at which newcomers can learn to sing Sacred Harp. There are now strong Sacred Harp singing communities in most major urban areas of
2820-437: A unit derived from the logarithm of the frequency ratio. In Western music theory, the most common naming scheme for intervals describes two properties of the interval: the quality (perfect, major, minor, augmented, diminished) and number (unison, second, third, etc.). Examples include the minor third or perfect fifth . These names identify not only the difference in semitones between the upper and lower notes but also how
2961-649: A variety of the Eastern Algonquian languages . Prominent tribes included the Abenakis , Mi'kmaq , Penobscot , Pequots , Mohegans , Narragansetts , Nipmucs , Pocumtucks , and Wampanoags . Prior to the arrival of European colonists, the Western Abenakis inhabited what is now New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, as well as parts of Quebec and western Maine. Their principal town was Norridgewock in today's Maine. The Penobscots lived along
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#17327839887953102-422: A warm appreciation of tradition: May God bless everyone as we endeavor to promote and enjoy Sacred Harp music and to continue the rich tradition of those who have gone before us. To say that both communities are traditionalist does not mean they discourage the creation of new songs. To the contrary, it is part of the tradition that musically creative Sacred Harp singers should become composers themselves and add to
3243-490: Is sacred music and originated as Protestant Christian music. Many of the songs in the book are hymns that use words, meters, and stanzaic forms familiar from elsewhere in Protestant hymnody . However, Sacred Harp songs are quite different from "mainstream" Protestant hymns in their musical style: some tunes, known as fuguing tunes , contain sections that are polyphonic in texture, and the harmony tends to deemphasize
3384-585: Is a major third , while that from D to G ♭ is a diminished fourth . However, they both span 4 semitones. If the instrument is tuned so that the 12 notes of the chromatic scale are equally spaced (as in equal temperament ), these intervals also have the same width. Namely, all semitones have a width of 100 cents , and all intervals spanning 4 semitones are 400 cents wide. The names listed here cannot be determined by counting semitones alone. The rules to determine them are explained below. Other names, determined with different naming conventions, are listed in
3525-545: Is a better predictor than general forest age or biomass. Due to an increasing the amount of nitrogen in the soil from climate change , the red maple is becoming one of the most abundant trees in the region, and outcompeting other maples such as the sugar maple . The most populous cities as of the 2020 U.S. Census were (metropolitan areas in parentheses): During the 20th century, urban expansion in regions surrounding New York City has become an important economic influence on neighboring Connecticut, parts of which belong to
3666-444: Is a difference in pitch between two sounds. An interval may be described as horizontal , linear , or melodic if it refers to successively sounding tones, such as two adjacent pitches in a melody, and vertical or harmonic if it pertains to simultaneously sounding tones, such as in a chord . In Western music, intervals are most commonly differences between notes of a diatonic scale . Intervals between successive notes of
3807-410: Is an interval spanning three tones, or six semitones (for example, an augmented fourth). Rarely, the term ditone is also used to indicate an interval spanning two whole tones (for example, a major third ), or more strictly as a synonym of major third. Intervals with different names may span the same number of semitones, and may even have the same width. For instance, the interval from D to F ♯
3948-516: Is diatonic, except for the augmented fourth and diminished fifth. The distinction between diatonic and chromatic intervals may be also sensitive to context. The above-mentioned 56 intervals formed by the C-major scale are sometimes called diatonic to C major . All other intervals are called chromatic to C major . For instance, the perfect fifth A ♭ –E ♭ is chromatic to C major, because A ♭ and E ♭ are not contained in
4089-693: Is dotted with lakes, hills, marshes and wetlands, and sandy beaches. Important valleys in the region include the Champlain Valley , the Connecticut River Valley and the Merrimack Valley . The longest river is the Connecticut River , which flows from northeastern New Hampshire for 407 mi (655 km), emptying into Long Island Sound , roughly bisecting the region. Lake Champlain , which forms part of
4230-865: Is geologically a part of the New England province , an exotic terrane region consisting of the Appalachian Mountains , the New England highlands and the seaboard lowlands. The Appalachian Mountains roughly follow the border between New England and New York. The Berkshires in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and the Green Mountains in Vermont, as well as the Taconic Mountains , form a spine of Precambrian rock. The Appalachians extend northwards into New Hampshire as
4371-501: Is less snowfall (especially in the coastal areas where it is often warmer). Southern and coastal Connecticut is the broad transition zone from the cold continental climates of the north to the milder subtropical climates to the south. The frost free season is greater than 180 days across far southern/coastal Connecticut, coastal Rhode Island, and the islands (Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard). Winters also tend to be much sunnier in southern Connecticut and southern Rhode Island compared to
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4512-681: Is limited to the New Jersey and south Alabama–Florida groups. Sacred Harp was "exported" from south Alabama to New Jersey. It appears to have died out among the African-Americans in eastern Texas. In summary, three revisions of and one companion book to The Sacred Harp are currently in use in Sacred Harp singing: Sacred Harp books generally contain a section on rudiments , describing the basics of music and Sacred Harp singing. In recent years, Sacred Harp singing has experienced
4653-584: Is one cent. In twelve-tone equal temperament (12-TET), a tuning system in which all semitones have the same size, the size of one semitone is exactly 100 cents. Hence, in 12-TET the cent can be also defined as one hundredth of a semitone . Mathematically, the size in cents of the interval from frequency f 1 to frequency f 2 is n = 1200 ⋅ log 2 ( f 2 f 1 ) {\displaystyle n=1200\cdot \log _{2}\left({\frac {f_{2}}{f_{1}}}\right)} The table shows
4794-418: Is one of the U.S. Census Bureau's nine regional divisions and the only multi-state region with clear and consistent boundaries. It maintains a strong sense of cultural identity, although the terms of this identity are often contrasted, combining Puritanism with liberalism, agrarian life with industry, and isolation with immigration. The earliest known inhabitants of New England were American Indians who spoke
4935-435: Is only the 39th-largest state, slightly smaller than Indiana . The remaining states are among the smallest in the U.S., including the smallest state —Rhode Island. The areas of the states (including water area) are: New England's long rolling hills, mountains, and jagged coastline are glacial landforms resulting from the retreat of ice sheets approximately 18,000 years ago, during the last glacial period . New England
5076-408: Is the reason interval numbers are also called diatonic numbers , and this convention is called diatonic numbering . If one adds any accidentals to the notes that form an interval, by definition the notes do not change their staff positions. As a consequence, any interval has the same interval number as the corresponding natural interval, formed by the same notes without accidentals. For instance,
5217-420: Is very high technology manufacturing, such as jet engines, nuclear submarines, pharmaceuticals, robotics, scientific instruments, and medical devices. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology invented the format for university-industry relations in high tech fields and spawned many software and hardware firms, some of which grew rapidly. By the 21st century, the region had become famous for its leadership roles in
5358-732: The Chattahoochee Musical Convention (organized in Coweta County, Georgia in 1852), and the East Texas Sacred Harp Convention (organized as the East Texas Musical Convention in 1855). Sacred Harp singers view their tradition as a participatory one, not a passive one. Those who gather for a singing sing for themselves and for each other, and not for an audience. This can be seen in several aspects of
5499-464: The Dominion of New England , an administrative union including all of the New England colonies. In 1688, the former Dutch colonies of New York , East New Jersey , and West New Jersey were added to the dominion. The union was imposed from the outside and contrary to the rooted democratic tradition of the colonies, and it was highly unpopular among the colonists. The dominion significantly modified
5640-558: The Mayflower Compact before leaving the ship, and it became their first governing document. The Massachusetts Bay Colony came to dominate the area and was established by royal charter in 1629 with its major town and port of Boston established in 1630. Massachusetts Puritans began to establish themselves in Connecticut as early as 1633. Roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts for theological reasons; he led
5781-604: The New Deal coalition and making the once-Republican region into one that was closely divided. However, the enormous spending on munitions, ships, electronics, and uniforms during World War II caused a burst of prosperity in every sector. The region lost most of its factories starting with the loss of textiles in the 1930s and getting worse after 1960. The New England economy was radically transformed after World War II. The factory economy practically disappeared. Once-bustling New England communities fell into economic decay following
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5922-541: The New York metropolitan area . The U.S. Census Bureau groups Fairfield , New Haven and Litchfield counties in western Connecticut together with New York City and other parts of New York and New Jersey as a combined statistical area . The following are metropolitan statistical areas as defined by the United States Census Bureau . Interval (music) In music theory , an interval
6063-877: The Penobscot River in Maine. The Narragansetts and smaller tribes under their sovereignty lived in Rhode Island, west of Narragansett Bay, including Block Island . The Wampanoags occupied southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket . The Pocumtucks lived in Western Massachusetts, and the Mohegan and Pequot tribes lived in Connecticut. The Connecticut River Valley linked numerous tribes culturally, linguistically, and politically. As early as 1600 CE, French, Dutch, and English traders began exploring
6204-574: The Puritan work ethic , in contrast to the Southern colonies which focused on agricultural production while importing finished goods from England. By 1686, King James II had become concerned about the increasingly independent ways of the colonies, including their self-governing charters, their open flouting of the Navigation Acts , and their growing military power. He therefore established
6345-668: The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 with his war on "unlisted securities". Hull gave testimony to the US Senate (Sen. Duncan Upshaw Fletcher ) for work on the Pecora Commission , which revealed that neither Albert H. Wiggin (born in Medfield, MA) nor J. P. Morgan Jr. had paid any income taxes in 1931 and 1932; a public outcry ensued. Boston figured prominently on the subject of securities laws in
6486-634: The Siege of Boston by continental troops. In March 1776, British forces were compelled to retreat from Boston. After the dissolution of the Dominion of New England, the colonies of New England ceased to function as a unified political unit but remained a defined cultural region. There were often disputes over territorial jurisdiction, leading to land exchanges such as those regarding the Equivalent Lands and New Hampshire Grants . By 1784, all of
6627-619: The White Mountains , and then into Maine and Canada. Mount Washington in New Hampshire is the highest peak in the Northeast, although it is not among the ten highest peaks in the eastern United States. It is the site of the second highest recorded wind speed on Earth, and has the reputation of having the world's most severe weather. The coast of the region, extending from southwestern Connecticut to northeastern Maine,
6768-417: The harmonic C-minor scale ) is considered diatonic if the harmonic minor scales are considered diatonic as well. Otherwise, it is considered chromatic. For further details, see the main article . By a commonly used definition of diatonic scale (which excludes the harmonic minor and melodic minor scales), all perfect, major and minor intervals are diatonic. Conversely, no augmented or diminished interval
6909-501: The ratio of their frequencies . When a musical instrument is tuned using a just intonation tuning system, the size of the main intervals can be expressed by small- integer ratios, such as 1:1 ( unison ), 2:1 ( octave ), 5:3 ( major sixth ), 3:2 ( perfect fifth ), 4:3 ( perfect fourth ), 5:4 ( major third ), 6:5 ( minor third ). Intervals with small-integer ratios are often called just intervals , or pure intervals . Most commonly, however, musical instruments are nowadays tuned using
7050-577: The " First New England School ", forms a major part of the Sacred Harp to this day. Billings and his followers worked as singing masters, who led singing schools . The purpose of these schools was to train young people in the correct singing of sacred music. This pedagogical movement flourished, and led ultimately to the invention of shape notes , which originated as a way to make the teaching of singing easier. The first shape note tunebook appeared in 1801: The Easy Instructor by William Smith and William Little. At first, Smith and Little's shapes competed with
7191-647: The 1850s, and all of New England became strongly Republican, including areas that had previously been strongholds for both the Whig and the Democratic parties. New England remained solidly Republican until Catholics began to mobilize behind the Democrats, especially in 1928. This led to the end of "Yankee Republicanism" and began New England's relatively swift transition into a consistently Democratic stronghold in national elections. The flow of immigrants continued at
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#17327839887957332-453: The 56 diatonic intervals formed by the notes of the C major scale (a diatonic scale). Notice that these intervals, as well as any other diatonic interval, can be also formed by the notes of a chromatic scale. The distinction between diatonic and chromatic intervals is controversial, as it is based on the definition of diatonic scale, which is variable in the literature. For example, the interval B–E ♭ (a diminished fourth , occurring in
7473-585: The Beverly Cotton Manufactory. The Connecticut River Valley became a crucible for industrial innovation, particularly the Springfield Armory , pioneering such advances as interchangeable parts and the assembly line which influenced manufacturing processes all around the world. From early in the nineteenth century until the mid-twentieth, the region surrounding Springfield, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut served as
7614-404: The C above it must be a major sixth. Since compound intervals are larger than an octave, "the inversion of any compound interval is always the same as the inversion of the simple interval from which it is compounded". For intervals identified by their ratio, the inversion is determined by reversing the ratio and multiplying the ratio by 2 until it is greater than 1. For example, the inversion of
7755-400: The C major scale would be notated and sung as follows: The shape for fa is a triangle, sol an oval, la a rectangle, and mi a diamond. In Sacred Harp singing, pitch is not absolute. The shapes and notes designate degrees of the scale, not particular pitches. Thus for a song in the key of C, fa designates C and F; for a song in G, fa designates G and C, and so on; hence it is called
7896-405: The C major scale. However, it is diatonic to others, such as the A ♭ major scale. Consonance and dissonance are relative terms that refer to the stability, or state of repose, of particular musical effects. Dissonant intervals are those that cause tension and desire to be resolved to consonant intervals. These terms are relative to the usage of different compositional styles. All of
8037-536: The Cooper book, also make use of a supplementary volume, The Colored Sacred Harp , produced by Judge Jackson (1883–1958) in 1934 and later revised in two subsequent editions. In his book Judge Jackson and The Colored Sacred Harp , Joe Dan Boyd identified four regions of Sacred Harp singing among African-Americans: eastern Texas (Cooper book), northern Mississippi (Denson book), south Alabama and Florida (Cooper book), and New Jersey (Cooper book). The Colored Sacred Harp
8178-798: The Home Counties, the Midlands, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Manchester, Brighton, Newcastle, southwest England, Bristol, as well as in Scotland. Canada has a decades-long tradition of Sacred Harp singing, particularly in Southern Ontario and the Eastern Townships of Quebec . Singings have been organized weekly in Montreal, Quebec since 2011, as well as a monthly afternoon sing, and the first Montreal all-day sing took place in
8319-828: The New World, trading metal, glass, and cloth for local beaver pelts. On April 10, 1606, King James I of England issued a charter for the Virginia Company , which consisted of the London Company and the Plymouth Company . These two privately funded ventures were intended to claim land for England, to conduct trade, and to return a profit. In 1620, the Pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower and established Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, beginning
8460-489: The Protestant Great Awakening in the region. Abolitionists who demanded immediate emancipation had their base in the region, such as William Lloyd Garrison , John Greenleaf Whittier , and Wendell Phillips . So too did anti-slavery politicians who wanted to limit the growth of slavery, such as John Quincy Adams , Charles Sumner , and John P. Hale . The anti-slavery Republican Party was formed in
8601-757: The South include, for example, the Keystone Convention in Pennsylvania, the Missouri Convention, and the Minnesota State Convention, which began in 1990. In more recent times Sacred Harp singing has spread beyond the borders of the United States. The United Kingdom has had an active Sacred Harp community since the 1990s. The first UK Sacred Harp convention took place in 1996. There are regular singings in London,
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#17327839887958742-487: The US and abroad. Similarly, the Sacred Harp singing community in western New England has become a prominent one in recent years; the late songleader Larry Gordon has been credited with re-popularizing Sacred Harp singing in northern New England. In March 2008, the 2008 Western Massachusetts Sacred Harp Convention attracted over 300 singers from 25 states and a number of foreign countries. Other prominent singing conventions outside
8883-622: The United States of the 1930s hit the region hard, with high unemployment in the industrial cities. The Boston Stock Exchange rivaled the New York Stock Exchange in 1930. In the beginning of 1930 John C. Hull , first Securities Director of Massachusetts (1930–1936), helped to mitigate the consequences of the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. He was helpful in the passing of
9024-671: The United States and the United Kingdom fought the War of 1812 , New England Federalists organized the Hartford Convention in the winter of 1814 to discuss the region's grievances concerning the war, and to propose changes to the United States Constitution to protect the region's interests and maintain its political power. Radical delegates within the convention proposed the region's secession from
9165-418: The United States' epicenter for advanced manufacturing, drawing skilled workers from all over the world. The rapid growth of textile manufacturing in New England between 1815 and 1860 caused a shortage of workers. Recruiters were hired by mill agents to bring young women and children from the countryside to work in the factories. Between 1830 and 1860, thousands of farm girls moved from rural areas where there
9306-515: The United States, and in many rural areas, as well. One of the first groups of singers formed outside the traditional Southern home region of Sacred Harp singing was in the Chicago area. The first Illinois convention was held in 1985, with enthusiastic and strongly proactive support by prominent Southern traditional singers. The Midwest Convention is now acknowledged to be one of the major American conventions, attracting hundreds of singers from all over
9447-560: The United States, but they were outnumbered by moderates who opposed the idea. Politically, the region often disagreed with the rest of the country. Massachusetts and Connecticut were among the last refuges of the Federalist Party , and New England became the strongest bastion of the new Whig Party when the Second Party System began in the 1830s. The Whigs were usually dominant throughout New England, except in
9588-743: The appointment of the governors. After the Glorious Revolution , in 1689, Bostonians overthrew the royal governor, Sir Edmund Andros . During a popular and bloodless uprising , they seized dominion officials and adherents to the Church of England . These tensions eventually culminated in the American Revolution , boiling over with the outbreak of the War of American Independence in 1775. The first battles of which were fought in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts , leading to
9729-503: The assignment of the melody to the tenors, harmonic structure emphasizing fourths and fifths, and the distinction between the ordinary four-part hymn ("plain tune"), the anthem, and the fuguing tune. Several composers of this school, including Joseph Stephenson and Aaron Williams , are represented in the 1991 Edition of The Sacred Harp . For further information on the English roots of Sacred Harp music, see West gallery music . Around
9870-399: The auspices of the Southern Musical Convention . The first two new editions simply added appendices of new songs to the back of the book. The 1869 revision was more extensive, removing some of the less popular songs and adding new ones in their places. From the original 262 pages, the book was expanded by 1869 to 477. This edition was reprinted and continued in use for several decades. Around
10011-409: The best sound. The often intense sonic experience of standing in the center of the square is considered one of the benefits of leading, and sometimes a guest will be invited as a courtesy to stand next to the leader during a song. The music itself is also meant to be participatory. Most forms of choral composition place the melody on the top (treble) line, where it can be best heard by an audience, with
10152-628: The bloodiest of which was the Pequot War in 1637 which resulted in the Mystic massacre . On May 19, 1643, the colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, New Haven , and Connecticut joined in a loose compact called the New England Confederation (officially "The United Colonies of New England"). The confederation was designed largely to coordinate mutual defense, and it gained some importance during King Philip's War which pitted
10293-489: The border between Vermont and New York, is the largest lake in the region, followed by Moosehead Lake in Maine and Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. The climate of New England varies greatly across its 500 miles (800 km) span from northern Maine to southern Connecticut: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and western Massachusetts have a humid continental climate (Dfb in Köppen climate classification ). In this region
10434-491: The canon. The new compositions are prepared in traditional styles, and could be considered a kind of tribute to the older material. New songs have been incorporated into editions of The Sacred Harp throughout the 20th century. Two other books are currently used by Sacred Harp singers. A few singers in north Georgia employ the "White book", an expanded version of the 1869 B. F. White edition edited by J. L. White . African-American Sacred Harp singers, although primarily users of
10575-451: The charters of the colonies, including the appointment of royal governors to nearly all of them. There was an uneasy tension among the royal governors, their officers, and the elected governing bodies of the colonies. The governors wanted unlimited authority, and the different layers of locally elected officials would often resist them. In most cases, the local town governments continued operating as self-governing bodies, just as they had before
10716-585: The cities prior to the Civil War, and from the rural areas of the Northeast and Midwest in the following decades. However, they retained a haven in the rural South, which remained a fertile territory for the creation of new shapenote publications. Sacred Harp singing came into being with the 1844 publication of Benjamin Franklin White and Elisha J. King 's The Sacred Harp . It was this book, now distributed in several different versions, that came to be
10857-474: The coast, which enabled numerous cities to take advantage of water power along the many rivers, such as the Connecticut River , which bisects the region from north to south. Each state is generally subdivided into small municipalities known as towns , many of which are governed by town meetings . Unincorporated areas are practically nonexistent outside of Maine, and village-style governments common in other areas are limited to Vermont and Connecticut. New England
10998-518: The colonists and their Indian allies against a widespread Indian uprising from June 1675 through April 1678, resulting in killings and massacres on both sides. In the aftermath of settler-Native conflicts, hundreds of captive Indians were sold into slavery . Up until 1700, Native Americans comprised a majority of the non-white labor force in colonial New England. During the next 74 years, there were six colonial wars that took place primarily between New England and New France , during which New England
11139-430: The diatonic intervals with a given interval number always occur in two sizes, which differ by one semitone. For example, six of the fifths span seven semitones. The other one spans six semitones. Four of the thirds span three semitones, the others four. If one of the two versions is a perfect interval, the other is called either diminished (i.e. narrowed by one semitone) or augmented (i.e. widened by one semitone). Otherwise,
11280-457: The diatonic scale), or simply interval . The quality of a compound interval is the quality of the simple interval on which it is based. Some other qualifiers like neutral , subminor , and supermajor are used for non-diatonic intervals . Perfect intervals are so-called because they were traditionally considered perfectly consonant, although in Western classical music the perfect fourth
11421-574: The early 1930s in response to the Great Depression. Harvard University professors Felix Frankfurter , Benjamin V. Cohen , and James M. Landis drafted the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. was the first chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission , and he was from Boston. The Democrats appealed to factory workers and especially Catholics, pulling them into
11562-466: The fields of education, medicine, medical research, high-technology, finance, and tourism. Some industrial areas were slow in adjusting to the new service economy. In 2000, New England had two of the ten poorest cities in the U.S. (by percentage living below the poverty line): the state capitals of Providence, Rhode Island and Hartford, Connecticut . They were no longer in the bottom ten by 2010; Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire remain among
11703-420: The first part of the nineteenth century, a whole series of shape note tunebooks appeared, many of which were widely distributed. As the population spread west and south, the tradition of shape note singing expanded geographically. Composition flourished, with the new music often drawing on the tradition of folk song for tunes and inspiration. Probably the most successful shape note book prior to The Sacred Harp
11844-500: The flight of the region's industrial base. The textile mills one by one went out of business from the 1920s to the 1970s. For example, the Crompton Company went bankrupt in 1984 after 178 years in business, costing the jobs of 2,450 workers in five states. The major reasons were cheap imports, the strong dollar, declining exports, and a failure to diversify. The shoe industry subsequently left the region as well. What remains
11985-402: The four shapes is connected to a particular syllable, fa , sol , la , or mi , and these syllables are employed in singing the notes, just as in the more familiar system that uses do , re , mi , etc. (see solfege ). The four-shape system is able to cover the full musical scale because each syllable-shape combination other than mi is assigned to two distinct notes of the scale. For example,
12126-407: The group then sings the verses of the song with their printed words. Sacred Harp groups always sing a cappella , that is to say, without accompanying instruments. The singers arrange themselves in a hollow square, with rows of chairs or pews on each side assigned to each of the four parts: treble, alto , tenor , and bass . The treble and tenor sections are usually mixed, with men and women singing
12267-556: The harbor. Britain responded with a series of punitive laws stripping Massachusetts of self-government which the colonists called the " Intolerable Acts ". These confrontations led to the first battles of the American Revolutionary War in 1775 and the expulsion of the British authorities from the region in spring 1776. The region played a prominent role in the movement to abolish slavery in the United States, and it
12408-556: The history of permanent European colonization in New England. In 1616, English explorer John Smith named the region "New England". The name was officially sanctioned on November 3, 1620, when the charter of the Virginia Company of Plymouth was replaced by a royal charter for the Plymouth Council for New England , a joint-stock company established to colonize and govern the region. The Pilgrims wrote and signed
12549-413: The human ear. In physical terms, an interval is the ratio between two sonic frequencies. For example, any two notes an octave apart have a frequency ratio of 2:1. This means that successive increments of pitch by the same interval result in an exponential increase of frequency, even though the human ear perceives this as a linear increase in pitch. For this reason, intervals are often measured in cents ,
12690-403: The importance in Sacred Harp of maintaining the independence of each vocal part. Marini (2003) traces the earliest roots of Sacred Harp to the "country parish music" of early 18th century England. This form of rural church music evolved a number of the distinctive traits that were passed on from tradition to tradition, until they ultimately became part of Sacred Harp singing. These traits included
12831-560: The inhabitants of the rural South, had changed in important ways. Notably, gospel music – syncopated and chromatic, often with piano accompaniment – had become popular, along with a number of church hymns of the "mainstream" variety, such as "Rock of Ages". Seven-shape notation systems had appeared and won adherents away from the older four-shape system (see shape note for details). As time passed, Sacred Harp singers doubtless became aware that what they were singing had become quite distinct from contemporary tastes. The natural path to take—and
12972-479: The interval E–E, a perfect unison, is also called a prime (meaning "1"), even though there is no difference between the endpoints. Continuing, the interval E–F ♯ is a second, but F ♯ is only one staff position, or diatonic-scale degree, above E. Similarly, E—G ♯ is a third, but G ♯ is only two staff positions above E, and so on. As a consequence, joining two intervals always yields an interval number one less than their sum. For instance,
13113-462: The interval is spelled . The importance of spelling stems from the historical practice of differentiating the frequency ratios of enharmonic intervals such as G–G ♯ and G–A ♭ . The size of an interval (also known as its width or height) can be represented using two alternative and equivalently valid methods, each appropriate to a different context: frequency ratios or cents. The size of an interval between two notes may be measured by
13254-437: The interval number. The indications M and P are often omitted. The octave is P8, and a unison is usually referred to simply as "a unison" but can be labeled P1. The tritone , an augmented fourth or diminished fifth is often TT . The interval qualities may be also abbreviated with perf , min , maj , dim , aug . Examples: A simple interval (i.e., an interval smaller than or equal to an octave) may be inverted by raising
13395-407: The interval of the third in favor of fourths and fifths . In their melodies, the songs often use the pentatonic scale or similar "gapped" (fewer than seven-note) scales. In their musical form , Sacred Harp songs fall into three basic types. Many are ordinary hymn tunes , mostly composed in four-bar phrases and sung in multiple verses. Fuguing tunes contain a prominent passage about 1/3 of
13536-399: The intervals B–D ♯ (spanning 4 semitones) and B–D ♭ (spanning 2 semitones) are thirds, like the corresponding natural interval B—D (3 semitones). Notice that interval numbers represent an inclusive count of encompassed staff positions or note names, not the difference between the endpoints. In other words, one starts counting the lower pitch as one, not zero. For that reason,
13677-417: The intervals B—D and D—F ♯ are thirds, but joined together they form a fifth (B—F ♯ ), not a sixth. Similarly, a stack of three thirds, such as B—D, D—F ♯ , and F ♯ —A, is a seventh (B-A), not a ninth. This scheme applies to intervals up to an octave (12 semitones). For larger intervals, see § Compound intervals below. The name of any interval is further qualified using
13818-484: The larger version is called major, the smaller one minor. For instance, since a 7-semitone fifth is a perfect interval ( P5 ), the 6-semitone fifth is called "diminished fifth" ( d5 ). Conversely, since neither kind of third is perfect, the larger one is called "major third" ( M3 ), the smaller one "minor third" ( m3 ). Within a diatonic scale, unisons and octaves are always qualified as perfect, fourths as either perfect or augmented, fifths as perfect or diminished, and all
13959-610: The largest city in New Hampshire; and Providence, Rhode Island , the capital of and largest city in Rhode Island. In 1620, the Pilgrims established Plymouth Colony , the second successful settlement in British America after the Jamestown Settlement in Virginia , founded in 1607. Ten years later, Puritans established Massachusetts Bay Colony north of Plymouth Colony. Over the next 126 years, people in
14100-427: The lower pitch an octave or lowering the upper pitch an octave. For example, the fourth from a lower C to a higher F may be inverted to make a fifth, from a lower F to a higher C. There are two rules to determine the number and quality of the inversion of any simple interval: For example, the interval from C to the E ♭ above it is a minor third. By the two rules just given, the interval from E ♭ to
14241-510: The mid-18th century, the forms and styles of English country parish music were introduced to America, notably in a new tunebook called Urania , published 1764 by the singing master James Lyon . This stimulus soon led to the development of a robust native school of composition, signaled by the 1770 publication of William Billings 's The New England Psalm Singer , and then by a great number of new compositions by Billings and those who followed in his path. The work of these composers, sometimes called
14382-691: The more Democratic Maine and New Hampshire. New England was key to the Industrial Revolution in the United States. The Blackstone Valley running through Massachusetts and Rhode Island has been called the birthplace of America's industrial revolution. In 1787, the first cotton mill in America was founded in the North Shore seaport of Beverly, Massachusetts as the Beverly Cotton Manufactory . The Manufactory
14523-400: The most widely used conventional names for the intervals between the notes of a chromatic scale . A perfect unison (also known as perfect prime) is an interval formed by two identical notes. Its size is zero cents . A semitone is any interval between two adjacent notes in a chromatic scale, a whole tone is an interval spanning two semitones (for example, a major second ), and a tritone
14664-444: The northeast and Quebec to the north. The Gulf of Maine and Atlantic Ocean are to the east and southeast, and Long Island Sound is to the southwest. Boston is New England's largest city and the capital of Massachusetts. Greater Boston is the largest metropolitan area, with nearly a third of New England's population; this area includes Worcester, Massachusetts , the second-largest city in New England; Manchester, New Hampshire ,
14805-407: The notes an octave apart. There is no single leader or conductor; rather, the participants take turns in leading. The leader for a particular round selects a song from the book, and "calls" it by its page number. Leading is done in an open-palm style, standing in the middle of the square facing the tenors. The pitch at which the music is sung is relative; there is no instrument to give the singers
14946-479: The number, nor the quality of an interval can be determined by counting semitones alone. As explained above, the number of staff positions must be taken into account as well. For example, as shown in the table below, there are six semitones between C and F ♯ , C and G ♭ , and C ♭ and E ♯ , but Intervals are often abbreviated with a P for perfect, m for minor , M for major , d for diminished , A for augmented , followed by
15087-444: The one ultimately taken—would be to assert the archaic character of Sacred Harp as an outright virtue. In this view, Sacred Harp should be treasured as a time-tested musical tradition, standing above current trends of fashion. The difficulty with adopting traditionalism as a guiding doctrine was that different singers had different opinions about just what form the stable, traditionalized version of Sacred Harp would take. The first move
15228-449: The opposite quality with respect to their inversion. The inversion of a major interval is a minor interval, the inversion of an augmented interval is a diminished interval. As shown in the table, a diatonic scale defines seven intervals for each interval number, each starting from a different note (seven unisons, seven seconds, etc.). The intervals formed by the notes of a diatonic scale are called diatonic. Except for unisons and octaves,
15369-444: The other intervals (seconds, thirds, sixths, sevenths) as major or minor. Augmented intervals are wider by one semitone than perfect or major intervals, while having the same interval number (i.e., encompassing the same number of staff positions): they are wider by a chromatic semitone . Diminished intervals, on the other hand, are narrower by one semitone than perfect or minor intervals of the same interval number: they are narrower by
15510-487: The other parts written so as not to obscure the melody. In contrast, Sacred Harp composers have aimed to make each musical part singable and interesting in its own right, thus giving every singer in the group an absorbing task. For this reason, "bringing out the melody" is not a high priority in Sacred Harp composition, and indeed it is customary to assign the melody not to the trebles but to the tenors. Fuguing tunes, in which each section gets its moment to shine, also illustrate
15651-457: The period 1770 to 1820 from roots in New England , with a significant, related development under the influence of "revival" services around the 1840s. This music was included in, and became profoundly associated with, books using the shape note style of notation popular in America in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Sacred Harp music is performed a cappella (voice only, without instruments) and originated as Protestant music . The name of
15792-459: The positions of B and D. The table and the figure above show intervals with numbers ranging from 1 (e.g., P1 ) to 8 (e.g., d8 ). Intervals with larger numbers are called compound intervals . There is a one-to-one correspondence between staff positions and diatonic-scale degrees (the notes of diatonic scale ). This means that interval numbers can also be determined by counting diatonic scale degrees, rather than staff positions, provided that
15933-437: The quality of the interval, and third ( 3 ) indicates its number. The number of an interval is the number of letter names or staff positions (lines and spaces) it encompasses, including the positions of both notes forming the interval. For instance, the interval B—D is a third (denoted m3 ) because the notes from B to the D above it encompass three letter names (B, C, D) and occupy three consecutive staff positions, including
16074-417: The reference by Buell Cobb given below) believe that the new alto parts imposed an esthetic cost by filling in the former stark open harmonies of the three-part songs. Wallace McKenzie argues to the contrary, basing his view on a systematic study of representative songs. In any event, there is little support today for abandoning the added alto parts, since most singers give a high priority to giving every side of
16215-528: The region fought in four French and Indian Wars until the English colonists and their Iroquois allies defeated the French and their Algonquian allies. In the late 18th century, political leaders from the New England colonies initiated resistance to Britain's taxes without the consent of the colonists . Residents of Rhode Island captured and burned a British ship which was enforcing unpopular trade restrictions, and residents of Boston threw British tea into
16356-628: The rest of New England. New England contains forested ecosystems with a variety of terrestrial vertebrates. Land-use patterns and land disturbance, such as the dramatic increase in land clearing for agriculture in the mid eighteenth century to nineteenth century, greatly altered the ecosystem and resulted in extinctions, local extirpations , and recolonizations. According to an analysis of USDA Forest Service data, tree species diversity increases from north to south at about two to three species per degree in latitude. In addition, taller trees are associated with higher tree species diversity, and tree height
16497-480: The shape note tradition with the largest number of participants. B. F. White (1800–1879) was originally from Union County, South Carolina , but since 1842 had been living in Harris County, Georgia . He prepared The Sacred Harp in collaboration with a younger man, E. J. King, ( c. 1821 –44), who was from Talbot County, Georgia . Together they compiled, transcribed, and composed tunes, and published
16638-436: The size of intervals in different tuning systems, see § Size of intervals used in different tuning systems . The standard system for comparing interval sizes is with cents . The cent is a logarithmic unit of measurement. If frequency is expressed in a logarithmic scale , and along that scale the distance between a given frequency and its double (also called octave ) is divided into 1200 equal parts, each of these parts
16779-588: The spring of 2016. Sacred Harp singing has happened on a monthly basis for years in Toronto . New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States : Connecticut , Maine , Massachusetts , New Hampshire , Rhode Island , and Vermont . It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick to
16920-453: The square its own part to sing. It was thus that the traditionalism debate split the Sacred Harp community, and there seems little prospect that it will ever reunite under a single book. However, there have been no further splits. Both the Denson and the Cooper groups adopted traditionalist views for the particular form of Sacred Harp they favored, and these forms have now been stable for about
17061-406: The states in the region had taken steps towards the abolition of slavery, with Vermont and Massachusetts introducing total abolition in 1777 and 1783, respectively. The nickname "Yankeeland" was sometimes used to denote the New England area, especially among Southerners and the British. Vermont was admitted to statehood in 1791 after settling a dispute with New York. The territory of Maine had been
17202-414: The ten wealthiest states in the United States in terms of median household income and per capita income. The states of New England have a combined area, including water surfaces, of 71,988 square miles (186,447 km ), making the region slightly larger than the state of Washington and slightly smaller than Great Britain . Maine alone constitutes nearly one-half of the total area of New England, yet
17343-477: The terms perfect ( P ), major ( M ), minor ( m ), augmented ( A ), and diminished ( d ). This is called its interval quality (or modifier ). It is possible to have doubly diminished and doubly augmented intervals, but these are quite rare, as they occur only in chromatic contexts. The combination of number (or generic interval) and quality (or modifier) is called the specific interval , diatonic interval (sometimes used only for intervals appearing in
17484-486: The tradition comes from the title of the shape-note book from which the music is sung, The Sacred Harp . This book exists today in various editions, discussed below. In shape-note music, notes are printed in special shapes that help the reader identify them on the musical scale . There are two prevalent systems, one using four shapes, and one using seven. In the four-shape system used in The Sacred Harp , each of
17625-414: The tradition. First, the seating arrangement (four parts in a square, facing each other) is clearly intended for the singers, not for external listeners. Non-singers are always welcome to attend a singing, but typically they sit among the singers in the back rows of the tenor section, rather than in a designated separate audience location. The leader, being equidistant from all sections, in principle hears
17766-434: The turn of the 20th century, Sacred Harp singing entered a period of conflict over the issue of traditionalism. The conflict ultimately split the community. B. F. White had died in 1879 before completing a fourth revision of his book; thus the version that Sacred Harp participants were singing from was by the turn of the century over three decades old. During this time, the musical tastes of Sacred Harp's traditional adherents,
17907-471: The two notes that form the interval are drawn from a diatonic scale. Namely, B—D is a third because in any diatonic scale that contains B and D, the sequence from B to D includes three notes. For instance, in the B- natural minor diatonic scale, the three notes are B–C ♯ –D. This is not true for all kinds of scales. For instance, in a chromatic scale , there are four notes from B to D: B–C–C ♯ –D. This
18048-464: The way through in which each of the four choral parts enters in succession, in a way resembling a fugue . Anthems are longer songs, less regular in form, that are sung through just once rather than in multiple verses. Sacred Harp singing normally occurs not in church services, but in special gatherings or "singings" arranged for the purpose. Singings can be local, regional, statewide, or national. Small singings are often held in homes, with perhaps only
18189-452: The winters are long and cold, and heavy snow is common (most locations receive 60–120 inches (150–300 cm) of snow annually in this region). The summer's months are moderately warm, though summer is rather short and rainfall is spread through the year. In central and eastern Massachusetts, northern Rhode Island, and northern Connecticut, the same humid continental prevails (Dfa), though summers are warm to hot, winters are shorter, and there
18330-402: The wishes of this community of singers. The James edition was further revised in 1936 by a committee under the leadership of the brothers Seaborn and Thomas Denson , both influential singing school teachers. Both died shortly before the project was complete, and the remaining work was overseen by Paine Denson, son of Thomas. This book was entitled Original Sacred Harp, Denson Revision , and
18471-521: Was William Walker 's Southern Harmony , published in 1835 and still in use today. Even as they flourished and spread, shape notes and the kind of participatory music which they served came under attack. The critics were from the urban-based "better music" movement, spearheaded by Lowell Mason , which advocated a more "scientific" style of sacred music, more closely based on the harmonic styles of contemporaneous European music. The new style gradually prevailed. Shape notes and their music disappeared from
18612-401: Was a success, being widely adopted in many areas of the South, such as Florida, southern Alabama, and Texas, where it has continued as the predominant Sacred Harp book to this day. The "Cooper book", as it is now often called, was revised by Cooper himself in 1907 and 1909. His son-in-law published the book in 1927, including an appendix compiled by revision committee. The Sacred Harp Book Company
18753-851: Was allied with the Iroquois Confederacy and New France was allied with the Wabanaki Confederacy . Mainland Nova Scotia came under the control of New England after the Siege of Port Royal (1710) , but both New Brunswick and most of Maine remained contested territory between New England and New France. The British eventually defeated the French in 1763, opening the Connecticut River Valley for British settlement into western New Hampshire and Vermont. The New England Colonies were settled primarily by farmers who became relatively self-sufficient. Later, New England's economy began to focus on crafts and trade, aided by
18894-545: Was also considered the largest cotton mill of its time. Technological developments and achievements from the Manufactory led to the development of more advanced cotton mills, including Slater Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island . Towns such as Lawrence, Massachusetts , Lowell, Massachusetts , Woonsocket, Rhode Island , and Lewiston, Maine became centers of the textile industry following the innovations at Slater Mill and
19035-427: Was formed in 1949, and subsequent revision has been supervised by editorial committees under its instruction. New editions were issued in 1950, 1960, 1992, 2000, 2006 and 2012. In the original core geographic area of Sacred Harp singing, northern Alabama and Georgia, the singers did not in general take to the Cooper book, as they felt it deviated too far from the original tradition. Obtaining a new book for these singers
19176-433: Was itself revised 1960, 1967, and 1971; a more thorough revision and remodeling of this book, overseen by Hugh McGraw , is known simply as the "1991 Edition", though some singers still call it the "Denson book". Even the highly traditionalist James and Denson books followed Cooper in adding alto parts to most of the old three-part songs (these alto parts led to an unsuccessful lawsuit by Cooper). Some people (see for instance
19317-403: Was made by W. M. Cooper , of Dothan, Alabama , a leading Sacred Harp teacher in his own region, but not part of the inner circle of B. F. White's old colleagues and descendants. In 1902 Cooper prepared a revision of The Sacred Harp that, while retaining most of the old songs, also added new tunes that reflected more contemporary music styles. Cooper made other changes, too: The Cooper revision
19458-454: Was made more difficult by the fact that B. F. White's son James L. White , who would have been the natural choice to prepare a new edition, was a non-traditionalist. His "fifth edition" (1909) won little support among singers, while his "fourth edition with supplement" (1911) enjoyed some success in a few areas. Ultimately, a committee headed by Joseph Stephen James produced an edition entitled Original Sacred Harp (1911) that largely satisfied
19599-486: Was no paid employment to work in the nearby mills, such as the Lowell Mill Girls . As the textile industry grew, immigration also grew. By the 1850s, immigrants began working in the mills, especially French Canadians and Irish . New England as a whole was the most industrialized part of the United States. By 1850, the region accounted for well over a quarter of all manufacturing value in the country and over
19740-502: Was sometimes regarded as a less than perfect consonance, when its function was contrapuntal . Conversely, minor, major, augmented, or diminished intervals are typically considered less consonant, and were traditionally classified as mediocre consonances, imperfect consonances, or near-dissonances. Within a diatonic scale all unisons ( P1 ) and octaves ( P8 ) are perfect. Most fourths and fifths are also perfect ( P4 and P5 ), with five and seven semitones respectively. One occurrence of
19881-506: Was the first region of the U.S. transformed by the Industrial Revolution , initially centered on the Blackstone and Merrimack river valleys. The physical geography of New England is diverse. Southeastern New England is covered by a narrow coastal plain , while the western and northern regions are dominated by the rolling hills and worn-down peaks of the northern end of the Appalachian Mountains . The Atlantic fall line lies close to
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