In past articles Cyberfolk has explored internet resources
pertaining to various musical instruments - guitars, banjos,
harmonicas, and the like. This edition is dedicated to an
instrument that most of all of us already have lying around the
house - and i t's probably not even up in the attic collecting
dust. That instrument is the unaccompanied voice! You name it,
a-cappella, shape note, or barbershop music, you'll find it on the
net.
Fans of a-cappella music can find recordings, songbooks,
reviews, concert listings, audio samples, and links to lots
of artist's web pages at Primarily A-Cappella. Located at
http://www.singers.com/.
Before you explore further, though, you should learn more about the
definition, history, and most importantly, the spelling of
a-cappella! Become enlightened at
http://www.singers.com/a-cappella.html.
CASA is the Contemporary A Cappella Society, a non-profit
organization dedicated to fostering and promoting a-cappella of all
styles. Besides listing professional groups and recordings, this
site also contains information about college and high school gr
oups. If you want to join an a-cappella group, attend a workshop,
make a recording or listen to "A Cappella Radio International"
don't miss this site, http://www.casa.org/.
Another form of unaccompanied singing is sacred harp or shape note
singing, an old tradition of community singing with a history that
goes back to the last century. Never heard of it? Learn about it
at these two excellent sites: The FASOLA home page at
http://medinfo.labmed.umn.edu/Docs/.www/fasola_homepage.html, and a
site called simply Sacred Harp Singing at
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/harp.html
For Barbershop resources on the net (and I don't mean haircuts)
check out The Station at
http://webpages.marshall.edu/~bennett7/thestation/, the SPEBSQSA
Harmony Hall Page at http://www.spebsqsa.org/ , harmonize.com, and
the Sweet Adelines page at http://www.SweetAdelineIntl.org/.
The links discussed in this article can be located through
http://www.cl.ais.net/chrismac/cyberfolk/vocal.html
If you have any favorite sites or topics you'd like to see
mentioned in Cyberfolk, please let us know. Write to me care of
Common Times, or email me at chrismac@ais.net. See you in
Cyberspace. Sho-be-do-wah.