The Song Planner

Lined-Out Hymnody

tagStarted c. 1644Peak 18th–19th centuries in general use; documented survivals through the presentLast big hit still activeFrom Appalachia, United States

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Gospel / Christian / Spiritual → Sacred Harp / Shape-Note / A Cappella

Congregational singing in which a leader chants each line of a hymn and the congregation answers, unaccompanied, with a much slower and more ornamented version of the tune — no notation, no harmony parts, just heterophonic unison passed down orally. Surviving strongholds include the Old Regular Baptists of Appalachian Kentucky, the African American "Dr. Watts" hymn tradition, and Gaelic psalm precenting in Scotland's Outer Hebrides. It is regarded as the oldest continuously practiced form of Anglo-American sacred music, and its slow, gapped, individually ornamented delivery makes every congregation's version unique.

History

Lining out was recommended by the Westminster Assembly in 1644 for congregations without books or literacy and became standard across British and colonial American Protestantism, persisting after most churches adopted notated part-singing; ethnomusicologist Jeff Todd Titon's field recordings of the Indian Bottom Association at Defeated Creek Church, Kentucky (1992–1993) became Smithsonian Folkways' Songs of the Old Regular Baptists volumes, the first of which entered the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2014; Dr. C.J. Johnson's Savoy "Old Time Song Service" albums preserved the Black Dr. Watts practice, and Calum Martin's Salm recordings (Back Free Church, Isle of Lewis, 2003) documented the Gaelic branch; all three communities still line hymns in worship today.

Defining artists

Essential listening

  • Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah(1997) — Indian Bottom Association of Old Regular BaptistsSpotifyYouTube
  • I Am a Poor Pilgrim of Sorrow(1997) — Indian Bottom Association of Old Regular BaptistsSpotifyYouTube
  • Salvation O the Name I Love(1997) — Indian Bottom Association of Old Regular BaptistsSpotifyYouTube
  • The Day Is Past and Gone(1997) — Indian Bottom Association of Old Regular BaptistsSpotifyYouTube
  • Amazing Grace — Indian Bottom Association of Old Regular BaptistsSpotifyYouTube
  • A Charge to Keep I Have(1982) — Dr. C.J. JohnsonSpotifyYouTube
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  • Father I Stretch My Hand to Thee(1982) — Dr. C.J. JohnsonSpotifyYouTube
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Sources

  • Smithsonian Folkways, "Songs of the Old Regular Baptists" Vols. 1–2 (SFW 40106, rec. Jeff Todd Titon 1992–1993), https://folkways.si.edu/
  • Library of Congress National Recording Registry essay, "Old Regular Baptists: Lined-Out Hymnody from Southeastern Kentucky" (inducted 2014), https://www.loc.gov/
  • William T. Dargan, "Lining Out the Word: Dr. Watts Hymn Singing in the Music of Black Americans", University of California Press, 2006
  • "Salm: Gaelic Psalms from the Hebrides of Scotland" Vols. 1–2, liner notes by Calum Martin, 2003