During the Colonial and Antebellum periods Charlotte's community music scene was focused mainly on its churches.  First Presbyterian Church on West Trade St was originally dedicated in 1823 as Charlotte's first town church and served all denominations.  Before this time church services were held in the courthouse at the Square, which would have accommodated all manner of community gatherings.   

Early Music In Charlotte

It is hard to imagine a world where music of every genre and every level of sophistication is not just a click away, yet this was a reality for our forebears, who relied heavily on their own talents for musical entertainment.  As the American frontier pushed on into new territory, settlers brought with them a wide range of musical traditions, but they had little or no access to the cultivated cosmopolitan music of Europe and no suitable performance space to present it.   

For many the church with its devotional singing was the focal point of community music, and this would certainly have been true for Colonial and Antebellum Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, whose populations identified themselves strongly with their religion.  Singing psalms and hymns was not limited to church buildings, however, and in fact Charlotte town did not even begin building a church until 1818[1].  Until the town church was dedicated in 1823 services were held in the town’s courthouse at the square. 

The liveliest expressions of devotional songs were evident at revival services and camp gatherings held in open-air venues and temporary structures.  These continued to be a feature of Charlotte’s cultural landscape well into the twentieth century and most feature massive choral groups drawn from all denominations.[2]

After 1775 Charlotte and Mecklenburg County had another cause for community celebration with the annual marking of the “Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence”.  This public display called on local musical talent to provide suitable concerts and helped to prime the pump for Charlotte’s Music Festivals starting in the late nineteenth century.[3]

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries many singing teachers used shape notes to teach their choral groups new songs.  This book was written by William Walker of Spartanburg.

William Walker, or “Singing Billy” as he was known in his native town of Spartanburg South Carolina, published “The Southern Harmony, and Musical Companion” in 1835 and it quickly became the most popular southern tune book of the 19^th century.  In 1866 he published a new tune book, “Christian Harmony”, in which he introduced three additional shapes to improve the technique of shape note singing.[1]

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Harmony

Singing Schools and Shape Music

An eighteenth century movement to improve congregational singing resulted in the formation of singing schools, which began in New England and were quickly adopted throughout the United States.[1]  These schools were led by singing masters and taught people how to read music and sing in parts.  Their success resulted in the publication of pedagogical songbooks and the growth of many community choirs and choral societies.[2]  As part of the singing school movement shape note notation was devised as a way to facilitate and improve congregational singing using four distinct note head shapes to aid in sight-reading.  In the post Civil War period Charlotte maintained a succession of many such groups and their lineage can be felt to this day.[3]

The music for this popular song, Hallelujah C.M., was written by South Carolinian William Walker, who set a Weslyan hymn to his folk inspired tune

Hallelujah C.M.

Hear this tune played on a bowed dulcimer

Hear this tune sung in two parts