What is a “tunebooklet”?

I’ve been casually collecting shape-note tunebooks because I’m fascinated by the subject. In order to understand the subject I’ve found it necessary to articulate working definitions for what I’m trying to study. Definitions help clarify what materials belong within a given category, but they also reveal the blurry edges and the overlaps of those categories. What constitutes a “tunebook” is not as clear as one might expect.

This uncertainty is a textbook case of what might be called “vernacular certainty, definitional ambiguity.” A term like “tunebook” is readily understood in conversation—everyone seems to know what one is—until someone asks for a precise definition. Then interpretations diverge, debates arise, and what once seemed obvious becomes surprisingly elusive. Singers, historians, and enthusiasts can recognize a tunebook at a glance, but when asked to define what makes it distinct from a “songbook” or “hymnal,” opinions vary. My goal here is not to impose rigid boundaries but to sketch a useful framework—acknowledging that real-world categories are always a little messier than we might wish.

While cataloging and reflecting on these materials, I found myself wanting a term for publications that clearly draw on the tunebook tradition but don’t quite qualify as tunebooks in the traditional sense. Some of these are artistic or commemorative efforts, tributes to a composer or region, or themed collections tied to a specific event. Others are compact and informal, perhaps created for a one-time gathering or for personal expression. These works often fall outside existing genre labels, yet they deserve recognition as meaningful extensions of the shape-note tradition.

The term “tunebooklet” is my attempt to name these in-between creations. More precisely, I am concerned here with what might be called a shape-note tunebooklet—an object specifically rooted in the shape-note tradition of music notation and repertoire. My bibliographical and lexicographical efforts are confined to this domain: publications that engage directly with shape-note music, whether through four-shape, seven-shape, or other recognized notational systems associated with this historical and living tradition. Though the coinage is new, the impulse behind such works is not. From 19th-century composer tributes to homemade booklets for local singings, smaller-scale compilations have long accompanied the broader tunebook tradition—quietly filling gaps, honoring people or places, and exploring creative possibilities.

Tunebooklets may be sung from, studied, or simply cherished, but their purpose is often more limited or symbolic than a tunebook intended for regular use. They tend to serve as commemorations, experiments, or snapshots—documents of something too specific, too ephemeral, or too personal to be filled out into a “full tunebook”.

I don’t presume this term will enter widespread use, but I offer it as a tool—something that might be helpful for others who, like me, are trying to make sense of the spectrum of shape-note publications. Whether or not the word catches on, I hope it encourages thoughtful engagement with the materials that orbit our traditions and continue to shape them.

So, the next step: make a definition for my new coinage.

“Shape-Note Tunebooklet,” a definition

A shape-note tunebooklet is a small-form publication rooted in the shape-note tradition—whether in four- or seven-shape notation systems—that contains a limited number of tunes and is typically compiled for special, often commemorative, purposes. Unlike full tunebooks, tunebooklets are not necessarily intended for widespread or regular use. They may include annotations, supplemental lyrics, or visual elements, and often reflect a localized, experimental, or personal engagement with the tradition.

1. Format & Length
   • Generally less than 150 pages, making it more compact than a standard tunebook.
   • May be physically smaller or more ephemeral in nature, sometimes resembling a pamphlet rather than a full book.
2. Purpose & Context
   • Often created as an art book, festschrift, commemorative collection, or special project, rather than a practical resource for ongoing communal singing.
   • May serve as a supplement to existing tunebooks rather than standing alone as a primary singing resource.
3. Content
   • Features shape-note tunes but may lack the pedagogical framework of a tunebook, such as detailed rudiments of music or instructional content.
   • May include experimental or interpretive elements, distinguishing it from tunebooks rooted in the established singing tradition.
4. Function
   • Not necessarily intended for commercial trade or widespread circulation in the way tunebooks traditionally are.
   • May be produced in limited runs for specific events, communities, or artistic purposes.

While a shape-note tunebooklet may not rise to the level of a full tunebook, it nonetheless participates meaningfully in the broader shape-note tradition—often serving as a creative, commemorative, or supplementary contribution. Though many tunebooklets are printed booklets, the definition need not be limited to physical form. There is room within this category for digital tunebooklets, including PDFs or other online formats. My present definition focuses on the print lineage and may not fully capture this digital dimension, but future refinements may help extend the framework accordingly.

Examples of tunebooklets:

1991 – A Proposed Selection of Music 1991 Revision of The Sacred Harp
Sacred Harp Publishing Company, Inc., Bremen, GA
This tunebooklet is composed of the new shape-note tunes being added to the “1991 Edition” of the Sacred Harp. It allowed those who already owned a previous edition to get the new tunes without buying a whole new book.

1999 – Keystone Harmony
Compiled by Gabriel Kastelle and Doron A Henkin
This 36 page tunebooklet was published for the inaugural session of the Keystone Convention held at the Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting in Philadelphia. The back cover notes that the cover art was completed by Akiko Takahashi.

The introduction to Keystone Harmony reads:

The Philadelphia Area Sacred Harp Singers and the compilers of this work, Gabriel Kastelle and Doron Henkin are delighted to share this great American music with you. We are proud to present these stirring texts, these fine old tunes from diverse tunebooks, popular and scarce, and these fine new tunes from tunesmiths from Massachusetts to Georgia and across the Alleghenies to the Midwest. The compilers came to this project with a love of traditional “Sacred Harp” singing and a special love of the tunes that travelled south and west during the early years of the nineteenth century though the Keystone State by way of Philadelphia, Harrisburg, the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and across the mountains to Pittsburgh, Kentucky, Ohio and beyond.

The story of this music in Pennsylvania is one of variety and of movement, coinciding with Pennsylvania’s great role in welcoming immigrants and travellers on their journeys. Great and diverse shapenote music traditions prospered among the people of towns and villages across Pennsylvania, in the English language and in German.

We dedicate this work to the singers past, present and future. We hope that our collection allows others to share in the great pleasure, satisfaction and edification that this work has already provided us.