Lined-out Hymnody: Kentucky Old Regular Baptists Sing "Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah. 1993

Lined-out hymnody is among America's oldest English language religious music, at least of the oral tradition. It is basically call and response music. Most parishioners, in the 18th and early 19th centuries especially, could not read. This provided a way to sing many hymns without having memorized the words, as the congregation could follow the leader. This selection is sung by members of the Indian Bottom Association, Old Regular Baptists, at Defeated Creek Church in Linefork, KY, in 1993.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• old
• regular
• baptists
• lined-out
• hymnody
• guide
• me
• thou
• great
• jehovah

[mh605]

That photo you have in the middle, at 1:49, is actually of a Sacred Harp singing. Shape-note, also sometimes called Sacred Harp, was created because the creators didn't like this kind of lined-out singing you present here (which, by the way, I think is beautiful).

[EdmundStAustell]

@mh605 Very interesting. Thank you for that information.

[debrarf]

This church is near my families homeplace. I grew up hearing this at our family funerals ..saddest funerals ever attended..thankful for my heritage.

[EdmundStAustell]

@debrarf Thank you very much for sharing that personal recollection with us. I appreciate it!

[opertutto]

Oh, Edmund. How moving to hear his music. It reminds me of the thrilling singing that I heard on the bayouside near my parents' house when there were black baptisms in that very stream during my childhood.. I can still see the congregation gathered singing songs that must have been passed down through generations. Thank you. George

[EdmundStAustell]

@opertutto My pleasure, George. Very nice to hear from you again. Hope all is well with you.

[electricman1951]

Beautiful singing. Nothing in the world like it.

[EdmundStAustell]

@sospello Very memorable music, isn't it? There is something very attractive about it. Here in Indiana, and parts of Ohio, the Old Order Dunkards have a similar kind of thing they do. They have a little book full of the lyrics of hymns, but they sing them all to the same tune, because they have no instruments at all inside the Church. I know that some of the older folk can't read, so for them it is a memory exercise, but at least they only have to learn one song, musically.

[sospello]

Ahh Edmund, you are taking me back to my childhood in a part of Kentucky that still used the Southern Harmony and lined out hymns.

[EdmundStAustell]

@SuperLuckydream Thank you very much. This is hard-core americana that many people don't see or know much about.