Contributing to The Scarèd Harp

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This is a resource page for people who are interested in contributing new songs to The Scarèd Harp. It is currently very much under construction.

Please send contributions or suggestions to ed@mewsic.REMOVE_THIS_SPAMGUARD.com.

Some Fundamentals

The Scarèd Harp is modelled after a hymnnal, and emphasizes participation over performance. Therefore, arrangements should in general be kept simple. This is not the place for complicated or difficult arrangements. All arrangements should be in four parts (SATB), though three part arrangements (SAB or ATB) are also acceptable. Texts should conform to the definition of "filk", which includes songs in the folk genre which are popular among filkers.

Matching Texts to Tunes

Clearly, what is needed is a database of songs which is indexed by meter. For hymn tunes, The Cyber Hymnal is a good resource. There is an on-line index to The Sacred Harp at www.fasola.org/index/0Index.html. MIDI files can be found at www.geocities.com/mlmoore_99.geo/Gowindex.html.

Would somebody like to start indexing filksongs by meter? Please?

Traditional Harmony & Counterpoint

The most comprehensive on-line reference I've found to date is Alan Belkin's Principles of Counterpoint

Finale Style Sheet

Fonts

Music	Maestro
All Text	Georgia
Main Title	30 pt bold
Lyrics	14 pt
"melody in Tenor"	14 pt italic
credits	10 pt
chord names	14 pt
chord suffixes	12 pt

optimize & minimize page turns
use 2 staves for SATB if there are minimal part crossings or rhythmic differences
otherwise use 4 staves, with a 2-staff keyboard reduction
ranges: use solid stemless noteheads, scaled to 50%; put in layer 4
no more than 5 verses between staves
scale page(s) to 75%, hold margins
margins: 0.75" left & right, 0.5" top & bottom
use dotted ties for notes which are tied for some verses but not for others
use solid ties for notes which are always tied
typically don't use repeat signs unless they are necessary
don't abbreviate time signatures, e.g. with "C"
make sure that the rhythms work equally well for each verse
make sure that the number of beats in the first measure plus the number
of beats in the last measure add up to one or two whole measures
don't explicitly notate dynamics
don't include chords unless the song is likely to be accompanied
credits appear centered on the bottom of the last page; include the following: meter, lyricist, name of tune, composer, arranger, version

This page was last updated on 26 July 2003.

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