The Christian Harmony: in the Seven-Syllable Character Note System of Music; Being the Most Successful, Natural, and Easy Method of Acquiring a Knowledge of This Art; Saving to the Learner an Immense Amount of Time and Labor, Thus Placing the Science of Music Within the Reach of Every Person; Containing the Choicest Collection of Hymn and Psalm Tunes, Odes and Anthems, Selected From the Best Authors in Europe and America; Together with a Large Number of New Tunes, from Eminent Composers, Never Before Published, Embracing a Great Variety of Metres Suited to the Various Hymn and Psalm Books Used by the Different Denominations of Christians; Adapted to the Use of Singing Schools, Choirs, Social and Private Singing Societies: Also a Copious Elucidation of the Science of Vocal Music, and Plain Rules for Beginners was first published in 1866. It was published by William Walker, "author of The Southern Harmony and The Southern and Western Pocket Harmonist."
The music in Walker's previous books used the four-syllable shape-note system that was patented by William Little and William Smith. However, by this time, Walker thought it would be progressive to use a seven-syllable shape-note system. Walker made the argument, "Would any parents having seven children ever think of calling them by only four names?" Walker's progressive leanings could have begun as he was working on his final revision of The Southern Harmony in 1854. In the rudiment section of The Southern Harmony, he shows how a singer could sing the seven syllables to four shapes.
Walker claimed he searched through 15,000 written pages of material to find songs for his new book. Some of the songs came from The Southern Harmony. He looked towards Europe and included compositions that were credited to Martin Luther, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and George Frideric Handel. In a revision of The Christian Harmony, he added more modern songs such as "Pass Me Not," which used the poetry of Fanny J. Crosby. Walker also added his own compositions to this book, including the first song he composed, "Solemn Call," which was not in The Southern Harmony.
George Pullen Jackson quotes William Hauser from an 1876 article in the Musical Million that Walker wanted to use Aikin's shapes for his Christian Harmony, received permission from Aikin, but publisher Sam Collins would not consent. Walker had to come up with his own set of seven shapes. Like others, he kept the four shapes that William Little and William Smith used for "Mi," "Fa," "Sol," and "La." For "Do," Walker used a trapezoid where the top horizontal line is shorter than the bottom horizontal line. For "Re," he used a crescent moon. For "Si" he used a pennant-shaped triangle.
Walker revised The Christian Harmony in 1873. The publisher, E. W. Miller Company, issued another printing of the 1873 version in 1901. There is also a 1901 revision by E.W. Miller that removed many popular songs and substituted others. It appears this 1901 revision was not popular, and only a few copies are known. There was also a reprint of the 1901 edition by J. A. Garrison and Hulon Gilleland of Canton, Georgia.
In 1958 John Deason and O. A. Parris, both from Alabama, published a revision of The Christian Harmony. Singers from North Carolina continued to use Walker's book, and the Carolina singers also used the 1958 book at many singings. In 1979, Brent Holcomb of Columbia, South Carolina, published a facsimile edition of Walker's book.
In 1994, another reprint was published by The Folk Heritage Books. There was a small addition of four songs that were added to the back of the Deason-Parris book. The book continued to use Walker's shape-note system, but the four additional songs used the back of book using the Aikin shape-note system. These songs were "Not Made with Hands," "Babylon Is Fallen," Twilight is Falling," and "Holy Manna."
About 2007, talk began concerning a merger of Walker's book and the Deason-Parris revision. Supplies of both books were getting low. In 2010, The Christian Harmony, 2010 Edition was published. The new book returned all songs that the Deason-Parris Revision had removed in their 1958 and 1994 revisions, and it used the Aikin shape-note system.
Not only is The Christian Harmony, Walker 1873 Edition used in some North Carolina singings, but there is a group of singers in Tull, Arkansas, that are also singing from this book. An annual singing has been held there since 1885. Their annual singing is known as the "Old Folks' Singing." They have been singing from copied pages from the old book for the past several years. It has been their practice to sing from The Christian Harmony in their morning session, and then sing from The Cokesbury Worship Hymnal in the afternoon session. Over time, the attendees of the Old Folks' Singing lost their knowledge of reading the shapes, and they now sing with piano accompaniment. Recently, they have had a couple of singing schools in hopes of restoring that knowledge. Most, if not all, of the singers in Tull were not aware of the Deason-Parris Revision of The Christian Harmony, or its successor, The Christian Harmony, 2010 Edition.
In October 2015, The Folk Heritage Books published another reprint "in response to the exhaustion of the supply of the 1994 reprints and a perceived need to preserve the almost 150-year unbroken tradition of singing the Walker shapes." This reprint removed the four songs that were added in the back of the book for the 1994 reprint.
Sources:
McLemore, B. F. Tracing the Roots of Southern Gospel Singers. (Jasper, TX: B. F. (Bob) McLemore, 2005).
Eskew, Harry. "William Walker: Carolina Contributor to American Music," Journal of the South Carolina Baptist Historical Society. (Greenville, SC: South Carolina Baptist Historical Society, 2005/2006).
Jackson, George Pullen. White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1933).
Sawyer, Nathania et al. Blest Be the Tie That Binds (Benton, AR: Old Folks' Singing Planning Committee, 2010).
Walker, William. The Christian Harmony: in the Seven-Syllable Character Note System of Music; Being the Most Successful, Natural, and Easy Method of Acquiring a Knowledge of This Art; Saving to the Learner an Immense Amount of Time and Labor, Thus Placing the Science of Music Within the Reach of Every Person; Containing the Choicest Collection of Hymn and Psalm Tunes, Odes and Anthems, Selected From the Best Authors in Europe and America; Together with a Large Number of New Tunes, from Eminent Composers, Never Before Published, Embracing a Great Variety of Metres Suited to the Various Hymn and Psalm Books Used by the Different Denominations of Christians; Adapted to the Use of Singing Schools, Choirs, Social and Private Singing Societies: Also a Copious Elucidation of the Science of Vocal Music, and Plain Rules for Beginners. (Ashville, NC: Folk Heritage Books, 1994).
Walker, William. The Christian Harmony: in the Seven-Syllable Character Note System of Music; Being the Most Successful, Natural, and Easy Method of Acquiring a Knowledge of This Art; Saving to the Learner an Immense Amount of Time and Labor, Thus Placing the Science of Music Within the Reach of Every Person; Containing the Choicest Collection of Hymn and Psalm Tunes, Odes and Anthems, Selected From the Best Authors in Europe and America; Together with a Large Number of New Tunes, from Eminent Composers, Never Before Published, Embracing a Great Variety of Metres Suited to the Various Hymn and Psalm Books Used by the Different Denominations of Christians; Adapted to the Use of Singing Schools, Choirs, Social and Private Singing Societies: Also a Copious Elucidation of the Science of Vocal Music, and Plain Rules for Beginners. (Crossnore, NC: Folk Heritage Books, 2015).
Walker, William. The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion Containing a Choice Collection of Tunes, Hymns, Psalms, Odes, and Anthems Selected from the Most Eminent Authors in the United States and Well Adapted to Christian Churches of Every Denomination, Singing Schools, and Private Societies. (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1987).