Shape note noteheads (U+E1B0–U+E1CF)
| Glyph | Description | Glyph | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| | U+E1B0 noteShapeRoundWhite Round white (4-shape sol; 7-shape so) |
| U+E1B1 noteShapeRoundBlack Round black (4-shape sol; 7-shape so) |
| | U+E1B2 noteShapeSquareWhite Square white (4-shape la; Aikin 7-shape la) |
| U+E1B3 noteShapeSquareBlack Square black (4-shape la; Aikin 7-shape la) |
| | U+E1B4 noteShapeTriangleRightWhite Triangle right white (stem down; 4-shape fa; 7-shape fa) |
| U+E1B5 noteShapeTriangleRightBlack Triangle right black (stem down; 4-shape fa; 7-shape fa) |
| | U+E1B6 noteShapeTriangleLeftWhite Triangle left white (stem up; 4-shape fa; 7-shape fa) |
| U+E1B7 noteShapeTriangleLeftBlack Triangle left black (stem up; 4-shape fa; 7-shape fa) |
| | U+E1B8 noteShapeDiamondWhite Diamond white (4-shape mi; 7-shape mi) |
| U+E1B9 noteShapeDiamondBlack Diamond black (4-shape mi; 7-shape mi) |
| | U+E1BA noteShapeTriangleUpWhite Triangle up white (Aikin 7-shape do) |
| U+E1BB noteShapeTriangleUpBlack Triangle up black (Aikin 7-shape do) |
| | U+E1BC noteShapeMoonWhite Moon white (Aikin 7-shape re) |
| U+E1BD noteShapeMoonBlack Moon black (Aikin 7-shape re) |
| | U+E1BE noteShapeTriangleRoundWhite Triangle-round white (Aikin 7-shape ti) |
| U+E1BF noteShapeTriangleRoundBlack Triangle-round black (Aikin 7-shape ti) |
| | U+E1C0 noteShapeKeystoneWhite Inverted keystone white (Walker 7-shape do) |
| U+E1C1 noteShapeKeystoneBlack Inverted keystone black (Walker 7-shape do) |
| | U+E1C2 noteShapeQuarterMoonWhite Quarter moon white (Walker 7-shape re) |
| U+E1C3 noteShapeQuarterMoonBlack Quarter moon black (Walker 7-shape re) |
| | U+E1C4 noteShapeIsoscelesTriangleWhite Isosceles triangle white (Walker 7-shape ti) |
| U+E1C5 noteShapeIsoscelesTriangleBlack Isosceles triangle black (Walker 7-shape ti) |
| | U+E1C6 noteShapeMoonLeftWhite Moon left white (Funk 7-shape do) |
| U+E1C7 noteShapeMoonLeftBlack Moon left black (Funk 7-shape do) |
| | U+E1C8 noteShapeArrowheadLeftWhite Arrowhead left white (Funk 7-shape re) |
| U+E1C9 noteShapeArrowheadLeftBlack Arrowhead left black (Funk 7-shape re) |
| | U+E1CA noteShapeTriangleRoundLeftWhite Triangle-round left white (Funk 7-shape ti) |
| U+E1CB noteShapeTriangleRoundLeftBlack Triangle-round left black (Funk 7-shape ti) |
Supplementary Groups
Shape note noteheads supplement
Implementation notes
A number of different shape note traditions remain in common use in the shape note community. SMuFL encodes the noteheads required for four such systems: one four-shape system; and three seven-shape systems (Walker, Funk, and Aikin). All three seven-shape systems also use the four shapes of the four-shape system, each introducing three additional shapes.
The four-shape system, used in books such as William Walker’s Southern Harmony (1835), uses a form of solmization where the syllables fa, so, la, fa, so, la, mi are assigned to the seven notes of an ascending major scale. Each syllable has its own note shape:
| Syllable | Half notes and longer | Quarter notes and shorter |
|---|---|---|
| fa (or faw) | Stem down: noteShapeTriangleRightWhite Stem up: noteShapeTriangleLeftWhite |
Stem down: noteShapeTriangleRightBlack Stem up: noteShapeTriangleLeftBlack |
| so (or sol) | noteShapeRoundWhite | noteShapeRoundBlack |
| la (or law) | noteShapeSquareWhite | noteShapeSquareBlack |
| mi | noteShapeDiamondWhite | noteShapeDiamondBlack |
Joseph Funk devised his seven-shape system, building upon the existing four-shape system, for his book Harmonia Sacra (1851), adding to the four-shape system by adding the syllables do, re and ti (sometimes si), so the ascending major scale would use the syllables do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti. The note shapes for each syllable are as follows:
| Syllable | Half notes and longer | Quarter notes and shorter |
|---|---|---|
| do | noteShapeMoonLeftWhite | noteShapeMoonLeftBlack |
| re | noteShapeArrowheadLeftWhite | noteShapeArrowheadLeftBlack |
| mi | noteShapeDiamondWhite | noteShapeDiamondBlack |
| fa (or faw) | Stem down: noteShapeTriangleRightWhite Stem up: noteShapeTriangleLeftWhite |
Stem down: noteShapeTriangleRightBlack Stem up: noteShapeTriangleLeftBlack |
| so (or sol) | noteShapeRoundWhite | noteShapeRoundBlack |
| la (or law) | noteShapeSquareWhite | noteShapeSquareBlack |
| ti (or si) | noteShapeTriangleRoundLeftWhite | noteShapeTriangleRoundLeftBlack |
In addition to being the composer of Southern Harmony, William Walker also later devised his own seven-shape system for the book Christian Harmony (1867), using the same solmization as Funk. The note shapes for each syllable are as follows:
| Syllable | Half notes and longer | Quarter notes and shorter |
|---|---|---|
| do | noteShapeKeystoneWhite | noteShapeKeystoneBlack |
| re | noteShapeQuarterMoonWhite | noteShapeQuarterMoonBlack |
| mi | noteShapeDiamondWhite | noteShapeDiamondBlack |
| fa (or faw) | Stem down: noteShapeTriangleRightWhite Stem up: noteShapeTriangleLeftWhite |
Stem down: noteShapeTriangleRightBlack Stem up: noteShapeTriangleLeftBlack |
| so (or sol) | noteShapeRoundWhite | noteShapeRoundBlack |
| la (or law) | noteShapeSquareWhite | noteShapeSquareBlack |
| ti (or si) | noteShapeIsoscelesTriangleWhite | noteShapeIsoscelesTriangleBlack |
Perhaps the most commonly-used seven-shape system, however, is that devised by Jesse B. Aikin, though his system is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the “Aiken” system due to an error made by the musicologist George Pullen Jackson. Aikin introduced his system in The Christian Minstrel (1846), and after his shapes were adopted by the influential Ruebush & Kieffer Publishing Company in the late 19th century they have become increasingly widely used. Again using the same solmization as both Funk and Walker, the note shapes for each syllable are as follows:
| Syllable | Half notes and longer | Quarter notes and shorter |
|---|---|---|
| do | noteShapeTriangleUpWhite | noteShapeTriangleUpBlack |
| re | noteShapeMoonWhite | noteShapeMoonBlack |
| mi | noteShapeDiamondWhite | noteShapeDiamondBlack |
| fa (or faw) | Stem down: noteShapeTriangleRightWhite Stem up: noteShapeTriangleLeftWhite |
Stem down: noteShapeTriangleRightBlack Stem up: noteShapeTriangleLeftBlack |
| so (or sol) | noteShapeRoundWhite | noteShapeRoundBlack |
| la (or law) | noteShapeSquareWhite | noteShapeSquareBlack |
| ti (or si) | noteShapeTriangleRoundWhite | noteShapeTriangleRoundBlack |
For practical use, scoring applications should provide a means of automatically substituting regular noteheads for the appropriate shape note notehead glyph according to the pitch of each note.
See also the implementation notes for noteheads.