Singing masters, itinerant or based in a particular community, were an integral part of early New England culture that held psalmody and hymnody—the singing of psalms and hymns—as part of their sacred traditions. Singing schools would be held for weeks or a few months at a time, utilizing a shape note system based on the solmization Fa So La, with each distinct shape assigned to a note. This enabled all congregants to participate in group-song during worship without the ability to read music. In 1846, singing master Jesse Bowman Aikin (1808–1900) published The Christian Minstrel, the first tunebook compilation using the seven-shape notation he claimed to have invented. By the last quarter of the century, the seven shapes that he assigned to the phonics Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do became the standard in sacred music publications. One peculiarity of the Aikin system, evident in this music teaching chart, was for all the note stems to point downward, and the stems for Do, Re, and Ti to be placed in the middle of the shape rather than to one side. Although this music tradition gradually faded from New England to be replaced by more elite and standardized musical notations, it flourished in the Southern United States, where it is still used in a great number of churches and in such large gatherings as gospel conventions.

This rare surviving chart was made and used by an itinerant singing teacher, identified only as Mr. Sanders, in rural Mississippi during the late nineteenth century. It employs the Aiken seven-shape note system with scales in various keys and includes musical notations such as crescendo, decrescendo, swells. The large teaching chart descended with the information that it was painted with inks ground from walnut shells or tree bark, and red ink culled from chokeberries. The notations were stamped onto fabric remnants seamed from cotton sheets using stamps he carved from wood and dipped into the ink. Pinholes along the edges indicate that it was once hemmed, and small nail holes in the upper corners suggest it was nailed onto a wall or surface for teaching large groups.

Stacy C. Hollander, "Shape-Note Teaching Chart, late 19th century" exhibition copy for American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2020.