The first music book printed in the American colonies was the the ninth edition of the "Bay Psalm Book" in 1698. It consisted of 13 two-part songs notated with solfege, a style of musical notation brought from England with early settlers. Solfege, also called shape-note singing, used shapes like diamonds, triangles, and squares to indicate different pitches. Early solfege had only four syllables but rapidly evolved to the seven-syllable, eight-pitch solfege known today. The pitches make up a full octave and are sung using the syllables "do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do." Although singing solfege required concentration, it was easy to learn, and anyone could become adept at it.
Stoughton, Massachusetts, was an important center for early American choral singing. The first known singing meetings were held by Elijah Dunbar, a Harvard graduate, at his home in Stoughton in 1762. New England composer William Billings was the first American to publish a tune book, released in Boston in 1770, titled "The New England Psalm-Singer." Billings also taught a singing school in Stoughton, beginning in 1774. Jacob French, an important composer in early America, was a student of the Billings school. The Stoughton Musical Society, composed of 25 men, was founded in 1786 and is the oldest choral society in America. Elijah Dunbar was the first president of the society.
The first choral contest in America was held in 1790 in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The First Parish Church Choir challenged the Stoughton Musical Society, which Stoughton readily accepted. Although the Dorchester choir had a bass viol accompaniment and female singers, the Stoughtons easily won the contest with their performance of member Jacob French's composition "The Heavenly Vision" and Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus," both sung from memory with no instrumental accompaniment.
Lowell Mason worked as a bank teller in Savannah, Georgia, for 15 years, dabbling in music on the side. He composed a popular song, which was published in 1822 by the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston, Massachusetts. He also worked as music director for several churches until he became president of the Handel and Haydn Society in 1827. In 1838 Mason became the first educator to teach music in a public school, working for the Boston public school system. Mason wrote more than 1,600 hymns in his lifetime, including "Nearer My God to Thee."
The American Choral Director's Association (ACDA) was founded in 1959, in Kansas City, Missouri. The organization originally consisted of 35 choral directors from across the United States. The association grew rapidly, with 4,000 members by 1970, to a record high of 21,000 in 2003. The association holds conferences with performances given by multiple choirs every two years since its inception. It also conducts workshops, choral exchange programs, and symposiums in order to promote understanding, appreciation, and excellence in choral music.