Simple Gifts

This is an online fiddle lesson for the gospel song "Simple Gifts."

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Genre: Gospel
Skill Level: Beginner
Key of D

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Video #1: Here is a video of my daughters and me playing and singing "Simple Gifts."

 

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"Simple Gifts" is a Shaker song written and composed in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett.  Brackett, a lifelong resident of Maine, first joined the Shakers at Gorham, Maine, when his father's farm helped to form the nucleus of a new Shaker settlement. The song was largely unknown outside Shaker communities until Aaron Copland used its melody for the score of Martha Graham's ballet Appalachian Spring, first performed in 1944. Copland used "Simple Gifts" a second time in 1950 in his first set of Old American Songs for voice and piano, which was later orchestrated.

source: wikipedia

Simple Gifts

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.