Jesse Aikin (March 5, 1808-October 19, 1900)

In 1846, Jesse Bowman Aikin published a songbook titled The Christian Minstrel: A New System of Musical Notation; with a collection of Psalm Tunes, Anthems, and Chants, selected from the Most Popular Works in Europe and America Designed for the Use of Churches, Singing-Schools, and Societies. This publication introduced a seven-shape notation system. Previous systems used only four shapes which required three to be repeated within the seven-note scale. Aikin's songbook designated the middle line of the five-line staff as the note G so music readers would only need to memorize one arrangement of notes on the staff. He also limited time signatures to 2/2 and 3/2. These simplifications never caught on, but Aikin's seven-shape notation ultimately became the de facto standard used by shape-note songbook publishers.