Percontation n. (17th c.): a question which cannot properly be given a one-word answer.

A new musical project highlighting the best songs and tunes of centuries past, with the remarkable melodies and intricate harmonies of historical traditions across the Eastern U.S. and North Atlantic. Specializing in unaccompanied singing and rhythmic instrumentals, Percontation presents forgotten colonial tunes, familiar songs of the Folk Revival, and everything in between.

  • Classic & experimental harmonies, a capella and accompanied.
  • Historic Tunes on traditional instruments, including penny whistles, bodhran, bouzouki, cello, harmonium, and guitar.
  • Solo, duo, and trio presentations, concerts, and workshops.
  • Traditional and historical folk music highlighting the hidden gems of traditional music.

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About

Topher Lawton jumps off from his Ampersand work to explore songs and tunes of centuries past through Percontation.

In addition to that project, Topher is a frequent teacher and workshop leader, focusing on American shape-note music, music theory applied to folk music, collaboration techniques, and traditional, unaccompanied singing.

Workshops/Teaching

Under the Percontation name and outside of it, Topher is a sought-after workshop leader and teacher throughout the mid-Atlantic and beyond.

American Shape Note/Sacred Harp Singing

  • Rooted in colonial American community harmony singing, the living tradition of Shape Note music reaches back to the earliest years of the 19th century. Learn about the history and unique sound of this full-voice, lively a capella vocal tradition before trying the songs yourself!
  • Workshops range from “crash-course” introductions and demos before jumping in, to deep-dive workshops focusing on the nuances of accent, pitching, and leading songs in this vibrant living tradition.
  • Topher has been singing and leading shape-note singing for over two decades, on the east coast of the US and beyond.

Music Theory for Folk Musicians

  • Many folk and traditional players have inherited music directly from the source. Using a background that pulls from decades of familiarity with the American folk tradition as well as formal training in “classical” western music theory, these workshops focus on providing a framework to help trad players understand what’s going on in their songs and tunes.
  • Have you ever wondered why so many songs only have three chords, and which three they are? Want some vocabulary to explain what’s going on in your music? Need to know about modes? Build a foundation of music theory in a folk-music context.

Singing Rounds and Catches

  • This workshop focuses on community singing through rounds, canons, and catches from the last several centuries.
  • The form experienced a heyday in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and this workshop will look at some historical examples as well as the rounds we grew up with.

Additional Workshops – Ask for details!

  • Songs of the Sea/Chanteys
  • Vocal Harmonies and A Capella singing
  • How to Host a Jam
  • Beginning Penny Whistle/Celtic Tunes

Listen

Bio & Contact

Topher Lawton is an accomplished vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and teacher based on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Topher holds an undergraduate degree in music history and a graduate degree in information science, and has two decades of experience leading small performance ensembles. His research and practice focuses on vocal expression of human experiences, from renaissance madrigals to early American shape-note music, and he has taught music theory and performance at all levels from grade school through adult learners. Currently, he’s enmeshed in the study of the 18th-century music found in the colonies, and the ways that music formed and informed our American identity during the Revolution. You can see Topher performing solo, as Percontation, with Ampersand, and with various colleagues and friends throughout the mid-Atlantic.

Topher@ampersandmusic.org

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