Abecedarius Song

“Shaker Abecedarius” is a musical setting of an alphabet rhyme originally published in the Shaker Manifesto in 1882, used by Shaker children to learn the alphabet. Peter Amidon discovered the rhyme printed on the back of a t-shirt, and to his surprise, found no existing musical settings — so he composed his own, adding two final lines to give the piece closure.

The song is joyful, whimsical, and perfect for family singing, educational use, or choral performance. It pairs beautifully with the (now out-of-print but available secondhand) picture book Peaceable Kingdom: The Shaker Abecedarius illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen.