Sacred Harp singing is a community musical and social event, emphasizing participation, not performance, where people sing songs from a tunebook called The Sacred Harp.

Shape notes are are like ordinary Western musical notation, except that the note-heads are printed in distinctive geometrical shapes to indicate their position and musical syllable. Guido of Arezzo, an eleventh-century monk, devised the hexachord system of six syllables (ut re mi_fa sol la) with specific intervals between each adjacent pair of syllables. In sixteenth-century England, singers discovered they could get by with only four syllables (mi_fa sol la).

Sacred Harp singing, and the American singing-school movement of which it was a part, have antecedents in efforts by John Playford to teach note-reading to London parish clerks in the late seventeenth century. The earliest American tunebooks borrowed their methods and repertory almost wholly from Playford's psalters and method books.

The Sacred Harp is an oblong tunebook first published in 1844 by B.F. White and E. J. King. The book was printed in Philadelphia, but White and King lived in western Georgia, as did many other composers represented in the book. The original title reads: The Sacred Harp, a collection of psalm and hymn tunes, odes, and anthems; selected from the most eminent authors, together with nearly one hundred pieces never before published.

The Sacred Harp is an eclectic tunebook, containing examples of several different forms, genres, and styles.

a Sacred Harp singing, the songs are usually limited to those found in one of two editions of The Sacred Harp. The B.F. White Sacred Harp (Cooper Revision) predominates in Florida, Texas, and south Alabama. The Sacred Harp (1991 Edition) is generally used elsewhere in the South, and by most Sacred Harp singers outside the South. The Sacred Harp was only one of many similar tunebooks published by southern compilers.

No. You can also learn Sacred Harp from recordings, or by going to local singings. The singing school helps, but certainly isn't mandatory.

This seating arrangement is known as "the hollow square". The conductor stands in the middle. Altos and tenors face one another. Trebles (we don't say "sopranos" in Sacred Harp) and bass singers also face each other. It is a traditional arrangement. It also makes for some wonderful accoustics during larger singings.

The titles of tunebooks are often fanciful, and refer to musical and religious symbolism. Many titles refer to musical instruments; stringed instruments are especially prominent because they are mentioned in the Psalms and other scriptures, and because they are associated with David, the royal psalmist. Some present-day singers interpret the term "sacred harp" to refer to the human voice in general, or the vocal cords in particular.

The term "Sacred Harp" refers to a tradition of choral shape-note music. It has nothing to do with harps--or any other type of instrumentation. It is a capella vocal music which traditionally has no further accompaniment. For a much more detailed explanation of Sacred Harp music, please visit the fasola.org website, since any basic information I relate here may seem redundant by comparison.

Not at all. Nobody's checking your credentials at the door. Just show up and sing along. You'll always be welcome, regardless of your background.

Yes. Some Primitive Baptist (and other) churches still use Sacred Harp. But Sacred Harp is still a somewhat rare musical form, and often survives in "singings"--gatherings specifically devoted to the performance of Sacred Harp and other shape-note music.

Yes. There are a number of excellent contemporary composers working within the Sacred Harp style, including one of our own singers here in the Shiloh group. There are beautiful hymns being written in this musical tradition today. These modern compositions still fit within the well-defined and traditional concepts of Sacred Harp music.

The Cooper and Denson books (also known as the B.F. White Sacred Harp Revised Cooper Edition and The Sacred Harp 1991 Revision, respectively) are the two most commonly used books in Sacred Harp singing. There are other books, but these are the most widely used.

Generally speaking, there are no lyrics being sung at the very beginning of a Sacred Harp tune. Instead, people are "singing the shapes". Syllables (fa, so, la, mi) are being sung instead of the words. The song is sung like this once and then the actual words are used.

For the vast majority of people singing is a healthy pursuit and one that is positively good for both body and mind; but if you have a health problem that you think might be affected adversely by energetic singing, do look after yourself and consult your doctor before starting these exercises.

The noun "singing" is not in many dictionaries. Despite this, it is the usual term over most of the area where Sacred Harp singing is prevalent, and is preferred by most traditional singers, though the term "sing" may also be encountered.

Of course not. At a typical Sacred Harp singing or convention, most of those who attend have come to participate in the singing, as well as other activities. There are always some, however, who prefer to sit and listen. They may include former singers, lifelong listeners, and curious newcomers.

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