Sacred Harp Singing

Sacred Harp Singing in the United Kingdom has increased considerably in the past few years, to the extent that there are now numerous monthly Local House Groups, and All-day Singings on at least three out of four weekends every month.

But first, what is Sacred Harp music? 
A rather longer and more technical explanation can be found here, but essentially it is Shapenote music, an American choral tradition of singing unaccompanied four-part harmony, sometimes referred to as 'sacred folksong' or 'White Gospel' music.

Because Sacred Harp singings are open to anyone to attend, they are not performances, and there are no preliminary rehearsals or practices unless the singing has been advertised as a workshop, or contains a 'singing school' where instruction is given. Singers sit in a hollow square formation with one voice part on each side, all facing inwards so they can see and hear each other. There is therefore no formal audience, and each event tends to have a different group of participants. Having said that, many people know each other well, as they tend to meet up and down the country to sing with each other time and again, thus creating firm bonds of friendship between people with similar enthusiasm and tastes in music.

Beginners and newcomers to any form of community or communal singing are always welcome. Because there has been such increased coverage in the UK press, and in such films as 'Cold Mountain' and 'Lawless', many come to simply to listen to the music. Visitors, whether participants or simply listeners, are always welcome to sit anywhere in the room, but eventually may well be drawn to sing with any one of the four parts - treble, alto, tenor (which is the tune or air) or bass.

Although the words set to the songs are mainly from religious backgrounds, there is no requirement for participants to belong to any church or denomination whatever. Many, however, will find that the music itself is both deeply moving and spiritual.

Nor is musical experience required. The music is written in the same way as it was over 200 years ago in America, where itinerant singing masters taught complete beginners to sing using techniques first conceived in England.

Why is it called Sacred Harp?
Because the musical notation uses note heads in 4 distinct shapes to aid in sight-reading, this style of singing is technically called 'shapenote' singing. However, it is often called Sacred Harp singing because the book that most singers use today is called The Sacred Harp. This name also refers to the human voice; no other instruments are used in this a cappella singing.

The Sacred Harp was just one of more than 100 oblong hymn books published in America. Since 1844 it has been continuously updated, with the present version being the 'Denson' revision of 1991. This book contains over 500 tunes, being hymns, psalms, odes and anthems.

Whilst many of these hark back to the 18th and 19th centuries, there are many living composers still actively writing new tunes within the traditional styles and shape note format. Other shape note books still in use today include Christian Harmony (using a 7-shape notation), New Harp of Columbia, plus several others, including some entirely new collections such as Northern Harmony, Norumbega Harmony, Missouri Harmony, and most recently The Shenandoah Harmony.

What does this music sound like?
The best way to learn about Sacred Harp singing is to sing it yourself by attending annual or local singings. See details of monthly Local House Groups, and All-day Singings by following the links.

There are now many examples of Sacred Harp and Shapenote singing on YouTube, try this link for starters, it leads to pages of such examples, of varying quality!. 

Where can I learn more?

Try the following links to other web pages:

• Wikipedia has the most comprehensive overview of Sacred Harp. The article there also contains an excellent bibliography and list of external links.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_note - Shape Note on Wikipedia
• www.fasola.org - the foremost American site for Sacred Harp music
• http://www.sacredharpbremen.org/ - The Bremen Sacred Harp has a great deal of information (not just in German!) and examples, understandable in most languages.
• See also this Introduction to Sacred Harp and Shape Note Singing on the FaSoLa site

Documentary Film - Awake, My Soul

Matt and Erica Hinton, singers and documentary  filmmakers, completed seven years of production on the first feature length documentary about the Sacred Harp tradition. Visit the film's web site at http://awakemysoul.com for trailers, ordering information, previews, photo gallery, and excellent portraits of many long-time singers.

I Belong to This Band: 85 Years of Sacred Harp Recordings
A Companion CD to Awake, My Soul

Read more . . .