sacred harp, or shape note singing

Short Takes has:

The Sacred Harp

Christiana and I went down to St. Bart’s church yesterday (Sunday) afternoon to hear Sacred Harp or shape singing. I had seen a flier a few months ago about an all day sing that was being held at the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn so I stopped off after my guitar lesson to hear what it was about. There were at least 200 singers and the sound and energy was incredible. As far as I can tell the dynamics of shape singing are, loud, louder and very loud but the sound is happy, even when the lyrics are gloomy, and very American. Above is a brief audio clip that I recorded with my camera. The recording isn’t very good but it gives you an idea. Below are a couple of paragraphs I copied from www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/harp.html about shape singing.

“Sacred Harp singing is a non-denominational community musical event emphasizing participation, not performance. Singers sit facing inward in a hollow square. Each individual is invited to take a turn “leading,” i.e. standing in the center, selecting a song, and beating time with the hand. The singing is not accompanied by harps or any other instrument. The group sings from The Sacred Harp, an oblong songbook first published in 1844 by B.F. White and E. J. King. The music is printed in “patent notes,” wherein the shape of the note head indicates the syllables FA , SOL , LA , and MI . The repertory includes psalm tunes, fuging tunes, odes and anthems by the first American composers (1770-1810), and also settings of folk songs and revival hymns (1810-1860). The current 1991 Edition contains many songs in these styles by living composers.

This style of singing stems from singing schools in the colonial period. Preserved in the rural South, Sacred Harp singing (also called fasola singing or shape-note singing) is making a major resurgence in cities and campuses throughout North America.”