Sacred Harp Singing: Bringing the Spirit!

It started with Cold Mountain. Which is odd because I didn’t like the book or the movie. But it was in the movie and from the movie’s soundtrack that I was introduced to the mesmerizing sounds of Sacred Harp singing. I’m sure I had heard Sacred Harp prior to that point but it never reached me like the songs did that I heard on this soundtrack.


Sacred Harp singing or “shape note” singing is stripped down a capella singing in four part harmony. It’s called shape note singing because the notes are literally placed on the staff as shapes with an accompanying verbal designation. Triangle = Fa. Oval = Sol. Square = La. Diamond = Mi. Generally, before singing a specific tune, Sacred Harp singers will sing through the song using only Fa. Sol. La. Mi. This establishes the tune, pitch and meter of the song as led by the song leader. You get a sense of this in the video I've embedded in this blog posting -- a Sacred Harp rendition of "Amazing Grace."



Since that exposure from the Cold Mountain soundtrack, I’ve purchased Sacred Harp music and seen Sacred Harp performed in venues such as City Stages. I have a fairly eclectic musical palate but I’m particularly drawn to strong, inspirational religious music and to stripped down music so I suppose Sacred Harp hits at both of those predilections for me because it is stripped down strong, inspirational religious music. There is no pretense here. Just the human voice – or Sacred Harp.



A Song Leader keeping time and rocking the hat!

So it was with great joy that for Father’s Day weekend this year, I was able to attend the 33^rd National Sacred Harp convention here in Birmingham, Alabama. Good folks from all over the country gathered for three days in the sanctuary of First Christian Church on Valleydale Road and sang to their heart’s content. One after the other, song leaders would rise, call out a song from the Sacred Harp hymnal, some initial tuning notes would be sung and off we would go. And we would go with vigor. One of my favorite things about Sacred Harp singing is that they sing with all the stops pulled out!




I am good at singing the words – I get it. It’s the shape note part that stumps me. On slower songs, I can stammer out the appropriate Fa’s or Sol’s or La’s, but when a song leader would say, “Let’s pick up the pace”. . .well, you need to hold on to your hat because that’s where they separate the pros from the amateurs. The good news is I was sitting with a pro from Massachusetts on my left and a pro from Alabama sitting in front of me. Between the two of them, I managed to stumble my way through the shape notes.



Example of a song from The Sacred Harp book.

There were a couple of surprises. For one thing, I was genuinely surprised by the geographic disparity of the people attending. It’s always been my general thought that Sacred Harp singing was primarily a southern rural tradition but the convention draws people from Massachusetts, Connecticut, the Midwest, and, yes, the United Kingdom. Then I was also struck by the number of young people. Again, my general thought was that Sacred Harp would primarily attract older folks but there were a number of people singing and leading the singing that were as young as 12 or 13. 

For three hours on the Saturday before Father’s Day, the people around me and I did nothing but sing four-part a capella harmonies. It was marvelous. It was inspirational. What a great Father’s Day present!

If you’re interested in learning more about Sacred Harp, visit www.fasola.org or go to Sacred Harp at Wikipedia.