-
Born in 1784, Elsie Chittenden of Guilford, Connecticut, was a shape-note singer born sixty years before B.F. White’s The Sacred Harp was published. As a young woman, she sang counter in her church choir when the pitch pipe was the only aid to congregational singing, and tunes like Old Hundred and Mear were the backbone…
-
In shape-note singing, we welcome every voice, valuing participation over polish and the shared experience over individual refinement. But not every tradition has held this view. The musical reform movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries sought to reshape American congregational singing, favoring trained voices and standardized harmony over the raw, communal sound that…
-
If you’ve ever tried to explain Sacred Harp singing to someone unfamiliar with it, you know how tricky it can be. Josh Miller’s new short film, What is Sacred Harp?, captures the spirit of this tradition beautifully in just six minutes. Filmed at the 2025 Ohio Sacred Harp Convention, this charming and informative piece features…
-
The Sacred Harp Museum has once again done invaluable work in preserving and sharing historical recordings from our tradition. Their latest release—a newly digitized and remastered collection of open reel tapes from Terry Wootten—documents decades of singing in Northeast Alabama, a region deeply tied to Sacred Harp’s living tradition. Spanning from 1962 to 1982, these…
-
A paper on composing music in the Sacred Harp tradition is the feature article in the new March/April 2025 issue of Choral Journal (Vol. 65, No. 7). Three singers, who are also three scholars, have teamed up for the paper. Lily M. Hammond, Abigail C. Cannon, and Esther M. Morgan-Ellis have written the paper “Compositions…
-
The following essay was originally published in Auburn University AlumNews in May 1968. At the time of writing, the subject was a recent discovery for the author, and he quickly became deeply enamored with it. This piece offers an early glimpse into the perspectives of Buell E. Cobb, Jr., a scholar and writer who would…
-
A Brief Biographical Chronology of General Secretaries Shape Note Minutes books serve as annual records of singing conventions, documenting attendees, leaders, and the songs led at each gathering. These books not only preserve the history of Sacred Harp style singing but also provide insight into regional traditions and the evolving shape-note community. Over the years,…
-
Sacred Harp Singing For Beginners Workshop An introduction to participatory “shape note” singing No prior musical experience required Free Three Thursdays, April 3, 10, & 17, 2025 7:00 to 9:00 pm, doors open at 6:30 Singing Workshop This three-night participatory workshop is for all those interested in learning to sing in a friendly, non-performance environment.…
-
Performing at Aviva Studios Manchester, UK on 15,16 and 20-24 November, 2024. After posting about an impressive installation work in London, and a new play in Australia, I was fascinated to learn about Laurie Anderson’s newest work, ARK: United States Part 5, which includes a collaboration with shape-note singers. Premiering in Manchester last week, and…
-
Whenever I mention Sacred Harp singing, almost everyone I talk to says they’ve “never heard of it.” Yet now that I’m paying closer attention, I seem to see it everywhere. Maybe it’s just the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon—a kind of observational bias where something you’ve just learned about suddenly appears in your surroundings—but I can’t help but…