ME TOO

Me three!

Wow, never heard of it! I'll check it out, thank you.

Well...no. It's supposed to sound the way that it does when it's sung by a group of people in the hollow square, singing it with proper accent and gusto. But this sounds about as good as Sacred Harp music can sound when done by 2 people and accompanied by instruments. It's a totally different way of performing it, which sounds very good, but it is not "the way it's supposed to sound". If that was the case it'd be written in 2-part harmony with scores for the accompanying instruments included. This is _not_ the way it's "supposed" to sound, but it sounds very good regardless.

William, Sacred Harp was heavily influenced by banjo-pickin' Appalachian/Souhern music in general, and historically people would actually play it on the banjo betimes just for fun.

@@justforever96 My ancestors were Sacred Harp singing school teachers. They were the Densons who wrote songs and compiled the Denson Revision song book. I love that Sacred Harp sound. YOU sound fussy.😅

Thanks James :) mollyandmaggie.bandcamp.com/

‘shape note’ is the generic term for a musical notation using varying shapes to designate notes along a musical scale. The notes are not all round but printed in shapes such as a square, triangle, oval, and diamond, representing the ‘Four Shape’ system, the one in most widespread use today. (There is also lesser-used ‘Seven Shape’ notation adding three more shapes). The shape note system is normally utilized in acapella vocal music/singings, NOT with stringed instruments as shown here. The most widely-used songbook for these Singings is “The Sacred Harp,” originally published in 1844 with an occasional revision, the most recent in 1991. It is the central part of these gatherings where people come to just SING. There is no audition, no ‘practice,’ no performance. . . the singing is experiential, not passive. “Just LISTENING to Sacred Harp Singing is like just WATCHING people eat in a restaurant.” It is done is virtually every state in the USA. Look it up !

See here for all the songs in the Sacred Harp, Denson edition 1991, and some explanations: sacredharpbremen.org/en/home/

For more information on shape-note music as it is sung today, with emphasis on the Sacred Harp tunebook, check out www.fasola.org. There's everything from a list of singings around the world (almost all suspended, alas, during the coronavirus epidemic), recordings, and a free downloadable beginners' guide (fasola.org/resources).

@@zoefiasco4904 Thank you very much. I'm trying to start a singing here on Maui...from absolute scratch! First I need to teach myself, then I want to bring it to my community. It's what we all need for our collective healing. But at present it's still illegal to gather indoors without masks. I just can't believe the governments of the world were able to shut down this music. It makes my soul ache.

These ones are. I think. I hope.

Don't understand your comment.

I hope they are. Gives me hope for finding a wife someday. They're very loverly.