Sound samples
There are many recordings on the internet that offer a flavour of what Sacred Harp singing sounds and looks like. But, due to the inevitable limitations of audio and video equipment, the quality of these varies enormously and you should not be put off by a poor-quality recording. The only way of truly experiencing Sacred Harp music is by actually attending a singing and having a go yourself. Sacred Harp was never, and is not, performance music. Many recordings can be found on youtube, local singing groups have also uploaded recordings on Soundcloud and Sheffield Sacred Harp is currently working on getting our own Soundcloud account to upload some recordings we have taken from our local singings.
Sacred Harp songs are usually referred to by their page number (along with t for top or b for bottom if there are two songs on one page) in The Sacred Harp and the 'title' or tune name. Sometimes the title clearly relates to the words; more often than not it has nothing to do with them. So, for instance, 457 Wayfaring Stranger or 49b Mear.
The person standing in the middle is the 'leader' for that particular song. They beat time to set the tempo for the group, and many singers join in with this to help everyone stay together. Before the words are sung, the group 'sings the notes' (Fa, So, La etc.) so everyone can familiarise themselves with the music. Anyone attending can lead a song, the only rule being the same song cannot be sung more than once.
Sacred Harp songs are usually referred to by their page number (along with t for top or b for bottom if there are two songs on one page) in The Sacred Harp and the 'title' or tune name. Sometimes the title clearly relates to the words; more often than not it has nothing to do with them. So, for instance, 457 Wayfaring Stranger or 49b Mear.
The person standing in the middle is the 'leader' for that particular song. They beat time to set the tempo for the group, and many singers join in with this to help everyone stay together. Before the words are sung, the group 'sings the notes' (Fa, So, La etc.) so everyone can familiarise themselves with the music. Anyone attending can lead a song, the only rule being the same song cannot be sung more than once.
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The BostonSing website contains recordings of nearly every song in the Sacred Harp. Again, the quality of these recordings varies enormously.
The SacredHarp.mus site contains computer-generated MIDI files of all songs. | ||
