Sometimes-asked questions

It’s both a style of music, and the name of the book we sing from.

Some people say ‘the sacred harp’ means the human voice – the instrument we’re born with, essentially – because this style is sung without the accompaniment of musical instruments.

Sacred Harp is shapenote music. Read more about it here.

No and yes. While the words of the Sacred Harp come from the Christian faith, today these songs are sung across the world by people of all faiths and none.

Some people definitely find the experience transcendental – some may describe this as spiritual, or if they have a faith, it may form part of their worship. We often don’t know who believes what – it’s not something we usually discuss (the tradition is to avoid talking about religion and politics so that we can focus on what binds us, not our differences).

In standard sheet music, you’ll have seen the noteheads are all the same oval shape. In shapenote music, there are differently shaped noteheads. The system was designed to make it easier for people to learn how to read, and to sight-sing music.

Shapenote is a unique form of musical notation in which shaped noteheads are used for each note of the scale. Each shape is associated with a syllable: the triangle is ‘fa’, the circle is ‘sol’, the rectangle is ‘la’ and the diamond is ‘mi’.

When we sing from shapenote music, it is traditional to ‘sing the shapes’ before we sing the words. This means singing through the music while sounding out the syllable attached to each note. 

Sacred Harp is not sung to an audience. We don’t perform – we sing with, and for, each other. Singing while sitting in a ‘hollow square’, with each of the four parts facing into the centre gives a uniquely satisfying auditory experience for the singers. 

The ‘best seat in the house’ is not where an observer might sit, but the place where the leader stands. Right in the centre, at the point where all voices meet.

This is what we call ‘beating time’ – we move our hands up and down with the beat of the music to help us stay singing in time with each other. The pace is set by the leader and other singers mirror the movement of the leader’s arm to give the group a visual (and a physical) guide to the beat. 

We sing shapenote music. It is traditional to ‘sing the shapes’ before we sing the words. This means singing through the music while sounding out the syllable attached to each note. 

The first time we sing through the music we sing the names of the shape notes to the tune. Once we’ve sung the whole thing through from start to end using the names of the shapes instead of the lyrics, we then go back to the start and sing the printed words .

It helps us get a grip of the tune, pitch, speed and rhythm plus any tricky bits before we add the complication of reading the words, which aren’t always conveniently close to the notes on the page!

Yep. The shape-note system was originally used to teach people without music education to sight-read music. It’s fair to say that those with musical training do seem to pick it up more easily, but there are plenty of singers who couldn’t – or can’t – read the music but still enjoy singing Sacred Harp. You just listen to the voices of the other people singing your part and sing along with them.

Nothing. We aim for the whole ecology of our Sacred Harp singing to run on goodwill. Singing in the company of others is great for the soul, and no-one should be excluded on economic grounds alone. We do of course have some costs, so we just invite singers to make a donation if they can. This enables us to buy loaner books for newcomers, and pay for our other moderate outgoings. But if you can’t afford to make a financial contribution, don’t worry. Just come anyway and contribute your voice.

Generally no. Occasionally if we’re singing somewhere with a strict limit on numbers, we’ll specify that booking is essential. The tradition is that people just turn up if they fancy singing. But if you’re new, it’s really helpful if let us know you’re coming. And ideally, turn up about 15 mins early. This gives us chance to say hi, check where you’re happiest sitting, and show you at least the basics of navigating the book so you feel welcome and supported. You can either drop us an email, use the contact form, or message us on socials.

Wherever your voice is comfortable.

We sing seated, in a hollow square formation. The four voice parts facing in towards each other. There are four voice parts: tenor, bass, alto and treble. You can sing any part you like, and you’re not committed to staying there once you’ve chosen. If your part seems to be constantly slightly out of your range, or you fancy trying something else, you can move.

Bass is the lowest voice part of all. Treble offers the highest part. In the treble and tenor sections you can sing high or low. So a baritone and a soprano (in traditional choral music) may both feel comfortable singing tenor, an octave apart.

Unless you already know that it’s too high/too low for your voice, we usually recommend you start in tenor – this is where the melody is, and some say it’s the most intuitive part to sing. But avoid the front bench if you’re brand new. It’s the job of the front tenor bench to keep the singing together – you’ll have enough to think about without this responsibility!

Absolutely not. We’ll encourage you to lead. We’re on your side if you want to give it a go. We’ll invite you to stand in the middle with an experienced leader so you can feel what it’s like to be at the meeting point of the massed voices. And we’ll give you the chance to just pick a song for someone else to lead, if you want to have us sing your favourite song, like a Sacred Harp jukebox. But you don’t have to stand in the middle if it’s not for you. And you can just pass if you don’t have a tune.

Yes. We’d love to be fully accessible to everyone, but there are definitely some challenges. We’ve compiled a list of considerations which we hope will be helpful in helping you to decide and plan. See the page on Access and Attitudes

If we can do anything to facilitate your participation please ask and we’ll do our level best.

First, check with us if we’ve any new books in stock. Books are shipped from USA – we buy a box at a time to reduce the overall postage cost per person. This makes buying a book less expensive for us all. The Denson 1991 edition of the Sacred Harp which we currently sing from costs about £25. Don’t worry if you don’t have your own – we have loaner books available if you don’t want to buy one. If you want to order your book from America yourself, go to the Sacred Harp Publishing Company.

We don’t know yet when we’ll be able to order the 2025 revision of the book, or how much it’ll cost, but let us know if you want us to earmark a book for you (to collect in person) to keep the price as low as possible.

The once-in-a-generation revision of The Sacred Harp song book is released in September 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia. The European release will be at the 28th UK Sacred Harp Convention in County Durham, 20-21 September. When it’s available to buy, we’ll get a few boxes to sell on to singers so we can benefit from the cost saving on postage, so let us know if you’d like us to keep one aside for you.

Not really. We sing for ourselves. Occasionally we might sing somewhere quite public for the fun of it and to help new singers find their way to us. But we’re not a choir. We’re part of a global singing community that you’re welcome to join – for one song, or for the rest of your life.

We sing regularly in Manchester and Salford, and you’re welcome to listen if you really want to. But we will almost certainly invite you to pick up a book and join in.

(Oh, and don’t bother to clap…we’re not performers so it makes us squirm!)

Local groups usually meet regularly just to sing for a few hours, but an All-Day singing is special. This is an event – usually annual – that is hosted by a local singing community for visiting singers to attend.

It is more formal than a regular local singing. A Chair welcomes singers and makes announcements. It is minuted, and minutes (the songs sung and who lead them) are submitted to the official body. The arranging committee call singers who wish to lead by their name and hometown, which makes it efficient on time and gives everyone a fair chance. A Treasurer collects (voluntary) donations to cover costs as it’s often a larger venue to accommodate more singers. It is longer – usually around 10am – 4pm, and a key feature is that it includes ‘dinner on the grounds’ – this is a bring-and-share lunch which is generally an absolute feast. Normally there will be a role of Chaplain, who offers welcoming and closing prayers, which may be secular but are usually religious in nature. There is no assumption that everyone believes the same thing, but respect shown for those who do have a faith.

Also it is usual for the class (the assembled singers) to take time in the day to remember those who are not present – singers and people dear to us who have died, and singers unable to attend, often due to illness.

Attending an All-Day as your first experience of singing has pros and cons. It’s fast-paced and there’s little time to ask questions. But the sound is amazing, and there are more singers in each voice part for you to be able to follow. You may want to take the plunge – bravo! – so just tell people you’re brand new and they’ll be lovely and welcoming. If you think you’d like a little grounding in the basics first, either go to a regular local singing or look out for a singing school. These are run periodically by groups to support beginners. So if you can’t see one, get in touch with your local singing and see if they can run one.

Find an All-Day singing
Find a local singing