Sacred Harp Singers

Metronomic Rhythm

Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music that originated in New England and was later perpetuated and carried on in the American South. The name is derived from The Sacred Harp, a ubiquitous and historically important tunebook printed in shape notes. The work was first published in 1844 and has reappeared in multiple editions ever since. This music was included in, and became profoundly associated with, books using the shape note style of notation popular in America in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It’s also called the Shape Note system, where each musical note on the scale is assigned a different shape. It’s easy to follow and blatantly metronomic.