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Sacred Harp Singing in Cincinnati |
Directions and Singing Information Email List Facebook New Years Singing
As of April 2022, monthly Sacred Harp singing in Cincinnati has resumed. Announcements of time, location, Covid precautions, etc., are being announced on the Cincinnati Sacred Harp Facebook group page.
Sacred Harp singing uses the book The Sacred Harp (orig. 1844), which features a style of music popular during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its most distinctive characteristic is the use of shape notes to indicate the degree of the musical scale. Just as in nineteenth century singing schools, Sacred Harp singers sing the names of the notes "fa," "sol," "la," and "mi" before singing the text. Singers sit in a "hollow square," with the bass, tenor, treble, and alto facing the leader in the center.
As the film clip describes, Sacred Harp singing is undergoing a revival in northern cities like Cincinnati. For more information on Sacred Harp singing in general, the "fasola" webpage is a good resource—http://fasola.org.
Singing Information
The meetings are informal and proceed by taking turns choosing songs from the book. Often easy songs are chosen if newcomers are present. Veteran singers are eager to answer any questions. There is no admission charge, no membership, no audition, no choir director, no rehearsal, and no performance—just singing. Sacred Harp singing thrives on large numbers, so veterans are usually eager to help newcomers learn the fundamentals.
Each year on January 1st, Cincinnati sponsors an "all-day singing" from 10am-3:30pm. This is a wonderful event that attracts singers from around the midwest and brings together old friends who are in Cincinnati for the holidays. Details on the singing are available at the Cincinnati New Year Singing website. Due to Covid the singing may be cancelled—check Facebook for the most recent news.
Currently the Cincinnati group does not maintain an email list. Until a new email group is created, we recommend joining the Facebook group for singing news.
FACEBOOK
HISTORY
Records indicate that the first meeting was held June 26, 1988, with six singers. In 1990 we hosted a singing school taught by Richard DeLong, held in a classroom at Xavier University. There for the first time we met the singers from Columbus. Soon after, we jointly established the Yellow Springs singing.LINKS
Link to this page: http://cincysacredharp.ej345.com