Tenth Garden State Sacred Harp Singing Convention & Sixth "Unconventional Sunday"

Convention details

Friday: Workshop with Paula McGray

Paula has earned the respect of singers from North and South alike. Her knowledge of many different varieties of traditional Sacred Harp singing, her keen powers of musical observation, and her ability to guide singers in a way that is at once both compelling and tactful have made her a much sought-after mentor for those of us in the Northeast who would "seek the old paths and walk therein." We persuaded her to present some of her thoughts in a large public forum for the first time in 2000. She has graciously consented to return this year to share further insights into the traditions of Sacred Harp singing, including (we are told) some thoughts on the ever-mysterious matter of pitch and keying.

This promises to be a valuable evening of singing, instruction, and conversation for new and experienced singers alike.

Saturday: All-day singing with dinner on the grounds

Sunday: Our sixth "Unconventional Sunday"

We have been invited by the pastor and music director to sing and lead singing during the Sunday worship service. For part of the service music we will join forces with the church's choir.

Following the service and a light lunch, our afternoon singing session will as usual include singing from The Sacred Harp 1991 edition while also particularly encouraging the singing of new songs and music from other shape-note books, including the Cooper revision and Eclectic Harmony. Please supply t0 copies of any new songs or songs from any other shape-note books that you wish to lead. Please observe copyright restrictions and obtain permission before copying where required.

Logistical details and information

Books

Copies of The Sacred Harp tunebook (1991 edition, 585 pages, hardbound) will be available for loan or for purchase.

Kids

Children are welcome and encouraged to sing! Childcare for young children may be available; please inquire.

Getting there

The venues are easily reached by highway or by public transportation from all points. Trenton, although it is admittedly on the other side of the great North Jersey/South Jersey divide, is not as far from Montclair as you may think!! For map and detailed travel directions, please see our directions page.

Housing

Affordable hotel availability is limited, so please confirm as early as possible to assure receiving accommodation at the favorable rates that two local hotels are offering for the Sacred Harp convention. You may contact Kings Inn Hotel (the closer location), in Wayne at 973-256-7500 or the Days Inn in Parsippany at 973-335-0200.

To inquire about housing with local singers, call 973 779-8290 or e-mail to smbjoyous@aol.com

What is Sacred Harp singing?

It is a uniquely American music with roots in colonial New England congregational singing and a continuous tradition preserved by both black and white churches in the rural South. Since the 1970s it has been sung in all parts of North America by people of remarkably diverse musical and religious backgrounds.

Our tunebook, The Sacred Harp (first published in 1844 and most recently revised in 1991), is written in "shape notes": standard musical notation supplemented with variously shaped noteheads that make it easier for beginners to learn the notes of the scale and to learn to read music. But you don't need to read music to join in singing with us!

We sing in the traditional way, sitting in four sections facing each other around a hollow square, beating time together, taking turns leading from the center of the square. Three- and four-part counterpoint--whether devised by largely self-taught "folk" composers or by disciples of the classical masters--is enriched and expanded to six parts by octave doublings. Some songs are lively, some sober; a strongly felt rhythmic pulse governs both.

We sing early versions of standard hymns such as Amazing Grace, Old Hundred, Wayfaring Stranger, and Wondrous Love, but much of the music in The Sacred Harp will be unfamiliar even to experienced choral singers: majestic ancient English and European psalm tunes, spirited 18th-century New England "fuging tunes," anthems, folk and gospel hymns, camp-meeting songs from the 19th-century frontier, and compositions in all of these traditional genres by the women and men who have preserved The Sacred Harp and its music through all the years of the 20th century.

For more information about Sacred Harp singing and Sacred Harp resources on the Internet, we recommend starting with Warren Steel's Sacred Harp page at the University of Mississippi.

Call or write us!

More information about Sacred Harp in New Jersey

Want to sing some more? Or get a head-start before the convention? Do you live in our area? Are you visiting? You are always welcome at our monthly Sacred Harp singings in Montclair, New Jersey.

You can also view our archive of pages for previous conventions and other past events.