NEWBURY SACRED HARP

We sing 4-part a cappella harmony from The Sacred Harp, a shape-note tunebook first published in Georgia in 1844. The Sacred Harp tradition itself dates back to 18th Century New England, and is likely the oldest home-grown musical tradition in the United States. The music is an eclectic mixture of early New England hymns and “fuging-tunes” and Southern campmeeting songs, but the Singing itself is completely nondenominational. Sacred Harp singing emphasizes participation, rather than performance, and folks of all abilities are welcomed to sing with us. We neither rehearse nor perform in the usual sense: we simply sing for the sheer joy of singing!