About a year-and-a-half ago, I went through a devastating breakup and, soon after, began a love affair with perhaps the strangest hobby an ex-yeshiva girl could imagine: Sacred Harp singing.

Groups of Sacred Harp singers are working together to revise their hymnal The a capella tradition uses shape-note music to sight-read songs from the hymnal's 554 options Families pass the musical ...

EDWARDSVILLE – On Labor Day each year, the sounds of spirited hymns drift through the forest near the Shoal Creek Church, built in 1895. The Shoal Creek Preservation Society hosted its annual sacred ...

In a scene from “Cold Mountain,” Ada and Inman exchange glances from hard wooden pews as they sing from their “Sacred Harp” hymnals. The congregation keeps time to the jubilant a cappella tune, rigid ...

Surrounded by other singers arranged in a square, Judy Hauff rocks her feet heel to toe, rhythmically slashes the air with her arm and sings “Fa la sol la sol.” This is “shape note” music, an a ...

Cerys Matthews visits Alabama to learn a sacred choral tradition. Widely practised before the American Civil War, Sacred Harp singing is currently experiencing a global resurgence. Show more Cerys ...

Performances in N.Y.C. Advertisement Supported by Essay Expanding my instrument’s repertoire takes months of practicing, experimentation and personal sacrifices. But it has made me believe in ...