Scared Harp Singing

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MU 2313-002 Sacred Harp Singing #1 September 17, 2012 (3rd Saturday) 10:30 A.M.- 12:30 P.M. First United Methodist Church, Todd Hall Describe the event or exhibit: On September 17, 2012 at 10:30 A.M. I attended a Sacred Harp singing at the First United Methodist Church in Todd Hall. It took me a while to find out where exactly in Todd Hall the Sacred Harp Singings were being held, but as soon as I heard the sound of voices off in the distance I knew I was in the right place. I sat down and took my seat along with two other girls who were attending the Singings as well. To my surprise, I was pleasantly greeted by you, Mr. Nelms. You all were reading aloud the shapes in the music. I had never actually read music before and it took me a while to get the hang of it. Your wife kindly pointed out that the music notes that were circles were always, “sol,” triangles were always, “fa,” squares were always, “la,” and the diamonds were always, “mi.” This helped me tremendously! We sang songs in the music shape note form to aid in memorizing the notes, which is called sight-reading. This is supposed to help beginner singers. Then we began to sing the songs. As you pointed out, I found myself singing mostly in the “la” note form. You had said that most beginners, including yourself, had done the same. The first song that I sang with the group was, “Mount Vernon”. This was honestly my favorite. It was about the death of George Washington. It was a very somber tone, but as I learned quickly, the majority of the songs were sad songs, though not all are sad. It was the time period in which the music was created and it was a time with no entertainment available other than what you created for yourself to pass the time. Hence why the singings did flourish. I had a conversation with Mrs. Beverly Nelms about the Sacred Harp Singings. She was very enlightening and shared with

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