Introduction to
Shape-Note Singing
and links to online resources

Shape-note singing is a folk music tradition of 4-part a capella hymn singing, also known as Sacred Harp or Fa-So-La singing. For more than two hundred years, the uniquely inclusive format and strong custom of fellowship within this a living tradition of community singing (not performance) has brought singers together. In the 21st century, shape-note singing has blossomed into a worldwide community. All are welcome to join us. No experience necessary. You don’t have to read music or be a good singer. There are no religious or other membership requirements. All you need is a desire to sing! 

Recent media coverage:  

• NPR, September 25, 2025: Latest update of 1844 American songbook reflects new generation of 'Sacred Harp' singers (3 minute audio + article)

• Alabama Folklife podcast September 9, 2025: Like a Lightning Bolt: Sacred Harp Singing in Alabama (47 minutes)
  
  

Fasola.org contains many resources - including Lisa Grayson's excellent beginners’ guide and various Indexes of words, meters, composers, etc for 2025 and other editions.

Here are some videos that explain it more:

1. Shoal Creek Singing in Talladega National Forest (Georgia/Alabama)

2. Echoes of the Past: Singing the Sacred Harp (North Carolina) 

3. Shape Note Singing at the Polk County History Center (Florida) 

Some of the shape-note tunebooks we regularly sing from, and pages where you can learn more about them, are:

• The Sacred Harp: 2025 Edition, which just replaced the 1991 edition, also known as the Denson (red) book - https://sacredharp.com/

• The Sacred Harp, Revised Cooper Edition, 2012, also called the blue book - http://www.sacredharpbook.com/

• The Shenandoah Harmony (2012) and Valley Pocket Harmonist (2025) https://www.shenandoahharmony.com/

• The Christian Harmony (2010), which uses 7-shape solfege: Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Si Do! https://www.christianharmony.org/

Want to explore the songs in these books and hear what they sound like? Check out:

• https://sacredharpbremen.org/en/home/  for The Sacred Harp (1991)

• https://sevenshapes.sacredharpbremen.org/ for The Christian Harmony

• https://shenandoah.harmony.sacredharpbremen.org/ for The Shenandoah Harmony. 

For each of those 3 sites, the index lists songs by page number and tune name. If you click on one, like https://sacredharpbremen.org/45t-new-britain/  you can view the poetry and music, download or print a PDF, hear robots sing each of the 4 voice parts individually, and follow links to youtube videos of that song being led at singings around the world.

Want to find a singing anywhere in the world? Check out Jeremiah Ledbetter's singings finder. 

Wonder if your favorite hymn is in The Sacred Harp? You can compare The Sacred Harp to other hymnals here: https://hymnary.org/hymnal_compare/tune?hymnal1=SH1991...

The handout embedded below is a printable PDF you're welcome to modify, share, and use as you like.