"First Sing the Notes":
Oral and Written Traditions
in Sacred Harp Transmission

By Kiri Miller

Introduction: "Well, You'll Learn"

Every January the Chicago Sacred Harp singers hold an "Anniversary Singing" to celebrate their continuing existence as a musical community. It is a one-day singing, not a full weekend Sacred Harp "convention," and visitors usually face terribly bitter weather. Therefore the Chicago Anniversary Singing mostly attracts singers from the Midwest, along with a scattering of former Chicago singers and well-wishers from Sacred Harp communities in Southern states. Roughly a hundred singers gather in the "hollow square" formation characteristic of Sacred Harp singings: a square with sides several rows deep, one voice-part on a side, all the chairs or pews facing into the central space where song leaders will stand. This is an intimate group compared to the crowds that attend the Midwest Convention, Chicago's showcase singing, for a full weekend in late spring. The mood is less formal at the Anniversary Singing; more people know each other, and the "arranging committee" is under less pressure to push through the list of people who have signed up to lead songs from The Sacred Harp.