I stumbled across a story about the then new facsimile edition of The Social Harp that was published in the Atlanta Journal on March 1st, 1974. I thought it was so nicely illustrated I would transcribe and post the article and corresponding photos.

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Songbook ‘Sings’

by BILLIE CHENEY SPEED
Atlanta Journal Religion Editor

Staff Photos by Bill Mahan

Assembled in the traditional hollow square and using the “Social Harp” songbook more than 30 singers performed the vocal music of America’s oldest days.

“Their music has both the rugged quality of the American frontier and the haunting beauty of British folk melodies” said John F. Garst who was among those who gathered for the second annual singing in the Memorial Hall ballroom of the University of Georgia in Athens.

The shaped notes with which the music is printed in “The Social Harp” and “The Sacred Harp” and other books were invented in 1800 by New Englanders according to Garst. The note heads in the music books are in shapes of squares triangles diamonds and ovals and they match the names of the notes “fa sol la ” serving as aids to sight reading.

Traditionally each piece is sung through once using the notes rather than the words and so from this practice the term “fasola singing” is derived.

Last year’s singing at the university was held in celebration of the republication of John Gordon McCurry’s “The Social Harp” by the University of Georgia Press.

Garst a chemistry professor at the University of Georgia became interested in sacred harp singing when he came to Georgia from California ten years ago. He was instrumental in getting the book originally published in 1855 reprinted.

“The Social Harp” is a singing textbook.

Garst said that singing schools in the 18th century were a weapon of war against the slow embellished congregational singing style that had developed in the colonies by 1700.

Until 1800 the singing school tradition flowered and flourished and then fashion changed and much of the populace rejected the native American music of many of the singing school manuals in favor of European music of the day said Garst.

But the singing schools lived on in rural areas and school texts compiled by the Georgia and South Carolina singing masters include “The Southern Harmony” (1844), “The Social Harp” (1855), “The Christian Harmony (1866), “The Sacred Harp” (1844), “The Hesperian Harp” (1846), and “The Olive Leaf” (1878).

McCurry, who authored “The Social Harp,” was a farmer and singing master from Hart County Ga, and was founding father of Bio Baptist Church, which is located between Hartwell and Bowman.

His book currently available in a new edition was edited by Garst and by Daniel W Patterson.

At this year’s singing at the university a group of traditional Sacred Harp singers from South and West Georgia participated.

They usually sing from “The Sacred Harp,” another’ Georgia book which has been in use continuously since 1844.

The present publisher of “The Original Sacred Harp” (Denson revision) is the Sacred Harp Publishing Co at Bremen.

Numerous singings from this book are held throughout Georgia including the Georgia State Sacred Harp Singing which is always held “the fourth Sunday of March and the Saturday before.”

This year it will be held at Old Valley Grove Primitive Baptist Church five miles southwest of Ocilla off Ga 313 (Ocilla to Tifton).

The singing open to participants as well as visitors starts about 10 am and runs to mid-afternoon with a midday dinner-on-the-grounds.