BREMEN, Ga. -- "The Sacred Harp" hymnal is beloved by those who sing from it, carrying on the Christian songbook's more than 180-year-old legacy. They are young and old -- and all ages in between.

Liberty Baptist Church, in the northeast Alabama town of Henagar, has cradled the sound of Sacred Harp singing for 110 years. There's no harp in Sacred Harp singing -- no instruments at all. Just the ...

The National Sacred Harp Convention in Birmingham is the only Sacred Harp event that lasts three days. It is a substantial workout for the vocal cords, but those who can't get enough Sacred Harp can ...

An old religiously inspired songbook that uses shape notes for people who can't read music got a major update and is attracting younger singers. Hundreds of singers from all over the world gathered in ...

Singers at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in West Georgia treat their red hymnals like extensions of themselves, never straying far from their copies of “The Sacred Harp” and its music notes ...

“The Sacred Harp” is a pre-Civil War compilation of sacred songs that uses music notes shaped like triangles, ovals, squares and diamonds, and it is getting an update. Sung in four-part harmony, “The ...

You knew Chicago was a sanctuary for blues and gospel, but you’ve probably never heard of this rural-born musical tradition—even though it was probably America’s first ever. Sacred Harp music was a ...

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 ...

While reaching for a Granny Smith, the wall of sound rattled me. I dropped the apple, pulse racing: I had no idea such massive choral noises could emanate from inside a grocery store. I was at the ...

Some two dozen chairs are placed in a square in the center of the room. Slowly they're filled with college students, professors, business owners and retirees, each ready to participate in a singing ...