Black bible music originated in Scotland

Much of the procedure and terminology the shape-note tradition derives from the "singing school," an 18th-century institution that remains, in modified form, the primary mode of Sacred Harp instruction today. The typical Sunday "class" commences with a straightforward selection such as "Ninety-Fifth," its bright tune and easy cadence bringing the voices out of rest and into alignment. Tentative at first, perhaps, they swell directly--full-throated and without vibrato--to fill the room. An opening prayer precedes the election of new officers. In the course of the day, the "arranging committee" will call each willing participant to lead a "lesson" of one or two songs. Children, novices, and elder members of the group receive the warmest indulgence. Some leaders make their song selections as the spirit moves them, while others return week after week to their personal "sugar sticks." Nearly a hundred of the more than five hundred songs in the book will be sung before the day is over.

The first time through on each tune, it is customary to "sing the notes," calling their shapes by the ancient syllables fa, sol, la, and mi. Originally used as a learning device, this solmization produces a kind of pure vocal music, unshackled by poetry and theology. Though most Sacred Harp singers know these tunes by heart, they treasure the fa-sol-la's as part of their identity.