We’ve already revealed new compositions, a new music typeface, and new verses and keys… but that’s not all that will be new in The Sacred Harp: 2025 Edition! We have commissioned three new essays, an updated rudiments section, and expanded indexes that will enhance the book’s value as a resource to the singing community.
Three eminent scholars of Sacred Harp singing wrote short essays to introduce the tradition to new singers, provide historical perspective on the tunebook and our music practices, and remind all of us why Sacred Harp singing is such a cherished part of our lives. You can look forward to reading “A Perspective: Sacred Harp and its Traditions,” by Buell Cobb, “Sacred Harp Singing,” by David Warren Steel, and “The Revisions of The Sacred Harp” by Jesse P. Karlsberg.
A selection from the rudiments in The Sacred Harp: 2025 Edition.
The rudiments were completely revised with a focus on creating the most effective teaching aid possible, whether for singing schools or for individual learners. Bringing together the best elements from historical rudiments along with input from respected Sacred Harp singing school teachers, our rudiments team, led by Lauren Bock, developed a resource that will introduce a new generation of Sacred Harp singers to the nuances of our tradition through a clear, fun, and copiously illustrated approach.
The new rudiments feature numerous visual examples to make learning easy.
In addition to the title and first-line indexes, we are adding three new indexes to help singers get the most out of their books: an index of composers and musical sources, an index of authors and text sources, and an index of meters. We are incredibly grateful to the numerous experts in our community we relied on to compile all this information and present it in an easy-to-navigate format, all without adding any pages to the book.
