The Sacred Harp tunebooks

At the Potomac River Convention, we shall sing from The Sacred Harp, 2025 Edition.

Traditional a cappella singing of religious music, mostly of early American origin, in four-part harmony, from any of several Sacred Harp editions is called Sacred Harp singing. There are at least four editions/revisions of the original 1844 tunebook in use today. The two major ones are described below:

1. The Sacred Harp, 2025 Edition

The Sacred Harp: 2025 Edition, published by the Sacred Harp Publishing Company was debuted on September 12-14, 2025. This major and thorough revision of The Sacred Harp, 1991 Edition (see immediately below) has been produced by a Revision-Music Committee headed by life-long Alabama singer David Ivey, at work since 2018. The awesome 2025 Edition has a forest-green cover and a total of 590 songs, including 113 newly added songs chosen from 1155 submitted and test-sung in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. Seventy-seven songs and anthems from the 1991 Edition, mostly little used, were removed. Statistics of the newly added songs are as follows: 78 composers and sources, 49 living composers, 18 U.S. states and 5 countries represented, 51% in major keys and 49% in minor keys, 4 songs from the 1700s, 18 from the 1800s, 10 from the 1900s, and 81 from the 2000s. All songs, including retained ones, were digitally typeset with the use of a bespoke shape-note font "Collins," designed by Jeff Kellem, which is intended to maximize readability and attractiveness while enabling the tightening of scores of some previously multi-page songs. Changes were made in several retained songs: verses (14 songs), keys (13 songs), and parts (2 songs). The book has a completely revised and updated Rudiments section and essays by Buell Cobb, David Warren Steel, and Jesse P. Karlsberg. Remarkably, the 2025 Edition has 36 more songs than the 1991 Edition, yet the total number of pages is the same as that of the 1991 Edition. The new songs reflect the remarkable flourishing of shape-note composition activity in recent decades. An impressively large number of highly accomplished Sacred Harpers from around the U.S. and U.K. were involved in the perfection of every aspect of this revision. The 2025 Edition is being rapidly accepted by most Sacred Harp singing circles in the U.S. and abroad. Ordering information can be found on the publisher's website. The initial price is $20/book in the United States and £20 in the United Kingdom, plus a nominal shipping charge. A case of 8 books will cost $160 including domestic shipping within the U.S.

2. The Sacred Harp, Revised Cooper Edition, 2012

The Sacred Harp, Revised Cooper Edition, 2012. The "Cooper Edition" is a tunebook descended from the 19th-century Sacred Harp and initially published in 1902 by W. M. Cooper. This Edition has been periodically revised by a different circle of singers and their families from those who produced the Denson and 1991 Editions described above. It is published by the Sacred Harp Book Co. It has been traditionally used in the Florida panhandle, the southern regions of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, and in Texas. It is also used by black Sacred Harp groups in Alabama. Nationwide interest in the Cooper Edition (informally known as the "Cooper book") has increased dramatically in recent years, and currently there are Cooper Edition singings in nearly all regions of the U.S. The Cooper Edition has many songs in common with the Denson/1991 Sacred Harp (sometimes with different alto parts and titles) but also many other mid- to late-nineteenth-century songs having a relatively sweet harmony, including "call-and-response" songs. It also has a number of beautiful "folk hymns" not in the 1991 Edition, and several contemporary songs. Many Sacred Harp singers attend both Cooper Edition and 1991 Edition singings and cherish the unique songs of each tradition. The new 2012 Revised Cooper Edition represents a monumental cover-to-cover retypesetting of all pages by Karen Willard, a Seattle alto singer and shape-note music publisher. Improvements and corrections were made carefully to enhance singability and readability without altering the music or changing the character of the tunebook. Ms. Willard reports the following improvements: The dark blue hardbound 608-page book is 1/2 inch taller and 1/2 inch wider than before. The 612 songs (counting two in the Rudiments) include 12 newly added songs, 10 by currently living composers. No songs were deleted. All known musical and typographical errors were corrected. All remaining uses of "etc." were replaced with actual lyrics, and additional verses were added to 95 songs where there was space for more. Eleven songs were moved to different pages to allow more room for previously cramped songs. All alto parts are now in the treble clef rather than alto clef. The Rudiments section is now much more readable, and minor errors were corrected. The Tunename Index includes names used in the Denson/1991 editions where they differ from the those in the Cooper Edition. Finally, the name of the book itself was changed from The B.F. White Sacred Harp (the name used from 1949-2006) to The Sacred Harp, the name used from 1902 until 1949; however the former name is printed on the spine. Clearly everyone who attends Cooper book singings will want to buy a copy of this new edition. Order from the Sacred Harp Book Co. online store. As of January 2025, the base price is $40.00 per book. Bulk orders are by case (14 books/case) for $532. Contact information is on the website.