April 12, 2020

Why I Have Hope in a Time of Fear



For those of you unfamiliar with Sacred Harp (or shape note singing), it's a traditional American form of sacred singing. The notes were shaped as a tool for teaching sight singing. The example below shows one system of shape notes.


The first verse is traditionally sung in solfège syllables (do, re, me, fa, sol, etc.), so if you don't understand what they're saying, that's why.

"I'm Going Home" is one of my favorites. If you've seen Cold Mountain with Nicole Kidman and Jude Law, then it will be familiar to you. It's not specifically a Resurrection song, but the Resurrection is the reason why it fills me with hope.

14 comments:

Gorges Smythe said...

Interesting.

wyomingheart said...

Happy Easter! “ I’m going home”, is a spirit lifting song, and delivers that message - I know where I’ll be going.! Once again, you are very great at delivering a powerful message in these questionable times, and we all thank you. Terrific!

Boud said...

Thank you for a whole lot of new information. All of it's new to me. I was blogging about hope and new beginnings and right away you brought me something new to learn. Thank you.

This is hope in action.

Cockeyed Jo said...

Happy Easter, Leigh! Praise God! He is Risen!

Florida Farm Girl said...

Oh, Leigh, what memories you did bring back. I grew up using a hymn book with shaped notes, The Broadman Hymnal. A church nearby held Sacred Harp sing periodically.

Renee Nefe said...

Blessed Easter! He is Risen!

Retired Knitter said...

WONDERFUL!! I totally enjoyed that. I was feeling pretty down today - unusual for me when I felt like I was doing so well. Maybe it was waking up on a Joyful day - Easter - and I just wasn't feeling joyful. But that music definitely helped. Thank you.

Toirdhealbheach Beucail said...

Happy Easter Leigh! He is Risen!

We watched the Andrea Bocelli concert from Milan this afternoon. It was stunning. The last song was Amazing Grace (no bagpipes, which was a shame, but wonderful none the less).

Connie said...

For some reason I do not have sound on my computer anymore. I wish I was more techy so that I could figure out how to fix it.
Thank you for visiting my blog today and thank you for your prayers.
Connie

Pricket said...

Wonderfully uplifting. Will have to look into this musical form. Thank You.

Leigh said...

Gorges, The Sacred Harp is an Appalachian tradition, so I'm guessing you may have active groups in your state.

wyomingheart, Happy Easter! And you're welcome! :)

Boud, I admit to loving all forms of traditional music, but shape note singing never fails to make me happy.

Jo, He is Risen Indeed!

FFG, I have a Broadman! An old mountain church we belonged to many years ago used them for a long time. When they bought new hymnals, they got rid of the Broadmans and let me have one. I've never experienced a Sacred Harp sing live, but would sure love to.

Renee, He is Risen Indeed!

RT, what's neat is that the singers are all always enjoying themselves. Their happiness is catchy. :)

TB, He is Risen Indeed! Love Andrea Bocelli. He's probably one of the few who could pull off Amazing Grace without bagpipes.

Connie, what a shame you don't have sound! You would love the singing. I've had computers that did that sometimes as well. Just google "computer no sound"!

Pricket, you're welcome! There are tons of videos on YouTube, including a lot of versions of this song. It was hard to pick one to share. :)

Goatldi said...

I remember the hymnal / hymn book we used in the Methodist church looked like your example.

My youngest granddaughter is visiting for a week and we attended my little country church service yesterday. Held outside it was smaller as some folks are laying low even though we still have zero cases in out mountain community.

It was a wonderful service and a blessing for all. He has Risen .

Leigh said...

Goatldi, He is Risen Indeed! How wonderful that you could still have an Easter service. So many churches have had a very hard time of it. Glad to hear your granddaughter is visiting too. Hopefully, you are having a lovely spring!

Debby Riddle said...

I've never seen this. I'm going to have to take a closer look at the old Mennonite Hymnal I have that belonged to my ancestors. It is written in German. I love how the hymns have endured through the ages and still speak truth and hope.