Smith Mountain Lake to experience deep-rooted music style

Courtesy of Michael Walker

Michael Walker, son of Don and Charlotte Walker of Moneta, leads a sacred harp singing in London.

There are musical notations that are used in vocal and instrumental scores. There are notes on a scale to follow, dynamics from soft to loud and dramatic pauses for instrumental buildup.

In sacred harp singing, those notations don't apply. The singing style, which dates back to the 1800-era Deep South, has no instruments, no dynamics and encourages singers to perform at top volume.

"If you're expecting sweet choral music, that's not what sacred harp is like," said Michael Walker. "It sounds like hillbillies singing renaissance music. To me, it's very beautiful, but I know it's not everybody's cup of tea."

Walker, son of Don and Charlotte Walker of Moneta, will bring the sacred harp style of singing to the lake next week.

On Thursday, Aug. 5, Trinity Ecumenical Parish will be the site of a screening of "Awake, My Soul," a documentary on the style. On Saturday, Aug. 7, Michael Walker will lead visitors through a sacred harp workshop and singing.

Walker, a musician who lives in London and owns a legal translation business, discovered the music several years ago on a British radio station.

"There was a program on the radio that played sacred folk traditions," said Walker. "They played some sacred harp music and I heard that and I said that's something I must find more about."

His quest led him to several sacred harp conventions, as well as smaller singings at country churches throughout the South. He soon became immersed in the music and its history.

"Sacred harp refers to the human voice," said Walker. "It is the instrument given by God."

The style dates back to a song book titled "The Sacred Harp," which has been in continuous publication since 1844. It is sung a cappella in four parts. Both men and women sing the treble (soprano) and tenor parts. The bass line is for men and the alto is for women.

"It gives it a very full sound with the men singing the high parts in the soprano," said Walker.

Other differences include the floating musical scale. Whereas the scale usually is taught as do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do, with do representing the C note, Sacred Harp is fa-sol-la-fa-sol-la-mi-fa. Fa floats depending on the song's key; in the key of C, fa represents C, but in the key of F, it represents F.

"In sacred harp singing, whenever you sing a piece, you always sing the scale notes before you sing the text," said Walker. "You sing all the way through one time and then you sing the text."

In "Amazing Grace," the most famous of the sacred harp songs, the opening words are sung as fa-la-la-sol on the treble line.

Walker said this system was devised in the 1800s to teach people how to sing. In addition, the notes are dictated by shapes in the sheet music for quick memorization. Fa is a triangle, sol is an oval, la a rectangle and mi a diamond.

Sacred harp was widespread around the South, much of it originating in Georgia, said Walker. As people migrated west to states such as Texas and Alabama, they brought the music with them. Despite the music's migration, the changing culture almost killed the traditional singing style.

"It was sort of dying back a bit after the second world war," said Walker. "People moved to the cities and were no longer interested in going to these all-day singings."

The younger generation was more interested in contemporary music, he said. But sacred harp is experiencing a resurgence. The 2003 film "Cold Mountain," featuring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law, includes two songs performed by a sacred harp group. In 2006, a group of filmmakers produced the documentary "Awake, My Soul," which has been aired on PBS.

"Sacred harp singing has been picked up by a lot of almost-urban, hipster-type of people in places like New York City and big college towns in the Northeast," said Walker.

He said he hopes it gets picked up at Smith Mountain Lake. The further it spreads, the longer the tradition will live, something integral to sacred harp enthusiasts.

"It's a fairly small universe," said Walker. "Very quickly, you become very closely linked to these people. They are so devoted to the tradition and so devoted to the music. Every time they find a new convert, they're so happy because they know the music isn't going to go away."

For more information about sacred harp singing, visit fasola.org.

Sacred harp workshop

What: An educational session on sacred harp singing, an American tradition dating back to the 1800s.

When: On Thursday, Aug. 5 at 7 p.m., there will be a screening of "Awake, My Soul," a documentary on sacred harp. On Saturday, Aug. 7, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., there will be a workshop and potluck.

Where: Trinity Ecumenical Parish, 40 Lakemount Drive, Moneta

Cost: Free