‘Sacred Harp’ hits all the notes

I hadn’t even stepped out of the vehicle and I could hear the unique melodies of “Sacred Harp” singing beaming out of the walls of historic Mt. Herman Primitive Baptist Church in the New Liberty Community just east of Vardaman.

I’ve attended a few “Sacred Harp” singings through the years. The last I could remember was one at Old Bethel just north of Bruce. The late Hugh Bill Maguire, a longtime president of the Calhoun “Sacred Harp” convention and subscriber to The Journal, was always involved and greeted me with a big smile.

There was another at Reedy’s Chapel one September I visited. I remember Robert Earl Alexander, a regular community news writer for our newspaper, was among those sitting in that front square near the pulpit as the rest of us filled the pews in the small church.

It was Robert Earl’s recent news that alerted me to the event at Mt. Herman, a church I have driven by many times but never stepped inside. I put it on the calendar as one I wanted to go to. There’s something unique about small country churches that I love. You can feel the history of the place just stepping onto the grounds.

Mt. Herman was founded in April of 1880. I don’t know a lot about its founding but would love to look into that further.

I stepped inside the church as a couple dozen attendees were in full voice of “Sacred Harp” music. I never understood why it was called “Harp” singing as there is no harp involved, in fact, there are no musical instruments whatsoever, simply the human voice.

Like past “Sacred Harp” sessions I’ve attended, most everyone at the front of the church took a turn leading a couple songs. The leader is like an orchestral director moving his hand up and down to keep the count and the time of the music.

A unique characteristic of “Sacred Harp” singing is it is the notes – fa, sol, la, mi, do – that are sung more than the words. There’s a portion of that shared from Saturday’s visit at Mt. Herman on The Journal’s Instagram account.

I made my pictures, took in several songs, and then stepped outside to make some pictures of the old church and its cemetery, all while still being able to enjoy the sounds echoing out from the sanctuary.

A photo shoot with cheerleaders from every school in the county for our football preview edition that comes out next week forced me to leave a little earlier than desired.