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WHY DOES THE BEGINNING OF A SACRED HARP SONG SOUND ODD? WHY CANT I UNDERSTAND THE LYRICS?

April 26, 2017beginning Harp Lyrics odd sacred Song sound understand

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WHY DOES THE BEGINNING OF A SACRED HARP SONG SOUND ODD? WHY CANT I UNDERSTAND THE LYRICS?

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Generally speaking, there are no lyrics being sung at the very beginning of a Sacred Harp tune. Instead, people are “singing the shapes”. Syllables (fa, so, la, mi) are being sung instead of the words. The song is sung like this once and then the actual words are used.