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Oh, Sistah! You read Gregorian AND Sacred Harp (a.k.a. Fa-So-La or Shape-Note or "Appalachian White Spiritual")? Woo-hoo!

Don-o and I have been singing Shape Note of the 7-shape denomination (Christian Harmony and New Harp of Columbia books) for a couple of years now. It is so tremendous. And we live here in Upper East Tennessee, so we get together with the Western North Carolina people regularly, and the all-day sings draw shape-noters from Georgia, Virginia, Alabama and beyond. Not church-sponsored: just us wild enthusiasts...

Thanks to your help, we are s-l-o-w-l-y getting our parish music director modestly interested in Gregorian. We'll do a little bit, Santus and Agnus Dei, this Advent.

Here's a joke I think is hilarious, though nobody gets it but Don-o:

You know about the 5-point Calvinists with their 5 solas, right? Did you know there's a Japanese shape-note version? It's called So-la mi-so.

:^P

Christian Harmony? That's fabulous. Upper South tradition, we are more GA-ALA Original Sacred Harp. I have actually MET Hugh McGraw! We do get around to the hymn sings, and the OSH singers are just like Christian Harmony, it's not directly church affiliated but meets in all-day sings (and dinner on the grounds). The Georgia Music Hall of Fame had a special exhibition on Sacred Harp, it may still be there, I don't know, if you get down Macon way.

It's straight-ahead fortissimo singing, but the tuning is surprisingly good. Wish some of our little old lady sopranos could hold a note like that . . .

I'm glad that your choir director is warming up to the idea of chant. Slowly is no problem - at least he didn't reject it out of hand. "Link by link is chain mail made," as one of Kipling's characters said.

Mi-so as in miso soup, ja? (my daughter is a big fan of all things Japanese, especially anime', but I am clueless except that I really like to read Lafcadio Hearn.)