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Join us for a small and informal singing of the Sacred Harp. We meet monthly (usually the 3rd Tuesday of the month) in the King's Arms pub, Salford. Grab yourself a drink at the bar and come and find us. We're probably in the snug, downstairs, first left. Everyone is welcome, whether visiting singer or total newcomer. We have loaner books available.We also sing one Sunday afternoon per month at The Whitworth, Manchester. Check our other event listings for details.
COVID
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We want to keep community singing as safe and accessible as possible for all members of our community. We request all participants to be considerate to protect their fellow singers.
* If you've received a positive test result in the past 10 days, or are in close contact with someone who has, you should not attend
* If you're feeling at all unwell, even with a cough or cold, please don't attend
* You are welcome to wear a mask for singing. You can sit away from others if you'd prefer extra space
Access
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The Kings Arms is a vibrant, friendly and inclusive pub. We are booked into The Snug, which is on the ground floor, but if that is unavailable at the last minute, we may be moved to a room upstairs without notice. The upstairs room is problematic for anyone who is ambulant disabled: it is at the top of a single flight of quite steep steps. So if it's important to you to know in advance, please drop us a line and we'll be happy to contact the venue to explain our needs and ensure that we can definitely stay downstairs.
The toilets and bar are on the ground floor. There is one stone step to enter the pub and uneven stone flooring on ground level. The Snug is the first room on the left, stone floored and has moveable wooden tables and upholstered stools and two room-length upholstered benches which are fixed.
The room upstairs is small, with fold-out wooden tables which take up most of the space in the room. We sit on narrow wooden benches, also fold-out furniture.
If we happen to be upstairs, and you can manage steps but would like to take someone's arm when climbing them, or would like us to provide more detailed and accurate information about access, please contact us. We'll do our best to make it as accessible as possible.
We also sing once a month at The Whitworth which is wheelchair accessible throughout.
New to Sacred Harp?
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Sacred Harp is a choral tradition that originated in America in the late 1800s, drawing on the hymns and folk tunes of the time. It is sung in four part harmony, with no instruments accompanying the singers.
Sacred Harp is accessible, communal and participatory, not performative. So there's no 'choir practice' - you just turn up and sing.
Manchester Sacred Harp is a friendly group who get together for the love of singing. We're a small group - numbers fluctuate each time, depending on who can make it (there's no expectation to always attend). It's not a fixed group - it's open to anybody, so you're welcome to just come along and try it.
There is a mixture of abilities, and the voices of the most experienced singers help you to follow the tune. You won’t be asked to sing alone, and there’s no audience. It’s all about power of many voices joined in harmony.
Participants sit in an open square, the singers in each of the four sections facing towards each other. Each section sings a different part of the harmony.
First of all, everyone sounds out the tune together using just the four shape notes (fa, so, la, mi). Then we sing it through with the words using the Sacred Harp tune book. Shapenotes were designed to make it easier to follow a tune for people who don’t read music. But there’s no real need to follow the notes - you simply need to listen and join in - you’ll pick it up as you go along.
People from all faiths and none are welcome: our focus is purely on the camaraderie of making music together.
This lovely short video gives a useful explanation of Sacred Harp:
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Kings Arms Pub, Bloom Street, Salford, United Kingdom
