Sacred Harp: Shape Note Singing in Arkansas

Sacred Harp shape-note singing is a centuries-old unaccompanied four-part American hymn tradition that traces back to early nineteenth-century New England and traveled south through the singing schools of Appalachia and the rural South. In Arkansas, it remains a living practice held in community gatherings and song schools.

Cory Winters has been studying and playing traditional Irish music since the age of 11, when he began playing violin. He has been writing his own shapenote songs since 2013 and has been mentored by leading shapenote songwriters such as Dan Brittain. Winters has a song in this year’s Sacred Harp: 2025 Edition, and served as mentor to Allison Langston for the Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Training Program.

Winters is joined in conversation by Elizabeth Janes, Allison Langston, and Mckenna Mullis to discuss the practice of shape note singing in Arkansas, the social and ritual character of singings, and the new generation taking a seat in the hollow square.