There also exists an African American Sacred Harp tradition, primarily in northwestern Florida and southeast Alabama, as well as in northern Mississippi and eastern Texas (Cobb 1989, 6). Most Black Sacred Harp singers use the Cooper book; however, those in northern Mississippi prefer the Denson book (Cobb 1989, 7). (For an essay on Black Sacred Harp singing in Mississippi, see: Chiquita Walls's "Mississippi's African American Shape Note Tradition." On African American Sacred Harp singing in East Texas, see: Donald R. Ross's "Black Sacred Harp Singing in East Texas.") Black Sacred Harp singers of the “Wiregrass” region of southeast Alabama supplement the Cooper book with The Colored Sacred Harp, a short tune-book that contains music written by African American composers. (source: "Tunebooks, Music and Hymnals"; "Judge Jackson and the Colored Sacred Harp"; also Willett 50-55. All songs are by Black composers with the single exception of “Eternal Truth Thy Word” by Bascom F. Faust, a white banker who put up one thousand dollars to help subsidize the publication of the book; Willett 53.)

Frontispiece of The Colored Sacred Harp, 1934.
Image courtesy of Emory University Pitts Theology Library.

African American Sacred Harp Audio Recordings:

"Pisgah" (4:36 min.)
RealMedia
"Pisgah" is a traditional song sung from the B.F. White Sacred Harp (Revised Cooper Edition, p. 58). Recorded by Stephen McCallum at an Alabama and Florida Union Singing Convention at Greater Old Salem Baptist Church in Dale County, Alabama, September 26, 1980.

"Wiregrass Sacred Harp Singers" (10:27 min.)
RealMedia
This program in the Folkways Radio Series features musical performances along with discussion by singing masters Japheth Jackson and Dewey Williams, and Williams's daughter, Bernice Harvey.

"Pisgah" and "Wiregrass Sacred Harp Singers" program from the Folkways radio series courtesy of Alabama Center for Traditional Culture.