Jeff Kellem Sacred Harp singing started in the 1700s and continues today. For community, inclusive, welcoming. No rehearsal, no performance, sing once, move on. Full voice, fortissimo (loud) is default. Sitting in a hollow square, leader in the center, four parts facing inward. Heard in the film “Cold Mountain.”
In early 2020, a bespoke shape-note music typeface for the new edition of “The Sacred Harp” was commissioned. Shape note is a solfège system; differing shapes represent notes in a relative scale, helping singers sightread. During the next 5 years, this design was refined through iteration, historical references, detailed feedback and communication, culminating in the book’s release in September 2025.
First published in 1844, the songbook is used throughout the world, connecting community, as a historical and living book, with a new edition every ~30 years. Each edition removes less popular songs and adds in new compositions. The 2025 Edition will be used for a generation with the typeface available for new music layout.
The typeface allowed 13 pages to be freed up for new songs by condensing multipage songs into a smaller space while being readable and clearer. They wanted the design to “breathe” on a page with ample space while remaining visually consistent with denser pages.
Will share:
- history of the book designs over the past 180+ years,
- design decisions along the way,
- challenges of design of a shape-note typeface, timing with the pandemic, and how that may have actually helped produce a better result,
- how we rarely get to see the impact of our typefaces upon a community,
- “Jeff is … just the right one, i believe, to lend design expertise to sacred harp and bring more history to life through this typeface”
- how the songbook and singing manages to welcome and connect folk across every spectrum.”