Talking

Dear Miss Grace Notes: I thought fellowship was a big part of Sacred Harp singings and conventions. Why then did my friend shush me and decline to visit between songs? ----Loves to Comment

Gentle Singer: Yes, indeed, fellowship is sought and cherished. Silence, though, should be absolute, dear singer, during the Memorial Service and during all prayer times. (Prayers are offered at the beginning and ending of the all-day singing, and immediately before lunch. Many Memorial Lessons are closed with prayer.) Please, no talking, no whispering, no paper crumpling, no fidgeting at these times. And in general your conversations and visiting should be limited to the breaks, and at Dinner, because extraneous noise makes it difficult for the class to hear the selections announced by incoming leaders, or the pitches sung out by the keyer. If you are compelled to converse, (and this compulsion strikes all of us at one time or another), you may always retreat to an anteroom or outdoors. You don't "yip" after songs, too, do you? They dangerously startle the elderly singers and whenever possible should be suppressed.

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