i don't know about the amish, but i know that when the work is done for the day, the my old order mennonite cousins enjoy sitting around the kitchen table with hymnals. they will sing and sing and sing in four part harmony for far longer than my voice will hold out. what i found quite interesting was that they were quite true to the written parts pitch-wise, but when it came to the time signature and rhythms, they did not 'follow the book', and i found it difficult to follow them. they were rhythmically together as a group, but did not sing the music as composed.

i have never been to one of their church services, but i understand that some of their liturgical music is based on very old, virtually unchanged latin plainsong. i remember hearing that a musicologist once made some tapes in a service and discovered that. i wonder how true it is.

~black walnut