So far as I know, no Amish church has ever used musical instruments, certainly not those in which I grew up. My grandparents didn't even approve of harmonicas in the home and any larger instrument was strictly verboten. (I never had access to a guitar until I was 17 and had left the church.)

That said, the rise and fall and swell and fade of unison singing in church always sent me into a spine-tingling trance. There were certain voices I always listened for, especially that of a friend of my mother's. She had a silvery, clear voice that was wonderful. I don't know of any person in the congregations who couldn't stay on pitch, although I remember an occasional comment made about a certain man who, they said, did not have a nice voice.

The usual mode was for a lead singer to sing one or two syllables of each line unaccompanied, which set the pitch and the pace, and then everyone would join in. (How they knew the proper pitch, I don't know- there were no pitch pipes.) I understand the melodies were much like Gregorian chant; the words, of course, were German, from the clothbound 'little black book'- 'der kleine schwartze buche'. I still have one of them.