If you're ever in Seattle around Memorial Day, go to the Northwest Folklife Festival and look for a performance by the Sacred Cow Harmogenizers. I was a Cow when I lived there, and it was a whole lotta fun. We sang traditional shape note (four shapes, the scale goes fa-sol-la-fa-sol-la-mi-fa), I believe from the Southern Harmony, but it may have been another book, my memory is fading fast. We were mildly irreverent at times, had potluck rehearsals (food is a wonderful glue for informal musical groups), and generally only performed once a year, at Folklife. Shape note harmonies are generally referred to as "primitive", with lots of open fourths and fifths, and lots of dissonance. They are generally sung with lots of enthusiasm (loud). Even though I come from a different tradition, I had an absolute blast singing this stuff. If there are any Cows or ex-Cows out there in Mudcat land, I'd like to know.

Aloha,
Mark Cohen