My First Shape Note Singing!

I've been into shape note music for over a year now, but I finally actually attended a singing yesterday!!! Shape note singing is a type of music developed in the US South in the early 1800s, and it sounds 'very very awesome in my opinion. The typical "Amazing Grace" song was first published as a shape note song! 

I sing in choir and love it, but I have extremely little knowledge of music theory and am not very good at harmonizing. I can read music well but have no skill with pitch at all. But I reached out and let the ppl know about my knowledge level, and they said it would be fine, so I went!

At the gathering I went to, we sang from the Sacred Harp, which is by far the most well known book of shape note music. As is traditional, we all sat in a square facing each other; each side of the square is a different part, and I was a tenor in this case. The Sacred Harp book has 590 songs, and we took turns choosing what songs to sing. I only knew one of the songs out of the dozens and dozens that we sang, so I was sight reading as hard as I could! 

We all sang as loudly as possible. It was such an intense experience! I almost blacked out a couple of times ngl, probably the fast pace/loud noise/not being used to belting for that long. I really enjoyed myself! And the gathering took place in a yurt within a cohousing community, so everyone there was a little crunchy/hippie, etc. They were all so lovely. It reminded me of the time I worked on an eco-oriented farm at a convent. Definitely my kind of people! 

tldr I participated in trad American communal singing and I'm definitely going again!