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Page Use and Removed Song Statistics for The Sacred Harp: 2025 Edition

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We are introducing 113 new songs to The Sacred Harp: 2025 Edition without adding a single page to the book! These statistics show how we accomplished that through efficiencies in typesetting and page layout—in addition to removing some of our lesser-used songs. We will be posting a list of the songs removed soon.

The Sacred Harp: 2025 Edition New Song Stats.
Information about page use and songs removed in The Sacred Harp: 2025 Edition.
  • 550 total song pages in the 2025 Edition (+2 more pages of songs over the 1991 Edition).
  • 590 total songs in the 2025 Edition (+6.5% increase from the 1991 Edition).
  • 101 total pages for new songs in the 2025 Edition:
    • 2 pages recovered through front/back matter efficiency,
    • 13 pages recovered through engraving efficiency,
    • 86 pages of songs removed.
  • 113 new songs are in the 2025 Edition (new songs comprise 19% of book).
  • 60 new songs were in the 1991 Edition (new songs comprised 11% of book).
  • 77 songs removed from the 1991 Edition to make the 2025 Edition (14%).
  • 45 songs removed from the 1971 Edition to make the 1991 Edition (8%).
  • The 77 songs removed to create the 2025 Edition represent just 3% of all lessons sung from the 1991 Edition.

Nathan Rees is the Treasurer of the Sacred Harp Publishing Company, associate editor of the Shape Notes Journal, and a member of the Revision-Music Committee for The Sacred Harp: 2025 Edition. Originally from Utah, he lives in Carrollton, Georgia, where he is associate professor of art history at the University of West Georgia.

A lifelong Sacred Harp singer, David Ivey is the president of the Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association, director of Camp Fasola, and chair of the Revision-Music Committee for The Sacred Harp: 2025 Edition. David was a member of the Music Committee that revised The Sacred Harp: 1991 Edition. David lives in Huntsville, Alabama, where he is chief information officer of the Alabama Supercomputer Authority.

Jesse P. Karlsberg is the vice president of the Sacred Harp Publishing Company. He edits the Shape Notes Journal and is a member of the Revision-Music Committee for The Sacred Harp: 2025 Edition. Born in Boston, he lives in Decatur, Georgia, and is senior digital scholarship strategist at Emory University.

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