There are a ton of interesting tidbits in this: - The simplification of solfege notation from 7 named tones to 4 is intriguing - while it introduces some ambig

There are a ton of interesting tidbits in this: - The simplification of solfege notation from 7 named tones to 4 is intriguing - while it introduces some ambiguity in that a melody cannot be perfectly reconstructed from the limited information, it lets someone need to remember fewer solfege tones when guided by other information - a bit like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undersampling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undersampling ? Optimization for pedagogy rather than perfection is a technique that we should keep in the back of our minds when we're designing any types of systems. - In the article's words: "With this dispersed music, each line is a tune unto itself. It is not written just to harmonize with the lead. It's a tune unto itself. That's why they call it dispersed harmony." The article goes on to describe how this can feel to a listener like a single thick "heavy metal"-like instrument. The technique here, of thinking of harmony as if each voice is its own melody, rather than just part of a chord, is common in jazz arrangement, referred to as "soli" or a "thickened line" - as explained well in Adam Neely's video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vY3IVxl1fU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vY3IVxl1fU But what's curious to me is that there's a tremendous psychological element to giving each voice the agency to be the melody. You're not just backing up a higher melodic line; everyone's vocal part has the lead simultaneously. And that's tremendously empowering... - Neely's video and the OP both touch on a further phenomenon: that this type of polyphonic timbre is very different from the "zeitgeist" of "modern music." There's a deeper societal component to this; we expect things to be so polished in modern popular music that there's little emphasis on the individual contributors (besides a lead singer) to the overall sound. Personally, I wonder: does this parallel the expectation that social systems trend towards a "winner-takes-all" mentality, and that one can only have agency if they strive to be that winner? Does musical taste reflect the stressors of society? Are we less able to appreciate musical complexity if it doesn't have a simple narrative of a single melody, a single winner, a Star to be born? If any of that is true, things like Sacred Harp, and jazz-fusion rearrangements of pop music per Neely, and musical genres like progressive rock... all may be necessary respites from the crushing trend towards simplicity. At some level, it seems like the people interviewed in the OP are reacting in a similar manner, and it's amazing that there's a cross-cultural community in Sacred Harp that is welcoming them with open arms.