Shape-note singing

I've long been a fan of the group Anonymous Four, especially their CDs American Angels and Gloryland.  These two CDs introduced me to shape-note singing and the book The Sacred Harp.


Here's a screen shot of the PDF I found online, of one of the A4 songs:

And here's my recording!  It's a bit ragged, but for a first try I think it's not so bad.

Christmas Carols

I've got a gig singing in one of those strolling Victorian quartets that you see at Christmastime. I'm pretty pleased about it - I've always wanted to be on of those singers! However, I'll be singing alto. This is probably a good thing for my voice and my nerves (I'm only sometimes in a soprano solo mood), but it means that I have to find a way to practice without the music I'll be singing from on the day.


Enter http://www.christmas-carol-music.org/. This great site includes 56 carols, all with the two things I need - standard 4-part arrangements with PDF files and midi files of each one. I open the midi file in media player, pop open the PDF, and sing away. When I get the music next weekend, I can either sing what's in the book they give me or what I've already learned - either way it will sound fine!

This doesn't, of course, include Christmas songs, like Rudolph or Frosty. Theoretically a Victorian quartet shouldn't be singing those songs, but in practice I'm sure we will. I haven't quite figured out how to handle those. Any ideas?