The Pioneer Museum of Alabama will be the site of the 6th Annual All Day Sacred Harp Sing on Saturday.

The singing will begin at 9 a.m. and will continue until 2:30 p.m.

Ken Sundberg, organizer, said the Sacred Harp Sing will be held in the main museum building. Admission is free for singers.

“We will be singing from the 2012 Edition of the Cooper Book or, as some call it, ‘The Blue Book,’” Sundberg said. Copies of the Cooper Book will be available for use and for sale at the sing.”

A workshop is not included with the all day sing, but those who would like to experience a Sacred Harp Sing are invited to come and listen and sing along if inspired to do so.

“We always like to have people sit in with us “ Sundberg said. “We usually have between 45 and 60 singers and visitors are encouraged to join the square.”

Sacred Harp singers sit in a “hollow square” with each of the four parts – alto, tenor, treble and bass – forming a side of the square.

“Both men and women sing tenor and have the lead,” Sundberg said. “But each of the four parts carry some significant part of the melody.”

In Sacred Harp singing there is no leader. The singers take turns leading and the leader selects a song from the book.

“Sacred Harp is a cappella singing and, virtually, all of the songs are religious in nature,” Sundberg said. “A small number of the songs are patriotic, but all of them are explicitly Christian.”

Those who enjoy singing Sacred Harp music are invited to take a place in the square. Those who just want to come and find out what Sacred Harp Sing is all about are invited and encouraged to come and sit and listen.

“We’ll sing from 9:30 until 2:30 with a break for lunch,” Sundberg said. “We have permission to set up dinner in the singing space of the main museum building. The singers bring a dish to share, and visitors are welcome to join us.”

Sundberg said Saturday will be an especially good time to experience Sacred Harp singing because a lot of other things will be going on at the museum.

The Pioneer Museum Biennial Quilt Show is underway and features more than 200 quilts, some dating back to the late 1700s, and others, as recent as “yesterday.”

The Dutch Oven Cookers will set up kitchen in the Reunion Cabin and will offer samplings of different stews and cobblers for visitors to try.

Sacred Harp Sing, the Pioneer Museum Quilt Show, samples of Dutch oven cooking and the museum’s display of 18,000 artifacts, 22 out-buildings to tour and the gift shop, which is stocked with unique items, are all reasons to visit the Pioneer Museum of Alabama on Saturday.

Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and military personnel and $4 for students. Children five and under are admitted free.