When Georgians B.F. White and E.J. King compiled the songbook The Sacred Harp in 1844, they were continuing a singing tradition that would ultimately become identified with the book. Thousands of southerners were exposed to music through singing schools taught from The Sacred Harp. Sacred Harp singing, or Fasola singing, uses four shapes to identify the notes to be sung and is performed without the assistance of musical instruments. Traditionally, singers solmize the notes using the syllables fa, sol, la, and mi before singing the words. Singers gather at singings and conventions to perform the music, and these gatherings are usually great social events that once were often the center of rural community activity, particularly during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Holly Springs church very early became the site of one of the most popular 20th century Sacred Harp singings in the country as the tradition spread far beyond the South.