According to this it is a live recording from a funeral. Here the sound begins earlier and the guitarist strums an introductory chord before the vocal begins. It is certainly live because there are plenty of artifacts that wouldn’t make it into a studio version.
Thank you.
I’ve wondered about the origin of this performance for far too many years.
I still remember hearing it for the first time six years ago. I was stunned, got goosebumps and was shakining & bawling like a baby by the end.
I’m not Catholic. This wasn’t a song that was ever selected for our weekly services by our Baptist choir directors or even Youth Ministers.
I’ve calmed down after hearing the song fairly regularly for six years. I’ve sought out other performances of Be Thou My Vision by solists and choirs.
My appreciation for Alison Krauss’ talent and angelic soprano continues to grow.
Alison reunited with Union Station to record for the band’s first album in fourteen years.
Arcadia released in 2025 is already getting very positive reviews.
You may find this interesting:
Alison Krauss is THE gold standard in pitch control! Here’s the PROOF!
Fil Henley spends a lot of his time on hiss YouTube channel calling out the use of autotune. It is incredible how prevalent it is now. Once in awhile he finds folks that don’t fake their vocals.
Thank you, I check it out.
Alison was interviewed by Rick Beato.
I still need to watch it.
The phrase “a cappella” is nowadays associated with groups where someone phthooms and ptooshes into their fist while other members sing, but it’s far from new.
Our high school’s 1976 and 1977 concert recordings consisted of 18 pieces, of which 15 were entirely a cappela. Of those 15, 4 date back to the 16th century.
btw, The new clip of Alison includes the opening strum of the guitar. The music doesn’t as badly compressed either.
The other YouTuber’s video had chopped it off.
That opening strum is crucial for a singer to hear the key and sing in standard 440.
If another instrument, a piano for example, comes in later it will sound good.
First, playing a song with vocal only for the first (few) bar(s) can be an entirely artistic decision. Second, in the clip played twice in this thread, I distinctly hear the singer and guitar in the first bar. She’s soft at first, but not unaccompanied.
It’s common (and a frequent artistic choice) for a song to begin with limited instrumentation which gradually thickens as the song progresses. Sometimes it reverses at the end. You might call it Composing & Arranging 101.
As someone who performed in an A Cappella Choir for 3 high school years, I fail to understand what the OP’s question is.
It was the limited first bar.
I love a cappella. Singing the first phrase or two phrases a cappella would be a tasty choice.
I couldn’t hear the guitar in the first bar on my phone.
I pulled out my expensive mixing headphones and still couldn’t hear the guitar in the first bar. I could hear it come in strongly on the down beat of bar two.
A lot of my grief could have been spared with the 2nd clip that was posted here. It has much better and clearer audio.
Normally it wouldn’t matter.
I’m studying this vocal and learning the arrangement.
I’m certainly no Alison Krauss, but my partner and I are hoping to provide an adequate performance for a church service.
We plan to take a similar approach with me softly playing chord arpeggio to accompany the vocal. I’ll start strumming and the piano comes in as the choir joins us later in the song.
It’s a small crowd of about 75. I hope the night goes well.
Yes indeed.
Here’s some I like a lot:
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Homeless Live
Ladysmith Black Mambazo/Mint Juleps “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”
Without inserting the audio track from the OP’s link into an audio editor for more precise analysis, I hear the first guitar notes at the same time as the singer says, “Be…”. Very faint, but it gets louder by the second bar, “vision…”. I just turned up the gain on my amp, using speakers to hear. Switching to headphones, it appears that the guitar sound first appears on the 2nd half of the first beat of the first bar (the second half of “Be…”). The noise level shows up before any singing or playing, and masks the detail on these very soft sounds.
It’s possible that the recording doesn’t capture the guitar’s first plucks. It’s also possible – given my experience in live music – that the band was waiting for the singer’s clue before playing, and didn’t get synchronized instantly. This is all part of live music, and is why “vamp until ready” is a common instruction on written music, where a professional band is expected to know when to come in, but there can be a very slight time difference at first.
I still fail to see the problem here except the OP may be listening in a noisy environment or on a stupid phone.
Yes, it sounds like a live performance to me too, given the background voices.
The songs I immediately thought of that begin with an a capella part are “Bohemian Rhapsody” (by Queen) and “Renegade” (by Styx). In both cases, more than just one bar, and with harmony vocals (although, with “Renegade,” the first couple of bars are solo).
For just a few notes sung by one voice before the instruments kick in, the one example I can think of is “Turtledove” by Trip Shakespeare.
Me too. It didn’t sound like she was ever really singing alone, just that the guitar started out quiet.
That’s not surprising Live.
I’ve recently learned that this performance was for a funeral. Every one wants to be respectful.
There’s no soundcheck.
How 
loud should I play and sing?
Oh, the people in the back rows can’t hear me. I’ll pick a little louder.
You’re there to pay respects to the deceased’s family and hopefully ease some of their pain.
The pros like Alison and her guitarist makes performing live appear effortless.