The primary feature of this edition of The Souls of Black Folk is the connection of the music and analysis to the notation at the head of each chapter and within the "Sorrow Songs" chapter. Hovering over the image of the music brings up an overlay with a simple piano recording of the music and an explanation of its importance to the book,. These are not meant to be performative, but as in the book, evocative, so that those who know the songs would recognize and hear them if they could read a little bit of music.   
Exemplary historical performances are included where where available. In choosing them, we have often neglected some of the most famous performances in favor of versions that are sung by choral groups resembling the ones Du Bois was familiar with, in part by touring with them (not as a singer). The bars of music at the head of each chapter come mostly from either the Fisk Jubilee Singers, or the the .  

The text for this edition is based on the 1953 Blue Heron edition which is closest to Du Bois' intentions as far as we can tell. The places where the text differs both from Du Bois' intentions (as expressed in his correspondence to the publishers, as seen on the Note on the Text) and from the 1903 edition will be marked with links to the alternative 1903 edition texts.