In July I traveled to Winchester, Virginia for additional training in Contemporary and Commercial Music, i.e., learning to teach and sing in styles other than classical. While I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from the lectures and teaching classes, the most fulfilling payoff came from the formation of friendships with several other women in attendance.
We initially contacted each other solely for convenient circumstances – meeting up at the airport to share a cab ride to our destination. But fate being what it is, this entanglement lasted faithfully throughout the training sessions. Our group of assorted personalities and musical lives, varied demographics spread across the country, quickly evolved into a lifelong memorable experience.
From these women, I learned about “improv” singing, a wonderful new musical adventure for me. It became part of our evening ritual after a long day of sitting, our brains overloaded with new information.
Forming a group circle, someone moves to the center and “noodles” around musically to find a short musical/rhythmic phrase that we all start to vocalize. When the moment strikes, another person steps in and creates a second musical thought to be sung by a few in the group. In this fashion, more musical ideas are implanted onto this original composition, everyone singing a specific musical pattern until eventually an ending naturally occurs.
Or, begin with everyone intoning on a single pitch. Each in their own time then, wander off to add a different note or simple musical /rhythmic motif to layer onto whatever is happening. No boundaries or limits – the session ends again by an unspoken communal agreement.
These experiences brought home to me very deeply my own belief that sound vibration, especially that made by the human voice, is a powerful healing device. My newsletters this year have focused on the healing benefits of sound, how everything is vibration and that vocal sound, the ultimate resonating force for me, can bring about amazing changes not only in our own personal lives, but, when we share that vibrational power with others, impart a positive consciousness out into the world. So my many thanks to Mary, Rebekka, Susie and Virginia for this amazing summer memory!
Did You Know…….*
that Pythagoras (500-580BCE) was the first to organize an approach to healing with music?
that singing predates speech?
that sound is a universal motif in most spiritual-mystical belief systems?
Things to Do
Even if you are not singers or musicians, participating in and experiencing “improv” singing is a must do! Give it a try with family, friends. Go – vibrate the world!
*Gaynor, Mitchell L., M.D. The Healing Power ofSound. Shambhala Publications. 2002.
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