Can I tell you a story?
When I was 21 I could easily sing songs on my own or with other people. That came naturally.
And I was around a great bunch of musicians and singers. They made spontaneous music really confidently. They jammed, they improvised; they would start by playing a tune and it would take off with a life of its own. They would sing a song and then add harmonies to it as they went along - and mindblowing music was created in an unceasing flow for hours and hours into the night.
It was awesome. I loved it, it lifted me up, filled my heart with joy. And...I could join in with the songs, that was great.
But there was something missing - I didn't know how to join in with the improvising, the creative stuff. I was way too scared and unconfident to try out inventing a harmony. And it was really frustrating.
No-one had ever taught me to make music like that. And I felt like my inner artistry had been pinned down by years in a 'good education'.
I kept thinking 'how do they do that?' I really wanted to be able to let go into that magical, expressive, bonding, inventive music-making.
And luckily, because I lived and hung out with these talented musicians for many months, it gradually came.
Was it osmosis? Was it encouragement? Was it learning by really listening closely? I don't know. But in an organic way, by giving it a go little by little (at first quietly at the back of the circle), I came to be able to sing a spontaneous harmony line, or a vocal bassline, or join in with my instruments and really contribute something to the music. And it felt SO GOOD!
I just can't tell you how good it felt to co-create spontaneous magical music with these really talented people. And there was so much laughter too, as crazy dynamics and twists & turns of musical energy bubbled up from amongst us.
So, this happened in my life in an organic way. But how many of us have that kind of opportunity? the right combination of time, skills, confidence, ambience, people, continuity, to enable the outpouring of our vocal musical expressiveness and creativity? Not that many as far as I can tell.
Well, I felt really buoyed up by this new-found artistic river in my life.
And I wanted to create those harmonic hotbeds over and over again, and offer other people the keys to their own way in.
Then, in the year 2000 I stumbled across a 2-year community music & holistic voice training in Stroud. And I dived right in!
By the time I finished it, I was all tooled up to catalyse group music-making & singing in multifabulous ways.
It took a long time before I started actually forging these new musical foundries, because for several years I was busy setting up a low-impact community, having babies, building my own home, planting trees and doing permaculture!
But I started trialling my tools and ideas with friends and at festivals, with a brilliant response, and so 'Voiceplay!' was born. (In 2016 I changed the name of these workshops to 'Set Your Singing Free')
Now (at time of writing, 2014) I've had about 3 years experience of kindling singers' individual and group vocal improvisation and inventiveness, and I can happily say that people LOVE the way they discover their inner hidden music flowing forth!
No need to just hope for freedom in your singing: I've got the escalator right here.
So if you're ready to jump on it, and pop the cork on your expressive vocal creativity, then do join us for the next series of 'Set Your Singing Free '!
If you're not in a position to join the group right now, I would love to help you get on this path at home too....and I've got some great suggestions for solo exploration. I'll spell them out in my next blog post.... for now I'll just say : Lay out some ground, send up your rope to to the sky, and start moving! (A little obscure maybe, but you'll see what I mean!)
Check out Set Your Singing Free
