Sing with a Friend...When I suspended the Voiceweaving Meetup site this month I decided to share posts here for my fellow Voiceweavers. The song below was created in 2016 with my friend, Izetta Smith, with whom I've been singing since 1971. It has been a remarkable experience to maintain a musical relationship for almost 50 years with Izetta; we first sang together in Portland's legendary Storefront Theater. Through the years we've made time to come together and play - for that is what improvisation is at its heart - musical play through which we continue to learn and discover. As we navigate this period of social isolation I encourage you to sing, play and explore at home - by yourself or with your partners, housemates and children. Here's a simple partner game to begin your improvisational journey. If you click the card below, you can listen to an audio sample of this game.
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  A great new Workshop series is coming up this Spring, beginning on March 4th, as well as Drop-In sessions on February 18, 25, March 5th and 19th. More info HERE. 
Co-sponsored by Cerimon House and Earth Arts NW, this is a new
Seasonal Series. EarthSong workshops will offer us a place to share thoughts and feelings about our planet home - playfully and creatively, then shape individual and collaborative improvisations into chant-songs for the Earth, songs we can share within our community circles. You'll find more information about these workshops HERE. Selected songs will be scored and shared via digital publication.
 We are a transforming harmony – all of us together on planet Earth. The sun rises daily and, wherever we are, we enter into the day-song. Wind rolling through meadow grass, buffeting glass-façade canyons, over frozen streams, pulsing freeways, neighbor-hood gardens, carrying the energy of change. Our actions, great and small, are added in to the great song.
Like a river flooding its banks, nightly news is overflowing with the troubles of the world. We are inundated with images, acts and sounds of war, earth in peril, communities living on the edge. Yet here we are, in the age of the possible. Life is in constant motion and change is inevitable. As we listen to what is and what is needed, we can find a place to be of use each day. But where is that? That place where we are grounded, focused on engaging with – rather than reacting to – change. Change that leans forward through actions that harmonize with healing the world. This game is for the Voiceweaving meet-up group and for you too, if you like to play vocally. Here’s a little exercise you can practice as it strikes your fancy. It’s called TRANSLATIONS. It’s a very simple practice, and one that’s quite engaging. It’s all about listening, tuning in and getting comfortable sounding out what you sense. While doing that, you’re also adding to your personal sound vocabularies. Here’s why I like this exercise. It helps me connect with perceptions and responses I may not be aware of, or, those that make me feel something I try to ignore like – irritation, or moments of light I’m too preoccupied to notice.  Walking our dog, a little elderly Cairn Terrier, is an experience filled with erratic rhythm. We walk 10 paces then he stops to sniff and pee. We walk 4 more, then it's sniff, stop, sniff, stop. Look around. Walk. Walk. Stop...
What an incredible opportunity to work on rhythm. During a 30-minute walk I can explore sense and feeling through sound, shaping rhythms as we go. Irritation melts and I have much more fun on our sniff and pee walks. |
Musings on Life,
Vocal Improv and the transformative nature of sound. AuthorAn inner Muse nudges me to nuzzle up to the flowing energy inside... to play, listen and explore. So...I do. I invite you to do it too. Archives
May 2020
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