It’s hard to believe that a full month has passed since our first prompt. In that time we’ve all had a chance to marvel at the wild invention and vulnerability that dozens of singers have brought from across the world. All in all, it’s been an incredible month for spontaneous singing. Thank you so much for making it so. And now … the prompt:
Prompt 5: Sing for three minutes.
This week we’ll expand on that first open-ended prompt, with a similar challenge: Sing for three minutes, searching beyond your usual limits.
It may not sound like that much longer, but we hope that the extra minute will give you a chance to take some more risks, fall deeper into whatever sonic world you might discover, and perhaps to stretch beyond old habits (see Option A below!).
This exercise is not about virtuosity, but rather about following the music in whatever direction it leads. You might invent a melody, a language, a pattern that varies. You might sing from an emotion, a part of your body, a place that doesn’t exist. You might surprise yourself.
Whatever you do, try to sing one note after another, with a spirit of spontaneous invention.
Here are demo responses from Jascha and Amado.
Options
Option A: Counter habitual. We all have a comfort zone. Maybe it’s part of your vocal range, a common mood, a familiar tempo and feel, or a go-to consonant. It’s good to know where home is, but it can be useful to sing outside the box. Listen to your response to Prompt 1, and see if you can detect any habitual tendencies. (If you didn’t participate that week, no worries, just think about your habits.) And then try spending three minutes outside of your comfort zone. Perhaps in chest voice rather than head, or percussive rather than melodic, or moving slow rather than fast. See what you can learn by going against the grain.
To Contribute
The steps are as follows:
- Step 0: Sign up for a free SoundCloud account here. Join the SSS group.
- Step 1: Record yourself singing for two minutes.
- Step 2: Upload to SoundCloud and post the track to the SSS group.
- Step 3: Listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow singers. (Play nice!)
Deadline: Your tracks should be uploaded by midnight wherever you are on Monday, March 2, 2015.
Length: The length of your finished work should be about three minutes.
Description: It would be awesome to include a short description of your piece. (If you’re taking Option A, you might say which habits you were working with.)
Title/Tag: When uploading to SoundCloud, put “[sss-threemin]” in the title of your track. Also include the term “sss-threemin” as a tag. This will help us find it.
Group: Once the track is uploaded, click on the “Add to group” button below the waveform and make sure to select the Society for Spontaneous Singing group. (This option will only appear if you have already joined the group! So do that now.)
Linking: You are welcome to include this info in your description:
This track is a reply to “SSS Prompt 5: Sing for three minutes.” More on the Society for Spontaneous Singing at http://singthis.org . You can join the SSS at https://soundcloud.com/groups/society-for-spontaneous-singing
Thank you, sweet singers!
Yours,
Jascha & Amado