So often, we just stand and sing. But your voice lives in your body. So it’s no wonder that, when you focus on moving your body in new ways, new music comes out of it. Teaching a class on “Improvising from Folk Songs & Dances” this summer, with my wonderful co-teacher Diana Yourke, I have seen how much music is Read More
Prompt 74: Make Sense of Random Words
The random can lead you in interesting directions. If you always do things that make sense to you, you will always follow the paths and patterns of your personal sense of making sense. Sometimes, having to deal with the unexpected is what it takes to teach us something new to us. With that in mind, Read More
Prompt 73: Sing a voicemail.
Ring ring! Calling all SSS members! This week we’re going to switch up the format a little bit. Most of our prompts ask you to share a little song on the Internet. Which is fun. But this week, let’s get personal. Let’s leave *singing voicemails* for one another. A sort of improvised phone tree, if you will. Here’s how it’ll work: 0) Read More
Prompt 72: Sing for a kid.
Last fall, we asked you to sing a song from your childhood. With summer bursting around us, and with a national Children’s Day on Sunday, it’s time to revisit the world of childhood again. But now, rather than turning to your memory vault, we want you to sing for an actual child. Your job is simple: 1) Read More
Prompt 71: “Don’t Feel That Way”
Singers! Musicians! What are our jobs? We whose art is the shaping of sounds and silences into experiences that others can apprehend, what do we do it for? What is its purpose? Heavy stuff. Opens up a lot of debate. But I refer you to a few Wikipedia quotes to back up a premise that Read More