Over the past two weeks, I’ve had a half dozen reminders of the purpose and power of people singing together. Since I get paid to stand in front of people and sing by myself, I realize the inherent paradox. But, really, singing together is what people have always done. There’s less of it today – we leave it to the “professionals” (me?) and forget that we’re happier and healthier if we open up our mouths and belt it out with the people around us. This has nothing to do with virtuosity, or perfect pitch, or being a soprano or alto or whatever. It has to do with being human.
A couple of Mondays ago I got together with a half dozen songleaders in Providence for unisong, organized by Jodi Glass. People worked with the songleaders of their choice for twenty minutes, then we all met for the “performance” – for no one but us. It was a blast. I led two songs I don’t generally sing – “Run Come See, Jerusalem”, which I had learned from my pal Derek Burrows, and “Wild Mountain Thyme” – the perfect beginning of summer song.
After that experience I got a hold of a recording I’ve been meaning to get for years – the Folkways recording of Pete Seeger’s Singalong Concert at Sanders Theater in 1980. It’s Pete at the height of his powers as a song leader, and a textbook for people interested in leading songs. What I’ve learned from Pete is that teaching the song is part of the performance, and also more than half the fun. When you hear a thousand people singing together, it’s pretty impressive.
Last Monday, I sang at the last town meeting for Paul Cuffee School – we sang a bunch of songs we all knew. The fifth graders even sang, knowing it was the last time they were going to get a chance to do it. I’ve sung the same songs with them for six years, and that day, with everyone singing, it felt good and right.
Last, I was lucky enough to be a performer at the Old Songs Festival in Altamont, NY last weekend, and sat in the “audience” for sessions on shape note singing (a form of choral singing popular in nineteenth century America) and gospel. You get goosebumps all over being part of it, and it’s not about having a “professional voice”. In a large group, individual voices can be heard, but questions of pitch, vocal quality, and even singing the right words become less important – it all gets mixed up together. What I’m most struck by in these experiences is that people are a group animal, and singing is an expression and fostering of community.
All of this was in my mind many years ago when I managed to talk a bunch of singers and activists to make a recording of Freedom Songs from the Civil Rights Movement, I’m Gonna Let it Shine. We were in a retreat center for three days and recorded, a capella, twenty songs. There, in that cold barn in April, voices joined together into something that was almost holy.
Here’s a song from that session, “Get On Board” with Chuck Neblett, one of the original Freedom Singers, leading. Click 01 Get On Board, Children.
All this reinforces my resolve to get audiences to sing more. It’s a better show when everyone is part of it.
Hi Bill,
I wholeheartedly agree with you. In fact, I’m doing something about it right now. So reading your blog about the importance of singing together gave me the shot in the arm I needed to complete our latest project: a 24/7 webcast channel devoted entirely to children singing and singalong songs. It will be called Pipsqueaks and it will be our third channel in Kids Public Radio (the other two are Lullaby and Jabberwocky, which also features your storytelling.) Can’t you just see kids riding in the backseat singing along?
We’re about half way through putting together Pipsqueaks… hope to launch in late July or August. As are the other channels, it’s a labor of love for me and all the kids I can round up to participate. I’ve got your Don’t You Just Know It going through my head now and it’s spurring me on…
Waaaay- O!
Love,
PJ
kidspublicradio.org
Yay PJ!
The thrill of group singing is one of the two things I still treasure from my time as a kid in church at St James Episcopal Church in New York City (the other is Ashley in the Sunday School class; that’s another story). The rest of the experience has yielded to adult scrutiny and conscience, but I still miss the tingle up the spine caused by the mixture of the voices, the organ and the sound of the space …
Hi, Bill!
I love it when I have a group who just naturally seems cohesive and joins me in choruses to songs. But I’ve yet to figure out how to get a shy or a group who seems critical of group singing (the ones who give you the “oh this is not cool enough for me to participate in.” looks) to loosen up and join in. When you get a group like this it seems to feed on itself…and the silence is deafening.
I have a cd of the Pete Seeger’s Sing Along Concert. Yes, he knew how to warm up an audience.
Bill, or anyone else, do you have some tactics to use to get reluctant audiences to let go and sing?
Hi Bill,
A close friend in the music business turned me on to your blog and after I read this posting I just had to respond.
It was growing up with Pete Seeger’s Children’s Concert at Town Hall LP from 1962 and my Dad taking me to one of Pete’s concerts in Kingston NY where everyone sang along that I believe set me on a course to becoming a professional singer.
The power of singing out loud alone or with a group of people (and especially the latter) is not to be denied! You can feel the power of love when you’re in the midst of such a gathering. It’s all too rare these days and I applaud your efforts to regain such valuable lost ground.
I’ve made a name for myself singing opera but I’ve never lost sight of the greater power that music has when groups of people just come together to lift their voices in song. I got a postcard from Pete Seeger a couple of years ago saying how much he enjoyed my recording of his “If I Had A Hammer” and that meant more to me that a great New York Times review!
Keep at it!
Very best wishes,
Paul
As a middle school choral music teacher, it seems I am always reminding my students that they don’t have to have an American Idol-type voice in order to sing. This year I plan to teach beginning guitar to my 6th grade general music students. Part of the curriculum will be to sing, sing, sing together as a group, just for the fun of singing and playing together. I can’t wait!
Bill, I was at the Great Mother/New Father conference in Maine last week of may/first of june 2009. Every morning @ 6:30 we sang together led by Doug Von Koss ( Noah Project-S.F.) and it was a breakthrough in seeing each other through voice and sight. So very powerful
Bill,
Truly enjoyed your blog posting and for many years I hesitated to sing the songs I loved with children and then one day just did it………………recorded my scratchy old voice and found someone who wrote music and made me sound good…………….now I sing….me and the kids. Thanks for giving me a lift…in the process of doing my last CD for young children and then just doing what I love best…….Mary Jo
Hey Bill,
Love the posting and it rang so true. I remember when everyone use to stand and sing the National anthem at the beginning of a ball game and how that seemed to create a community of people, all singing, ready to shout Play ball!
Hope to croon with you soon,
Regi
Bill,
Did a presentation this week in Austin on using technology to enhance leadership coaching. For some reason, I’m never quite sure how I make these decisions, I used the video clip of “Stand by Me” from the Playing for Change productions. It was a great finish. Reading your blog it made me think about the power of people singing together even when they are located half way around the world from one another. It is the music that becomes the tie that pulls us together, near or far.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.
jay
Do you think teaching singing in the Primary Schools has diminished over the years?
My bible tells me “sing a new song unto the Lord” I love it when folks get together and write their own songs.
Thanks for the post Bill.
Christine (radio 3NRG Aust.)
Whatever it is, it’s different. My music teacher in second grade came into the room and played the painted piano in the corner of our room, leading us in songs we were supposed to know – “It’s a Grand Old Flag”, “Marching to Pretoria”. It was like eating toast with butter – complete comfort. Who knows if she was a good musician? I think she was – she got us to sing.
Now, you’ll run into some music teachers who are encouraged and have an incredible background (much more advanced than my teacher, whatever her name was), and some schools where there is little or no music at all, because it’s not central to the curriculum. What it takes is a talented individual, and a principal who encourages it. It depends on the culture of the school – I can tell in the first ten minutes of a school assembly whether the kids have been encouraged to sing.
How do we encourage kids to sing songs when there is no “music program” in the school? More and more, there will be less and less, and it will be dependent upon the people who are there to pass on what they think is important.
Bill
Where we are it’s much less — when I was a kid we sang in the classroom every day and then once a month the whole school gathered in the cafeteria for a “sing” and we all just sang together. I loved that…
THe best part of my job – I’m a prek teacher – I sing all day! I am amazed at how many kids – at 4 – are already embarassed to sing in front of people! It’s a great day when they finally join in! I have teachers put their head in to complement me on our joyful noise, but I get just as big a kick out of my friend Lisa across the hall – she can’t carry a tune in a bucket, but she belts it out with the kids! My Dad played piano and we sang together almost every day through my growing up years. It is my fondest memory of an often difficult man.