Today Shivon said that the act of singing creates oxytocin which is the "love and trust" hormone, and that's why the act of singing together makes people so happy.
Last night we attended the first Gettin' Higher Choir evening rehearsal. There were at least 100 folks there, three quarters women, half altos. People arrived smiling and expectant. Many have sung with the choir since it began 14 years ago. Denis began with a lovely grounding and warmups. Most songs were taught by ear, a few from the sheet music. Beginners stood with experienced singers and the sound was lovely. Denis and Shivon alternated leading, her dancing pixie energy an interesting contrast to Denis' grounded energy.
Tonight we will attend the 2nd of 3 evening practices, all of about 100 people, all with basically the same repertoire so people can attend any or all of the three.
Now to rest...
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
CCLT : Day One and Two
I am in beautiful Victoria, BC, awake at 4 am after an exciting first day of the Community Choir Leadersip Training with The Gettin' Higher Choir. The leaders, Denis Donnelly and Shivon Robinsong, made us welcome and packed a lot of learning and song even into the first afternoon. Then a delicious baked salmon dinner for about 30 people, including the 13 people enrolled in the course and their hosts. Many people flew from the States, one from Kuala Lampur, and they all have such interesting stories and diverse backgrounds. I'm staying with wonderful friends (there may be a lot of superlatives for awhile... bear with me) in a their gorgeous house. And of course, Victoria is "bloomin' lovely" as always.
Tomorrow, we'll be teaching each other songs and I volunteered to be one of the first... I'll teach the Pat Humphries song, Peace Sala'am, Shalom. No wonder I'm excited. I love the song, but must admit, I wanted to get past the nervousness so that I could fully enjoy the others!
I'm reading a Deepak Chopra book called The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire. It's a great reminder about the power of intention. "...intent comes from the universal soul, becomes localized in an individual soul, and is finally expressed through an individual, local mind." It's helping me to stay focussed on the real reasons that I'm doing this course. I started this process in 2003 while reading a book that helps you determine what you really want in life. It was clear that I wanted to sing. So I formed an intention and it's manifesting. Not quickly, not magically: I had to spend a winter in Vancouver getting a certificate in choral conducting and taking singing lessons with an opera singer to learn how exercise and develop my own voice so I'd know what to expect in a choir. And now this course... which will help me understand how to facilitate, and encourage people to sing with joy and gusto.
I keep wondering why singing makes us feel sooo good, and why creating harmony together is such a high. It's definitely about sharing and working together, and I also think it's about vibration, perhaps even breathing in concert. Let's face it we're originally pack animals, and howling together must have felt wonderful during our evolution into the polite, civilized creatures we've become. !
.
Tomorrow, we'll be teaching each other songs and I volunteered to be one of the first... I'll teach the Pat Humphries song, Peace Sala'am, Shalom. No wonder I'm excited. I love the song, but must admit, I wanted to get past the nervousness so that I could fully enjoy the others!
I'm reading a Deepak Chopra book called The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire. It's a great reminder about the power of intention. "...intent comes from the universal soul, becomes localized in an individual soul, and is finally expressed through an individual, local mind." It's helping me to stay focussed on the real reasons that I'm doing this course. I started this process in 2003 while reading a book that helps you determine what you really want in life. It was clear that I wanted to sing. So I formed an intention and it's manifesting. Not quickly, not magically: I had to spend a winter in Vancouver getting a certificate in choral conducting and taking singing lessons with an opera singer to learn how exercise and develop my own voice so I'd know what to expect in a choir. And now this course... which will help me understand how to facilitate, and encourage people to sing with joy and gusto.
I keep wondering why singing makes us feel sooo good, and why creating harmony together is such a high. It's definitely about sharing and working together, and I also think it's about vibration, perhaps even breathing in concert. Let's face it we're originally pack animals, and howling together must have felt wonderful during our evolution into the polite, civilized creatures we've become. !
.
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