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    29. Hope Lingers On

    4:4 Empower Grief & Fear Grow Heal Hope Power & Change Protection & Presence Ribbon Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Harmonized Song Form: Unison Trust
    Song Hope Lingers On
    Words & Music​ by Lissa Schneckenburger
    Lyrics

    1. My mother, when love is gone (2x),
    in our darkest hour, hope lingers on.
    My father, when peace is gone (2x),
    in our darkest hour, hope lingers on.

    Chorus:
    I will not hate, and I will not fear;
    in our darkest hour, hope lingers here.

    2. My sister, when equality’s gone…
    My brother, with tolerance gone…
    ​
    3. My love, when honor is gone…
    My country, when justice is gone…

    Picture
    Notes: "Hope lingers on"... I love singing this to myself as a reminder that a pandemic is not the only thing lingering around. There are so many beautiful recordings of this piece online, I encourage you, like always, to use this podcast as a way to learn the song, and then if it speaks to you, follow the links and sing along with gorgeous professional recordings! Sometimes, honestly, it makes me uncomfortable to put my voice with loops out there when there are such polished renditions available (that honestly might sound better!) -- but then I remind myself that I'm not here performing for you... I'm here sharing a song that makes a difference to me when I sing it to myself -- and maybe it will do that for you, too? Planting songs for wellness...   
      Next week I'm hugely excited to share a songwriter conversation with the composer of this song, Lissa Schneckenburger. We talk about some of the differences between voice and violin as instruments, music as a way of distilling learning and helping heal from trauma, how not to lose heart as a change-maker, touring on a bicycle and more.

    Songwriter Info: Lissa Schneckenburger is a fiddle player and singer whose roots are in folk music in Maine. She lives in Brattleboro, Vermont, now, and says, “To me, music creates community. Music is what people sing along to, dance to, fall in love to… music brings people together." Giving concerts on her own or as part of the trio, Low Lily, as well as supporting other musicians with practice challenges (and jokes) through her website, Lissa consistently does her part to build community. Her solo album, Thunder In My Arms, is a tender, powerful collection of songs about attachment, parenting, and trauma. We talk about its origin and development in the next episode's conversation.

    Links:
    Lissa's website: lissafiddle.com
    Low Lily's recording of Hope Lingers On: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv9R60CSQ54
    The totebag with the chorus lyrics: https://lissafiddle.com/store/hope-lingers-on-tote-bag/
    Learn more about Thunder in My Arms :  https://lissafiddle.com/store/thunder-in-my-arms/
    Vancouver Youth Choir singing Hope Lingers On:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0bmhcvPwTI
    A combination of a college and middle school choir made one of the infamous virtual choir videos of Hope Lingers On:
       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=506zikTDSMs

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Ionian, 3 verses & harmonized chorus
    ​
    Join the A Breath of Song mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

    Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!
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    27. What Am I Rushing To?

    4:4 Be Grateful Be Present Calm Gathering & Welcome Gratitude & Trust Journey Notice Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Harmonized Song Form: Unison Tend Trust
    Song What Am I Rushing To?
    Words & Music​ by Wendy Luella Perkins
    Lyrics
    What am I rushing to, oh, what am I rushing for?
    What am I rushing to, oh, what am I rushing for?
    Slow down, slow down and savour.
    Slow down, slow down and savour.​
    Picture

    Notes    : I stumbled upon Wendy Luella Perkins a few weeks before recording this episode, when I was browsing in facebook groups of songleaders, looking for new music I loved and wanted to share. I heard "What Am I Rushing To?", and went hunting online to learn more. Several Soulful Singing sessions later, I can say that this intuitive songleader and gracious, gentle song and space creator has become a great gift in my life. Not only do the most beautiful, varied songs seem to pour through her with ease and fluidity, but she understands how to tend herself and those around her with laughter, loving-kindness, and acceptance.
      Wendy Luella tells the painful origin of this song in a time of grief and conflict... and also how she and small groups of singers have sung it in bus depots, shopping malls, and other public spaces in the month of December, and the delighted reaction from passers-by. Wendy Luella has always dreamed of having this song pop-up in other communities, led by other folks, so if there are podcast listeners who are inspired to offer What Am I Rushing To? in your communities, please do and let her know about it!
      It can be sung beautifully as a unison song -- and today, I add harmonies to it that were created by members of my family. Rebecca Csuy, Elyse Wadsworth, and Elizabeth Norton joined me in singing it over the American Thanksgiving holiday, and as we played with different harmonies, this combination struck me as particularly suited to the song.     It was magical, and gave me a way to imagine you all in the room, too... if I'd been really on top of it, I'd have brought a microphone and recorded us all together! 

    Songwriter Info: Wendy Luella Perkins has been singing and making up songs since she was a very young child. When she was three years old, her older brother, Tim, took her to school as his Show+Tell item saying “this is my sister Wendy Lu, listen to her sing!” She's been going strong ever since.  
      As a singer-songwriter, Unitarian Universalist community minister, and founder, in 2002 of Soulful Singing (singing meditation for all) Wendy Luella leverages the power of song to build authentic, healing and joyful communities. A prolific writer of folk songs and meditative chants and supportive guide who helps others to create their own songs, Wendy Luella's greatest joy is to bring friends and strangers together in the transformational circle of song. Wendy Luella has produced three CDs of original music, which you can find on her website.   
      As a response to pandemic restrictions, and recognizing the need to keep on singing in community, especially in difficult times, Wendy Luella transitioned Soulful Singing to online sessions in March 2020. Soulful Singers from all over have been gathering online EVERY SINGLE DAY since then and once a week on THURSDAY evenings. Everyone is welcome to join Soulful Singing via Zoom. 
      Singing daily over the last 600+ days with wonderful folks from Kingston and around the world has encouraged Wendy Luella to share her original songs more broadly in what she calls her “Song Liberation Project” (The SLiP). She has written hundreds of songs and with The SLiP is sharing them one by one on TikTok. 
       Wendy Luella grew up in rural Nova Scotia, and has lived in Kingston Ontario for over 25 years with her sweetheart and fellow musician, Charlie Walker. She loves waking early, walking daily, eating communally, crafting publicly, sharing deeply, gardening bountifully, laughing abundantly and of course, singing soulfully!

    Links:
    Contact Wendy directly to join Soulful Singing, or to let her know how this song moved you at info@wendyluellaperkins.com
    Find Wendy on TikTok and sing a duet with her! https://www.tiktok.com/@wendyluellaperkins
    Explore Wendy's website: https://www.wendyluellaperkins.com

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:25
    Start time of reprise: 00:13:55 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, unison, harmonies optional
    ​
    Join the A Breath of Song mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

    Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!
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    26. There's A Light In You

    4:4 Accept Be Present Change Empower Gather Gathering & Welcome Notice Power & Change Ribbon Scale: Aeolian (minor) Song Form: Zipper
    Song There's A Light In You
    Words & Music by Mazal Masoud Etedgi
    Lyrics
    There's a light in you, There's a light in me, There's a light in everybody.
    Rise up, come down. Rise up, come down, feet on the ground.
    ​
     [This song is led with participation encouraged so that the word "light" gets rotated with other words -- for example, There's a vision in me, There's a love in me, There's a freedom in me....]
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    Notes: I asked the people who have signed up for the A Breath of Song mailing list to share words they'd like to hear in this song... and I got SO many responses!!! Narrowed down to 21 words... so we sing this song in three different ways, each time with seven different words. As you sing to uncover your own wellness, you may find a song feels better slower or faster on different days, or sung with high energy or very calmly. I explore three different options with this song -- you may find more. You'll hear my voice crack and squeak -- and you'll hear many of me at one point, because this is a great song for a crowd (and hey, sometimes it IS crowded in my mind with my own voices!) It is not simple to create a song that is easy to learn, and also is a strong container for many different emotions and recognitions. I love the way this song invites us to notice what we see in ourselves and each other, and then stretches us both up and down -- an alignment in song.

    Songwriter Info: Mazal Etedgi (they/them/theirs) is a trans and Mizrahi ritualist, Drama Therapist, and herbal medicine maker living on Ohlone Land (so-called Berkeley, California).

    Links:
    Website: bsamimapothecary.com
    Instagram: @bsamim.apothecary
    Tiktok: @bsamimapothecary

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:06
    Start time of reprise: 00:13:02
    ​
    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Minor (Aeolian with harmonies in 2nd go-round), zipper song

    Join the A Breath of Song mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

    Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!
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    22. When the Water Is Glass Calm

    4:4 Beauty Calm Cycles Dawn Gentle Holy Light Listen Notice Praise & Wonder Ribbon Scale: Ionian (Major) Sky Song Form: Layer Sun Water
    Song When the Water Is Glass Calm
    Words & Music​ by Paul Barton
    Lyrics
    ​
    When the water is glass calm, the stillness cradles life.

    The sun rises slowly, pealing through the trees, bringing color to the sky.

    Listen, ​listen, to the soft sounds of this new day.
    Picture
    Notes:  I met Paul Barton in 2019 at a Circlesinging workshop with Bobby McFerrin -- a quiet, gentle redhead with a warm smile, he was easy to like… and then gradually since then, I’ve been discovering his music, which unfolds itself the more you sing it. I live not far from a pond, lake, and river, all which I have seen at moments of glass calmness (although, truth be told, not at sunrise!) I love the way I feel calm and clear after I sing this song, which he says Stephanie Drouin helped write as they were visiting a friend's cottage, and had gone for an early morning paddle. 

    Songwriter Info: Paul is a skilled jazz guitarist in Toronto, Canada, who creates music for community singing, in his words, "because I want to use my creativity to help people experience the joys (and sometimes sorrows) of singing together. There is a growing number of people around the world who are remembering that singing together can be inclusive to everyone regardless of singing ability or musical knowledge. And, the focus can be on the healing and connecting power of music, rather than on 'getting it right'." You can find Paul leading songs at Fiercely OK and Sing for Joy song circles.

    Links:
    Paul's website, http://www.paulbartonmusic.com/
    Paul's teaching tracks and sheet music for When the Water Is Glass Calm.
    Fiercely OK song circles
    ​Sing For Joy Community Choir

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Ionian (major), 3 layer song​
    ​
    Join the A Breath of Song mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

    Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!
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    20. Great-Full with guest Ishka Shir

    4:4 Be Grateful Be Present Celebrate Gratitude & Trust Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Layer Song Form: Round Songwriter Conversation Trust
    Song Great-Full
    Words & Music by Ishka Shir
    Lyrics
    I am here on this planet, living my life,
    doing what I do,     feeling grateful.

    I am here, this is life, I'm grateful.     ​(2x)
    Picture
    Notes: Ishka talks about music making while hiking and cuddling, the influence of her singing mother, the difference between singing alone and in large groups, kitchen singing, good food, how songmaking could be available to anyone, and why she sometimes says she doesn't like music (!) And in with all that, she shares this song which originated as a walking song, but can be used in many moods... and I get to sing along so you can hear how it rounds... we can imagine ourselves in the kitchen making a yummy fall soup, singing together.... feeling grateful.

    Songwriter Info: Ishka is someone who sings from their heart.  She has been making up songs since she was a child and has been sharing songs at community song circles since 2007.  Ishka integrates song into most aspects of their life which include, hiking, gardening, cooking, biking, and cuddling clients.  Professionally Ishka is a therapeutic cuddler in Asheville NC. Ishka is especially drawn to songs that have simple yet powerful lyrics and believes that songs can help us heal.  

    Links:
    How Could Anyone Ever Tell You? by Libby Roderick (this is a live recording of Libby's with a story at the beginning; the song starts at about 3'20")
    Aimée Ringle site: http://www.aimeeringlemusic.com/
    Lyndsey Scott: to find more about her, I'm going to direct you to Episode #16, which features a song of Lyndsey's and all her multitudinous contact info!
    Ishka's Soundcloud site- https://soundcloud.com/user-943187430  Ishka directly shares many mantra-like songs​
    Ishka's Therapeutic Cuddling website- holdmeavl.com 

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:36
    Start time of reprise: 00:32:55

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Ionian (major scale), 2-part layer or round.
    ​
    Join the A Breath of Song mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

    Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!
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    18. The Truth

    4:4 Accept Celebrate Gratitude & Trust Heal Notice Power & Change Scale: Mixolydian Flat 6 Song Form: Round Song Form: Unison Trust
    Song The Truth
    Music by Velma Frye
    Words adapted from Macrina Wiederkehr, O.S.B.
    Lyrics
    I will believe the truth about myself,
    no matter how beautiful it is.​
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    Notes: I was so surprised when I first learned this song from Roy Willey by how difficult it was for me to actually sing these words to myself. One of the beautiful things about mantra singing -- short phrases, repeated over and over -- is that you have time to notice how it feels to sing these particular words. You have time to get distracted and come back. And if you hear yourself singing the words often enough, maybe they become less surprising? I sent the email list a description of how I think this particular melody supports -- ensounds? -- these words. (You can join the list, too, by signing up on the homepage. (Scroll a bit...))
    ​  Macrina Wiederkehr, O.S.B., wrote a book called Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day. Velma chose texts and moments from this book to create a collection of 28 songs to sing during these pauses, which is available in CD and book form on her website, www.velmafryemusic.com. I love the way this particular song invites me to look at myself anew.

    Songwriter info: Velma's mother gave her the choice of washing the dishes or practicing the piano, so Velma became a musician! With six years of college music training, she was confident to diversify into singing, teaching piano and leading choral groups, performing (including 9 times on "A Prairie Home Companion"), and recording six solo CDs. As she was ripening into middle age, she wrote this song, "The Truth," using words by Macrina Wiekerkehr, for singing circles. For the past year, Velma taught piano and Song Salons weekly on zoom, and was a guest two times on Heather Houston's online singing classes. Particularly fun was a Happy Hour that Velma and Becky Reardon offered to a national audience on zoom. More to come!

    Links:
    Velma's website https://www.velmafryemusic.com/
    Velma on facebook https://www.facebook.com/velmafryemusic
    Seven Sacred Pauses https://www.facebook.com/SevenSacredPauses
    Velma on youtube  https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=velma+frye

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, unison or round, mixolydian flat-6 scale (sometimes called major-minor scale because the first half is major, and the second half is minor.)
    ​
    Join the A Breath of Song mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

    Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!