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  • Published on

    249. Doesn't Mean

    3 Layer 4:4 Boundaries Change Cycles Darkness Empower Freedom Grow Heal Journey Power & Change Protection & Presence Release Scale: Minor Song Form: Harmonized

    Song: Doesn't Mean

    Music by: Ríomas


    Song Learning Time Stamps:

    Start of teaching: 00:03:20

    Start of reprise: 00:18:24



    Lyrics:


    Pt. 1

    What if it doesn’t mean what you think it means?

    What if it doesn’t mean what you think it means?

    What if it doesn’t mean what you think it means?

    Doesn’t mean what you think it means

    Doesn’t mean what you think it means


    Pt. 2

    It’s just a hole in the soul

    Trying to bring you back down in the darkness

    This is not a darkness you need to go

    This is not a darkness you need to go


    Been there, done that,

    no need to go back

    This is not a darkness

    you need to go

    This is not a darkness you need


    Pt. 3

    Bringing yourself down

    Is not your protection anymore

    The story is much more

    Than your mind could ever hold


    Image description

    Notes: What if there are other stories we can tell ourselves, other ways to protect ourselves? What if it doesn't mean what we think it means? The kind of flexibility that asks of us -- the openness to consider that the solution our mind is so neatly presenting might actually not be the most accurate or the most helpful? Wow. It's a game changer when we don't have to hold our stories or our past techniques so tightly -- and Ríomas has given us a song to ask these questions, to remind us that old ways of coping aren't always working so well in the here and now. Next episode, we get a sweet, intense conversation that touches in on navigating change, ancestors, rhythms, and more -- PLUS a new song Ríomas shares that's all about changing patterns...

     

    Songwriter Info: Ríomas (RiYo or Río for short, they/them), previously known as Shireen Amini, is a queer, trans masculine, Puerto Rican-Iranian artist and immigrant settler based in Portland, Oregon creating at the intersection of music, healing, and cultural change. Drawing upon pop and folk soul textures, gratefully and respectfully from Black and Afro-Latin lineages, they craft artful, participatory songs that invite realness and transformative energy. Bridging contemporary music mediums with ceremonial ways and resistance efforts, Ríomas creates soulful and joyful community singing experiences that reconnect people to their power and place. In spring 2026, they released their first community song album, Gather Your Resilience: Medicine for Liberation.

     

    Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share in oral tradition contexts like song circles, but please contact me for permission and rates if interested in teaching this song as part of greater money-making ventures like multi-week choirs, workshops, classes, or performances or if interested in recording this song.

     

     

    Links: 

    Album on Bandcamp: https://riomas.bandcamp.com/album/gather-your-resilience-medicine-for-liberation

    Patreon: https://patreon.com/riomas

    Instagram: @riomasmusic

    Linktree: https://linktr.ee/riomas

     

     

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, 3 layer with extra harmonies

     

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  • Published on

    204. May the Way Open Before You with Guest Singers

    6:8 Darkness Hope Light Love Prayer Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Harmonized Trust
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:29
    Start time of reprise: 00:13:05

    Lyrics:

    May the way open before you.
    May you see beyond darkness and light
    to the love you are;
    to the love you bring into the world.
    Picture
    Song: May the Way Open Before You
    Music by: Ana Hernández

    Guest singers:​ Sadie Jones, AJ Banach, Cameron Brownell, Rebecca Csuy

    Notes: Recording this was a complete treat, because I had four friends in the studio with me -- Rebecca Csuy, Cameron Brownell, AJ Banach, and Sadie Jones learned the song and loved it. AJ catches me when I make a note mistake in the harmony, which is fabulous -- friends who have your back! Next week, I have the privilege of talking with Ana and learning about her extensive background and why community singing matters to her... for now, please enjoy this, which she calls "a simple blessing," and her wish for everyone in the world.

    Songwriter Info: Ana Hernández is a composer, recording artist, retreat leader, and activist song leader creating and collecting tunes to build living and just communities through skillful action. A theomusicologist with NYS Poor People’s Campaign, Ana is also the author of The Sacred Art of Chant: Preparing to Practice (Skylight Paths/Turner Publishing).

    Sharing Info: The song is free to share in public resistance actions and oral tradition groups. Please contact Ana for recording, streaming, or performing permission. 

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:29
    Start time of reprise: 00:13:05

    Links:
    Ana's website: https://anahernandez.org
    Ana's Patreon: www.patreon.com/anahernandez 
    Listen on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/in/artist/ana-hernandez/214582777 
    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0NGPpe3jeQqHFeFArIqYEH 
    SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/anahermusic 
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-p9kisJu1ISLW7w6Wy2lVA 
    Also look for HARC (with Ruth Cunningham): https://anahernandez.org/album/inside-chants/ 
    The Miserable Offenders: https://anahernandez.org/album/keepin-the-baby-awake-music-for-advent-and-christmas/ 
    Eternal Spirit (w/ Sr. Helena Marie, CHS): https://anahernandez.org/album/eternal-spirit/ 
    Banquet of Love (w/ Ike Sturm and so many friends!): https://anahernandez.org/album/banquet-of-love/ 

    Nuts & Bolts: 6:8, major, 2-part harmony

    Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:  https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share

    Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.  https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html
  • Published on

    189. Hearth

    4:4 Darkness Dreams Fire Heart Light Night Scale: Aeolian (minor) Sky Song Form: Harmonized Song Form: Layer
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:53
    Start time of reprise: 00:13:08
    Lyrics:

    Part 1:
    Fire at the center in my heart
    Rise of the night spark fly away
    Smoke twines together in the sky
    Oh how the dark times light my way

    Parts 2&3:
    Fire in my heart
    Praise be to the dark

    Part 4:
    Dreaming in an endless night
    Living in an endless dream
    Picture
    Song: Hearth
    Music by: Yuri Woodstock

    Notes: Yuri Woodstock knows how to start and tend fires -- and this song sings the magic of smoke and spark. He's managed to make it feel dark and joyous, with a sinuous, smoky sound to remember the mystery, the dream of being alive. Next week is a conversation where Yuri brings his high energy take on community singing and how he found his way into the world through a combination of friends and mentors and skills so deeply embedded it's hard to remember how he got them. By the end I was wishing I could visit his song groups -- I may have to plan a road trip!

    Songwriter Info: Yuri Woodstock is a community song leader based in Asheville, NC, who has run the now 180-member Hark! Community Choir for the past seven years. It is a non-performing, non-auditioned group that sings for joy and connection. He specializes in quick teaches of layer songs and SATB bangers that are easy to learn and fun to sing. Often Hark! feels like a singing dance party.

    Sharing Info: Free to share!

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:53
    Start time of reprise: 00:13:08

    Links:
    Yuri's website: https://www.weringlikebells.com/ 
    Yuri's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weringlikebells/ 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, 3-layer, one layer harmonized

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  • Published on

    180. Pearl in the Dark with guest Sarina Partridge

    2:2 3 Layer Change Darkness Determination Empower Future Hope Journey Listen Notice Ribbon Scale: Ionian (Major) Sea Song Form: Layer Songwriter Conversation Trust Water
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:05:34
    Start time of reprise: 01:30:39
    ​Lyrics:

    Part 1:
    I'm gonna dive deep, a little deeper
    Into the grit and the mud and the muck
    that I don't wanna see
    'Cause I think there's a seed,
    there's a teacher
    There's a pearl in the dark shining!

    Part 2:
    I will lean into this darkness, this darkness
    A seed is shining,
    there's a pearl in the dark shining!

    Part 3:
    Ooooh, shining like a pearl
    Ooooh, new leaves unfurl
    Ooooh, a new way is possible -
    there's a pearl in the dark shining!
    Picture
    Song: Pearl in the Dark
    Music by: Sarina Partridge

    Notes: Here's something to boost your "joy-ometer", as Sarina refers to it! We dive into infiltrating the health system with singing, stories we tell to make sense of the world, geysers of weird choices, singing to support community goals, cosmic bowling alley bumpers and more... and all that after learning a fresh song of Sarina's that helps us dive into the grit and the mud and the muck (when we choose to!)

    Songwriter Info: Sarina Partridge is a musician, song-leader and educator in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She feels most alive when learning, creating and sharing songs, and enjoys singing with a wide variety of music projects - Eastern European and Yiddish song, old-time music, community song-leading... and everything in between. Sarina has traveled around the world to study with master folk singers, and has toured with the traveling ensemble Northern Harmony abroad and in the USA.  She has a passion for connecting people with their own creativity and with community, and uses singing to help folks develop a sense of wonder for this wild world around us. Let’s sing!
    Sarina performs and teaches with several music projects/ensembles (Heartwood, Nanilo) and as a solo artist and educator; teaches at music camps (Village Harmony, Songroots, Folklore Village); and leads regular community sings and workshops in and around Minneapolis.

    Sharing Info: When sharing in a money-making venture, like a workshop, class, or performance, please contact Sarina for permission and rates.

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:05:34
    Start time of reprise: 01:30:39

    Links:
    Sarina's website: SarinaPartridge.com
    Sarina's Patreon: patreon.com/sarinapartridge
    Sarina's Bandcamp: sarinapartridge.bandcamp.com
    Heartwood's UK tour in March: https://www.heartwoodtrio.com/upcoming 
    SongWeavers retreat: https://www.singwaldorf.org/songweavers 
    Village Harmony: https://www.villageharmony.org/ 
    ABS episode with Kate Valentine: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/130-ride-the-storm-with-guest-kate-valentine 
    Mariah Carey: https://mariahcarey.com/
    Bad Posture Club: https://badpostureclub.net/ 

    Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, 3 layer

    Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:
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    Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.
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  • Published on

    170. Over/Under with guest Lyndsey Scott

    4:4 Darkness Determination Freedom Grieve Journey Justice Love Ribbon Scale: Aeolian (minor) Song Form: Call & Response Song Form: Unison With Separate Harmony Line Songwriter Conversation Web
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:05:15
    Start time of reprise: 01:06:15
    Lyrics:

    Over / under
    All the way through
    Over / under
    Back to you
    Over / under
    All the way down
    Over / under
    Lost then found

    I am the love that doesn't leave
    We do this til we free us!
    Feel thru the dark is how we see
    We do this til we free us!
    We are remembering how to grieve
    We do this til we free us!
    You are a part of my family
    We do this til we free us!
    Picture
    Song: Over/Under
    Music by: Lyndsey Scott

    Notes: Lyndsey Scott talks about her radical trust in life, how she perceives energy, the playfulness and generosity of cyclical wisdom. She shares the origin story of this song, Over/Under, and wisdom from her co-creator, Anthony R. Rhodd about gratitude. We were recording the Thursday after the US elections -- as I listen to the focus on how to find resources and energy, I realize how depleted I felt in the moment of recording. And yet talking with Lyndsey buoyed me -- the deep attunement that she practices shines through our conversation -- I feel like I can really feel the truth of "I am the love that doesn't leave..."

    Songwriter Info: Lyndsey Scott is a multimedia artist, songleader, songwriter, and ritualist committed to exploring community singing as a technology of belonging and a strategy for mutual liberation. She currently co-facilitates the yearlong cohort of emergent earth-based ceremonial study with Earthkeeper Wisdom School (Hartsburg, MO), leads song for politicized somatics practitioners in Embodying Racial Justice’s yearlong program, Opening to Freedom (Millerton, NY), and teaches "Community Singing as Collective Power" at the University of Iowa School of Music's Grant Wood Fellow.

    Sharing Info: The song is free to share but Lyndsey always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:05:15
    Start time of reprise: 01:06:15

    Links:
    Lyndsey's website: https://www.lyndseyscott.earth/
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lila.gaia/ 
    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lyndseyscott 
    We Do This 'Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1664-we-do-this-til-we-free-us 
    What It Takes to Heal by Prentice Hemphill: https://prentishemphill.com/book
    The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/250673/the-wild-edge-of-sorrow-by-francis-weller/ 
    Song Carrier Toolkit by Liz Rog: https://www.centerforbelonging.earth/store/p/song-carrier-toolkit 
    Earthkeeper Wisdom School: https://www.earthkeeperwisdomschool.org/ 
    Rebeccah Bennett, Root Teacher, The InPower Institute: https://inpowerinstitute.com/ 
    The Milk-Eyed Mender by Joanna Newsom: https://joannanewsom.bandcamp.com/album/the-milk-eyed-mender 
    Meredith Monk: https://www.meredithmonk.org/ 
    Emma Koeppel: https://soundcloud.com/emma-koeppel 
    Anthony R. Rhodd: https://substack.com/@anthonyrrhodd 
    Woman Stands Shining (Pat McCabe): https://www.patmccabe.net/ 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, unison or harmonized, call & response section

    Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:
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  • Published on

    113. Borrow Trouble with singer Seth Norton

    4:4 Accept Be Present Breathe Change Cycles Darkness Enough Flow Future Grieve Journey Release Scale: Aeolian (minor) Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Layer Song Form: Unison Trust Water Waves
    Song: Borrow Trouble
    ​Music:     Patricia Norton
    Lyrics
    Let me not borrow this trouble
    ahead of time.
    Let me not carry this sorrow
    before it's mine.
    It will come when it comes, and go when it goes.
    I will know; I will know.
    It will come when it comes and go when it goes,
    I will know.

    My trust and love are banks on the river
    where grief and praise can find a flow.
    My tender heart, it floats on the ocean.
    The waves come. The waves go.
    Picture
    Notes: Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with the thought of death, I think I'm going to precipitate it by forgetting to breathe! And then somehow, something will help me back into the present, alive moment... and this song appeared just after one of those moments. I was absolutely delighted to record it with my son, Seth, who was visiting from Boston (you'll hear a little fangirl excitement in my voice)... and also surprised by how different it was for me to sing it with someone else rather than just my own voice on the looper! This voice music thing... it's always surprising me, delighting me, stretching me. And this particular song keeps coming back, insisting I sing it again.

    Songwriter Info: In addition to hosting this podcast and an online singing program, Pocket Songs, Patricia is excited to be developing an in-person community singing program in Burlington, Vermont. You can find more details about that at the Juneberry Music site. Patricia believes in singing as a part of vibrant well-being, experiencing wholeness, courage, connection and joy along with brokenness, fear, loneliness, and despair... trusting the whole messy catastrophe! She lives with her long-time beloved, Tom, in a single bedroom apartment close to their daughter's family (the better to play with their grand.) Patricia reads widely, and also spends time exploring the natural world on these Abenaki lands, knitting, and reluctantly strength-training.

    ​Sharing Info: You are welcome to share this song; please contact Patricia directly for sheet music or permission to record or perform. She always appreciates hearing about how the song travels.

    Links: 
    Patricia's Website: https://www.juneberrymusic.com

    ​Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:25
    Start time of reprise: 00:15:15
    ​​
    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4 Minor & Major, unison or 2-part layer

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