Home - A Breath of Song

Published on: November 1, 2023

123. Arms of Love

Song: Arms of Love
Music: Alexa Sunshine Rose

Lyrics

Come now child, lay it down
Just breathe
Just be
Come be cradled in the arms of love
Just breathe, just be.

Notes: Every time I sing one of Alexa Sunshine Rose's songs with a group, people immediately want to sing it again -- they simply feel that good. I give a little extra help picking out the harmonies that are on the recording of this that Alexa Sunshine Rose released (buying it on Bandcamp is a great way to support her artistry)... and then I play around with making up harmonies of my own, as I hope you will if it appeals. There's also something very beautiful about centering in the melody of this song, and letting the harmonies develop around you.

Songwriter Info: Alexa Sunshine Rose is a singer-songwriter, mother and artist who has dedicated herself and her life's work to being a clear channel for peace on earth. Alexa plays in the tuning frequency of A=432 Hz to promote inner peace and deep sound absorption. Listeners worldwide utilize her music during pregnancy and birth, hospice, yoga and massage, community song circles, and inner-transformational journeys.

Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Alexa for recording and/or performing permission.

Links:
Website: www.alexasunshinerose.com
Instagram: @Alexasunshinerose
Facebook: www.facebook.com/alexasunshinerose
Support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/alexasunshinerose

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:25
Start time of reprise: 00:13:35

Nuts & Bolts: 3:4 minor, 4-part harmony

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!

Published on: October 25, 2023

122. September Moon with singer Rebecca Csuy

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Song: September Moon
Music: Chandler Yorkhall

Lyrics

Full Moon outside my window this warm September night
Pulls me into wakefulness far too early.
I’d rather be sleeping the day is already too long for me
I’ll just wait for dawn.

Notes: Chandler Yorkhall has written one of my favorite full moon songs, as I rarely sleep well during a full moon! I am delighted to have gotten to record this with my daughter, Rebecca -- laughter ensues, and we ended up including an "outtake", where we experiment with rounding the song much more closely than usual... just to see what happens (and okay, yes, maybe it's a train wreck, but then we tried again!) I love the dancing rhythms of this, and appreciated Chandler's willingness to listen to how I'd learned to sing it. He pointed out a few spots which differed from his original so we could bring you a fairly accurate rendition of his original. As good songs travel, they sometimes morph...

Songwriter Info: Chandler grew up singing with his family and can’t remember a time when singing wasn’t part of his daily life. He has been writing, leading, and getting inspired by songs since he was a teen, and songs have saved his sanity more times than he can remember. He is so pleased to be able to share his joy through sharing his songs. Chandler lives in Minneapolis with his wife and 4 children, who also love to sing! He's never really settled on a parenting “philosophy” per se, until his two teen daughters returned from their first Village Harmony camp, singing lustily in praise of everything good. At that point he said to himself, “Well, if my children leave my home knowing how to sing, I guess I’ll have done them, and the world, a great service.”

Sharing Info: Yes -The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Chandler for recording, performing, or publication permission.

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:50
Start time of reprise: 00:17:37

Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, Aeolian minor, 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!

Published on: October 4, 2023

119. I Let Go

4:4 Accept Be Present Belonging Breathe Calm Cycles Flow Gentle Grow Harmony Heal Home Journey Motion Peace Release Rest Safe Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Call & Response Song Form: Echo Tend Trust

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Song: I Let Go
Music: Te Martin

Lyrics:

I let go
I lay down
I release
Return again

Notes: Te Martin describes this song as an exhale... I experience it like that, too... a relaxation, a release. It's so very welcome to me as I'm coming into a busy time of life, with lots of commitments lined up -- I need ways to let go quickly, in the middle of all the flurry. Having this song in my mind lets me do that... and if I happen to be with someone else who's willing to sing, it's so easy to echo it back to each other. Next week is a songwriter conversation with Te... bicycles, miso, and the natural world all come into play!

Songwriter Info: Te Martin is a song-keeper and ritual artist. They were born on Ramaytush Ohlone land in San Francisco and have been shaped by Ocean, Redwoods, circus arts, and theater games. They facilitate oral tradition singing classes and workshops that focus on song as a tool for collective liberation, somatic regulation, and ancestral connection. Te served as co-organizer of Thrive Street Choir in the San Francisco bay area for six years, is a student of Gaelic song, and released their first professional music video and EP of original songs, "Water & Bones," in 2021.

Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Te for recording and/or performing permission

Links:
EP, "Water & Bones": https://temartin.bandcamp.com/album/water-bones
"May This Body Be a Bridge" Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Mn_2BSNAg
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/temartin
Mailing List: https://mailchi.mp/1debadd3ebb3/sos
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/te.martin/

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:53
Start time of reprise: 00:12:10

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, call & response

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!

Published on: June 7, 2023

105. Touch the Sky with Guest VoiceExchange

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Song: Touch the Sky
Music: VoiceExchange

Lyrics

You are safe here, you are safe.
No one will ask you why you need to touch the sky.
Just touch the sky. (3x)

You are in the arms of the sky.
No one ... you ... why ... you,
you need to touch the sky,
you need to touch the sky
You need to touch sky, the sky.

You are safe here, you are safe here,
you are safe in the arm of the sky.
No one will ask you why, oh no why.
You'll touch the sky, just touch the sky. (4x)

Notes: Songs can be career counselors, harmonizing means you don't have to memorize words, if you don't like to sing alone, then singing with others can unlock your voice, how to leave space for people, how to become a found family (food is involved) -- what other ideas might VoiceExchange have to share with you? This quintet of singers improvised their way through the pandemic -- learn how they honed their ability to play even when geographically distant (and hear an example at the very end, created on the fly with Zoom faces and Jacktrip sound). Improvisation can be a weird and wonderful world -- a chance to hear the unexpected. The song they shared is a tree speaking... and what a beautiful sense of embrace it creates.

Songwriter Info: VoiceExchange initially formed as a practice group following a 2012 Bobby McFerrin Circlesongs workshop. As singers from disparate musical influences, they came together, connecting through a shared passion for vocal improvisation, and formed a unique a cappella group that blends diverse vocal styles into spontaneous harmonious arrangements. During the challenges of the pandemic VoiceExchange began a series of sequentially recorded collaborations for leading online circles. This resulted in a library of recordings, among them, Touch the Sky and Take My Hand. VoiceExchange members are Amado Ohland, Beth Lyons, Dina Torok, Joy Truskowski and Paris Kern. They can be found leading Circlesinging events in Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts & Vermont as well as offering online and in-person workshops and providing spontaneous music to churches, temples and other community gatherings.

Amado Ohland began his semi-professional career as a jazz and blues vocalist shortly after graduating University of Maryland at College Park with a bachelor's in music composition and theory. He attended his first Circlesongs workshop in 2011, and has been leading circlesinging events since 2013 in Washington DC, Pittsburgh, and western Virginia. He has recently received a master's degree in music from Radford University. For his doctoral dissertation he is working on a participatory ethnography of circlesinging worldwide and a song cycle of pieces based on circlesinging techniques.

Born into a musical family, Beth Lyons actually can’t remember a ‘before’ time when singing-in-community wasn’t a part of her life. She currently performs improvised musicals with iMusical, the house musical improv team for Washington Improv Theater, performs and leads Circles with VoiceExchange, and leads online immersive Song Dive workshops and a Monday morning online choir named Coffee Choir. You can learn more about her offerings and sign up for her “Heads Up” notification/invite list at www.RiverChoir.org.

Dina Torok has sung in and been musical director for various a cappella groups from college through adulthood. She was a professional film and television session singer, performed in various pop/rock bands in Los Angeles, and recorded an original solo album and a piano/vocal album of show tunes. Dina found VoiceExchange and circle singing in 2015 and has been a grateful member ever since.

Joy Truskowski is a singer-songwriter and community songleader. She has performed as a solo artist in the Roanoke, VA area for 13 years. You can find her original songs on Bandcamp under the name “Joy Tru”. She started Star City Circlesinging in 2019 and has been leading circles with other co-leaders in Roanoke ever since. During the beginning of the pandemic she started contributing to VoiceExchange’s online circles. She fell in love with all of them, and they all asked her to marry them. She said, “I can’t marry you, but I’ll join your group!” And that was a fair compromise. So she officially joined in the summer of 2021.

Paris Kern started performing traditional folk music at coffeehouses and concerts when she was 16 years old. She studied classical vocal performance in college, but her heart was always in the world of pure traditional folk traditions. In 2011, for reasons unknown to her, she was internally compelled to attend Bobby McFerrin’s CIrclesongs workshop. Feeling like a fish out of water, surrounded by mostly Jazz musicians, she nonetheless was hooked by the magic of Circlesongs and the sensation that her heart was being sung back to her. She has been leading circles in Washington DC, and Baltimore and is now starting circles in Southern Vermont.

Sharing Info: VoiceExchange would love to know if you plan to teach or perform Touch the Sky or another of their songs; drop them a line at info@VoiceExchange.org. And if teaching/performing their song is a profitable business for you, please share a bit of the profit with them via their donation link at https://voiceexchange.org.

Links:
Paris mentions a Burl Ives recording, but we could only find a link for Patti Page’s version of "How Much is that Doggy in the Window?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rJo9yJxd5M
Julie Andrews: https://www.biography.com/actors/julie-andrews
Joan Baez: https://www.biography.com/musicians/joan-baez
David Crosby: https://davidcrosby.com/
Martin Carthy: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/martin-carthy-mn0000367979
"It’s a Small World After All" by Richard and Robert Sherman
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/disneyland-childrens-sing-along-chorus/its-a-small-world
"Diddle, Diddle Dumpling, My Son John" : https://allnurseryrhymes.com/diddle-dumpling/
Freddie Mercury: https://www.biography.com/musicians/freddie-mercury
Somatic Voicework: http://thevoiceworkshop.com/somatic-voicework/
Bobby McFerrin Circlesinging: https://circlesongs.com/circlesong-school-2023/
Tuvan throat singing: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210414-a-revival-of-indigenous-throat-singing
All the Way In- Rhiannon: https://www.rhiannonmusic.com/all-the-way-in-home
Motor, interlock definitions: http://songsofthemoment.com/category-rhiannon/
Take My Hand: Episode 104 on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/104-take-my-hand
Vocal River by Rhiannon: https://www.rhiannonmusic.com/vocal-river
Zuza: https://singers.com/vocal-coach/Zuza-Goncalves/
“Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66354.Flow
Tuck & Patti album 1988 Time After Time: https://www.discogs.com/release/10168223-Tuck-Patti-Time-After-Time
Star City Circlesinging: https://www.meetup.com/Star-City-Circlesinging/
Musica do Circulo Brazil: https://www.playgroundforthearts.com/musica-do-circulo
Amado on Bandcamp: https://amadomusic.bandcamp.com/album/circlesinging-on-zoom
"She’s So Unusual" by Cindy Lauper: https://www.allmusic.com/album/shes-so-unusual-mw0000194590
"The Game" by Queen: https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-game-mw0000650663
"Medicine Music" by Bobby McFerrin: https://www.allmusic.com/album/medicine-music-mw0000309576
Prince: https://www.prince.com
Eagles: https://eagles.com
Sting: https://www.sting.com
Billy Joel: https://www.billyjoel.com
Alanis Morisette: https://alanis.com
"Blue" by Joni Mitchell: https://jonimitchell.com/music/album.cfm?id=5
"Abbey Road" by The Beatles: https://www.thebeatles.com/abbey-road
Patrick Watson: https://patrickwatson.net
Great interview with Martin Carthy: https://www.innerviews.org/inner/martin-carthy.html
And here’s a link to Martin singing “The Trees they Do Grow High”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaKGeTmFqbE
"Vocabularies" by Bobby McFerrin: https://bobbymcferrin.com/albums/vocabularies/
VoiceExchange on Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/circlesinging-dc/
Jacktrip Software: https://www.jacktrip.com

VoiceExchange's quiet Website: https://voiceexchange.org
Email: info@voiceexchange.org
VoiceExchange on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VoiceExchangeMusic?mibextid=LQQJ4d
VoiceExchange on Instagram: https://instagram.com/voiceexchange?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
VoiceExchange's Email: info@voiceexchange.org

Amado's Website: https://amadomusic.com/
Paris's Website: https://www.pariskern.com
Joy's Website: http://www.joytru.com
Beth's choir Website: https://www.riverchoir.org

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:05:10
Start time of reprise: 01:14:25
Improvisation at 1:18:55

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Major, 3-part harmony, 3-layer

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!

Published on: March 1, 2023

92. I'm Coming Home

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Song: I'm Coming Home
Music & Words: Marv Zauderer

Lyrics

I long for home
A clear way home
I hear my voice
I'm not alone
I search inside
I see I'm known
My own heart waits
I'm coming home

Notes: I often gather richness from the way different art forms play off each other – and I love the combination of the Rilke poem I read at the beginning of this episode, and Marv’s song. Honestly, I end up spending a lot of time looking for that tower of strength inside myself – the ancient heart core that is rooted in the earth and stretches to the sky, that connects to my ancestors, both past and future. When I catch glimpses of it, I sense a way-finding clarity; when I circle around it I feel the enticement of belonging; when I inhabit it, I am at home, whether as falcon, storm, or song. I love the way Marv’s song quests, circles, and settles back at home.

Songwriter Info: Marv loves community singing, songleading, and bringing people together. At a time when so many of us feel a need to return more resonance and community to our lives, Marv is passionate about the unique power of singing together to connect us more deeply within, to each other, and to something larger than ourselves. He is a graduate of Littlebird Songleader Flight School, a member of The Living Room Choir, a proud alum of the West Marin Choir/Common Voice, and the chief cook and bottle-washer of SingOnline.org and the online SingOnline.org Song Circle, where, unlike on Zoom, through the miracle of free software everyone can see and hear every word from everyone. Later this year he’ll complete the Community Choir Leadership Training, following past graduates (and heroes!) like Maggie Wheeler, Laurence Cole, and MaMuse. In his previous careers he was Founder & CEO of a hunger relief organization; a psychotherapist & executive coach; and a technology executive at such companies as Apple. He has also restarted his psychotherapy and executive coaching practices; you can find details at TherapyWithMarv.com and CoachingWithMarv.com.

Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Marv for recording and/or performing permission

Links:
Marv's Website: http://singwithmarv.com
Marv's Instagram: http://instagram.com/singwithmarv
Marv's Facebook: http://facebook.com/singwithmarv
Rilke poem with translations: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NYYMoFQ_78C5u4Ql6OyjpZEXD3TGJuuxAX1b8T1C07U/edit?usp=sharing
Hear Marv singing the song himself with Heather Stevenson on piano & harmony: I'm Coming Home on Soundcloud

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:19
Start time of reprise: 00:12:01

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Major, Call & response or unison or harmonized

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!

Tags

123. Arms of Love

122. September Moon with singer Rebecca Csuy

119. I Let Go

105. Touch the Sky with Guest VoiceExchange

92. I'm Coming Home