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    230. Great Turning with guest Grace Oedel and singer Rebecca Csuy

    4:4 Change Determination Empower Future Hope Power & Change Scale: Aeolian (minor) Song Form: Layer Trust

    Song: Great Turning

    Music by: Joanna Colwell


    Song Learning Time Stamps:

    Start time of teaching: 00:03:03

    Start time of reprise: 01:08:19

    Lyrics:

    Part 1
    We are turning, turning 
    We’re part of a great turning
    We are turning, turning
    We’re turning it around
     
    Part 2
    I will not fear you 
    I will not harm you 
    I will not fear you
    We are turning it around 

    Part 3
    We are all in it together 
    We are turning, turning it around 

    (Gratitude to Joanna Macy, for her teachings on The Great Turning)
    Picture

    Notes: It seems fitting that Grace Oedel, who tells us she is “Not doing any of this alone," brings us a song caught by a friend of hers, Joanna Colwell... and that this song references the mentor and teacher Joanna Macy, who helped so many folk seek reconnection. Grace and I are joined by Rebecca Csuy to learn this three part song, and then we dive into a laughter-filled conversation that visits some hard questions and nourishing responses. Grace is doing vital work in the world in many different arenas, seeking ways to help us get comfortable with the enormous changes we are facing, hospicing modernity -- but she points out, “I eat chocolate chips in bed… I am not a holier-than-thou person!”  "We're all in it together," like the song says... "we are turning it around."


    Songwriter Info: Joanna Colwell is a yoga teacher and song leader in MIddlebury, Vermont. She started the Yoga Equity Project and can generally be found tearing down the patriarchy with art, song, ritual, and good cheer.


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


    Song Learning Time Stamps:

    Start time of teaching: 00:03:03

    Start time of reprise: 01:08:19


    Links:

    Grace's Substack: https://graceoedel.substack.com/ 

    Joanna Colwell – Middlebury yoga teacher:

    https://www.yogaequity.org/ 

    www.ottercreekyoga.com 

    https://www.instagram.com/ottercreekyoga/

    Joanna Macy – The Work that Reconnects: https://workthatreconnects.org/ 

    Octavia Butler: "Kindness eases change." "God is change.": https://www.octaviabutler.com/ 

    Moira Smiley on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/39-stand-in-that-river#/ , https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/40-render-a-remedy-with-moira-smiley#/ 

    Heidi Wilson on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/139-bend-and-rebound#/ , https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/140-the-feast-with-guest-heidi-wilson#/ , https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/228-all-call-this-home#/ 

    Singing Resistance: https://linktr.ee/singingresistance 

    Kairos Center with Songs in the Key of Resistance: https://kairoscenter.org/projects/songs-in-the-key-of-resistance/ 

    NOFA – Long-Handled Spoon Dinners: https://www.nofavt.org/about/blog/announcing-new-long-handled-spoons-dinners 

    L’Chaim Jewish collective leadership in Burlington: https://www.lchaimcollective.org/ 

    Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst, UVM professor: https://www.uvm.edu/cas/religion/profile/ilyse-morgenstein-fuerst 

    Elise Witt on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/21-song-deep-in-your-bones#/ , https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/211-set-us-free#/ 

    Nero’s Expedition Up the Nile by Moondog (Louis Thomas Hardin): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpUIzHWB_zc 

    James Baldwin “The children are always ours.”: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/notes-house-bondage/ 

    Aylie Baker – wayfinding in Micronesia: https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/wave-patterns/ 

    Indigo Girls: https://www.indigogirls.com/ 

    Batya Levine on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/166-breathe#/ 


    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, 3-layers


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    229. We Will Not Stand Down

    3 Layer 4:4 Boundaries Chant Determination Empower Hope Justice Love Power & Change Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Layer Strength
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:44
    Start time of reprise: 00:15:29
    Lyrics:

    We will not stand down
    we will not go home
    our love will move us on
    in love we're not alone

    I do not need permission to be brave
    ​
    I can do it scared
    I will do it scared​
    Picture
    ​Song: We Will Not Stand Down
    Music by: Grace Oedel

    Notes: This song came directly out of protective action, as Grace was asking herself how to develop a chant into a song -- it's got a groove, it's alive, and it's adaptable. Sing it with only a few words, or add some lyrics. Get people moving on the parts they resonate with and help them hear the collective pulse that underlies it all. Add what feels good in your body and voice -- and next week, join Grace and me for a wide-ranging conversation that asks questions about how can we keep showing up with and for each other for the long haul? How can we use rage as a fuel that doesn't burn us out, but helps us to not stand down, to not go home, to do what scares us because love is underneath that rage, moving us on!

    Songwriter Info: Grace is a doula for change and an enthusiast for collective action. She's an ordained rabbi who organizes with the L'Chaim Collective and serves as the executive director of NOFA-VT, building power for a just and delicious future. She sits on the boards of Rights and Democracy, Milk with Dignity, National Family Farm Coalition, National Sustainable Ag Coalition, the Better Selves Fellowship, and is an affiliate for the Institute for Agroecology. She leads a monthly community sing for resistance and hope that is a real banger, is a fan of desserts, and is mama to three little ones. 

    Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups - use it anywhere it can be helpful! - but please contact Grace for recording and/or performing permission.

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:44
    Start time of reprise: 00:15:29

    Links:
    Grace's Substack: https://graceoedel.substack.com/ 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 3-layers

    Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:
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    223. The Reach

    4:4 Cycles Earth Generations Gratitude & Trust Grow Hope Praise & Wonder Scale: Ionian (Major) Seasons Song Form: Harmonized Song Form: Round Trust
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:50
    Start time of reprise: 00:14:29
    Lyrics:

    The earth
    opened in the spring, opens
    in all springs. Nameless,
    ancient, many lived, we reach
    through ages with the seed.

    – Wendell Berry, “Rising”
    New Collected Poems
    ​(Counterpoint Press, 2012)
    Picture
    Song: The Reach
    Words by: Wendell Berry
    Music by: Malcolm Dalglish

    Notes: I learned this beautiful round from the amazing Moira Smiley, who connected me with Malcolm Dalglish to request his permission to share on this podcast. I continue to be amazed by the seeds we sow when we befriend and tend each other, unfolding understanding and trust. It's not always easy to reach forward or back -- but these seeds we plant with each other open, even if the winter is long and icy! At least that's where this poem is taking me today. And let me tell you, I practiced deep love and care for all of you whose voices are comfortable in higher ranges than mine! I taught it where I'm comfy -- but I did the reprise where Malcolm actually set the sheet music (nice tenor/soprano range) -- so if you want to buy the sheet music from him and sing along with it, that's where you should head...

    Songwriter Info: Malcolm Dalglish is a hammer dulcimer player and composer from Bloomington Indiana, whose many vocals celebrate a love of our natural world. He has set many poems by Kentucky author, and farmer, Wendell Berry. 

    Sharing Info: Please buy sheet music on Malcolm's website if you plan to share this song as a songleader.

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:50
    Start time of reprise: 00:14:29

    Links:
    Malcolm's website: https://oooliticmusic.com/ 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, round with optional descant

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    220. Pray With Our Feet with guest Paul Vasile

    2:2 Change Determination Empower Hope Power & Change Prayer Scale: Aeolian (minor) Song Form: Unison
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:04:35
    Start time of reprise: 01:15:00
    Lyrics:

    It's not enough to offer thoughts and prayers.
    It's not enough to say that we care. 
    It's not enough to hope that things will change. 
    We've got to pray with our feet,
    pray with our feet, pray with our feet
    and get out, out on the street.
    Picture
    Song: Pray With Our Feet
    Words by: Paul Vasile, based on a quotation by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
    Music by: Paul Vasile

    Notes: This is what folk in Minneapolis are doing -- praying with their feet, getting out on the street. They're singing songs to bless each other, the people they're protecting, and the ICE agents who are so misguided. And this is not the only place in the world where people of "middle power" gather -- not super-powers, not uber-wealthy -- just people who care about living in a world where we feed and educate our children, hold jobs with purpose. Paul Vasile describes it as "belonging belovedness -- you are safe, you are seen, you are heard." In this conversation, we dive into the sometimes knotty weeds of faith and how someone who is deeply connected in a faith tradition might want to expand into questions of what world we want to create together. Big trees. "Talk less, sing more." "As a queer person, I experienced a faith that helped me be a bigger, better me."

    Songwriter Info:
    Paul Vasile (he/him) is a church musician, teacher, coach, and composer who finds his greatest joy in collaborative and community-centered work. Committed to modeling expansive, imaginative, and hospitable experiences of music making wherever he goes, Paul's leadership builds trust, invites spaces of creativity, vulnerability, and play, and supports practices of reflection and holistic learning.
    For the past decade he has offered short- and long-term transitional leadership, consulting services, and creative resources to faith communities in seasons of discernment, challenge, and transformation. From 2016 to 2023, Paul served as the Executive Director of Music that Makes Community, a non-profit that shares "paperless" (oral tradition) leadership practices and songs. He traveled across North America modeling distinctive approaches to communal singing and learning at retreat centers, conferences, denominational gatherings, seminaries, and in congregations of all sizes.
    Paul also composes music that invites communities to express and explore their connection to sacred stories, their bodies, and the ecosystems that sustain us. His music is represented in Glory to God, All Creation Sings, and Voices Together, as well as The Hymn Society’s resource, Songs for the Holy Other: Hymns Affirming The LGBTQIA2S+ Community.

    Sharing Info: Please buy sheet music on Paul's website if you plan to share this song as a songleader.

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:04:35
    Start time of reprise: 01:15:00

    Links:
    Paul's website: https://www.paulvasile.com/ 
    Paul's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovedintobeing/ 
    Sheet music for Pray With Our Feet: https://www.paulvasile.com/products/pray-with-our-feet
    Feb 7th workshop at Lutheran church in Ft. Washington, MD with Maren Marchesini: https://www.sharingthesong.org/
    Inspiration for lyrics, including quote by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel: https://www.tbemaine.org/praying-with-hearts-and-feet 

    Music that Makes Community: https://www.musicthatmakescommunity.org/ 
    Rev. Donald Schnell, a 2012 interview as Music Makes Community was beginning: https://www.conversations.org/story.php?sid=329
    Bobby McFerrin: https://bobbymcferrin.com/ 
    Taizé chants: https://www.taize.fr/en/the-songs 
    Chanda Rule: https://www.chandarule.com/
    Hold Me by Nina Wise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxU_egWayc4&t=16s
    Nina Wise: https://ninawise.com

    East Coast songleader trainings:
    Mila Redwood in Toronto: https://www.milaredwood.ca/song-leader-training
    Patricia in Burlington, VT: https://www.juneberrymusic.com/songleader-training.html 

    Alice Parker:     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Parker
    Liz Rog -- here's a place to find her book on songleading: https://www.centerforbelonging.earth/
    Arvo Pärt – Passio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passio_(P%C3%A4rt) 
    Spencer LaJoye: https://www.spencerlajoye.com/ 
    Spencer's song Plowshare Prayer: https://youtu.be/MhOZv5i7CHY?si=S5bbjdBDJP2cU_4I

    Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, minor, unison

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  • Published on

    216. I Believe with Guest Singers

    4:4 Celebrate Gratitude & Trust Hope Love Scale: Aeolian (minor) Song Form: Harmonized Song Form: Layer Uptempo
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:05:24
    Start time of reprise: 00:19:52
    Lyrics:

    *Soprano, Alto, Tenor*
    I believe in the goodness, 
    in the goodness of you, 
    and the goodness of me, 
    And the goodness of everybody

    We were born to love, to love, to love 
    We were born to love, to love, to love

    *Bass*
    Oh! I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe in everybody
    We, we were born to love, to love
    Picture
    Song: I Believe
    Music by: Una McCann

    Guest singers:​ Rebecca Csuy, Seth Norton, Tom Norton, Marika Tabilio

    Notes: You'll hear a wonderful group of singers helping me cover all the ranges of this song: Tom and Seth bring the bass, Marika nails the tenor, Rebecca lines up the alto, and I take on soprano. There's a bit of octave confusion -- where do we find these pitches in our different voices?! And then this fabulous song and groove reminds us to see the goodness -- in you, in me, in everybody. So grateful to Una McCann for living into the teachings of Tara Brach and catching this song that feels so good to have singing in my body! Wishing everyone a week of discovery and festive comradery, whether you are celebrating holy days or simply the close of 2025...

    Songwriter Info:
    Una McCann is based in Belfast, Northern Ireland where she works as a choir leader and songwriter.  She has been leading groups in harmony since her school days and has been working professionally with choirs for 15 years.  
    Currently the chair of the Natural Voice Network, Una runs 6 Natural Voice style weekly choirs.  She also enjoys running singing holidays and retreats.   
    Una is passionate about the power of creativity to transform lives and encourages her singers to improvise, play and explore their own creativity.
    Song writing is a part of life that sustains and supports Una.  She writes melodies and words that she needs to hear in that moment and is always delighted when they resonate with other people too.  
    I Believe was born out of the wish to always see the best in people even when it’s hard and we don’t want to, and to remember that underneath all of us is someone who just wants to be happy. We all come from love but sometimes we lose our way a bit. 
    It was inspired by listening to Tara Brach who creates beautiful talks on topics such as this.

    Sharing Info: Please buy sheet music on Una's website (see below) if you plan to share this song as a songleader.

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:05:24
    Start time of reprise: 00:19:52

    Links:
    Una's website: www.unamccann.org
    Sheet music for this song: https://unamccann.org/product/i-believe/ 
    Una's Instagram: www.instagram.com/unamccann47
    Una's Facebook (Una McCann Music): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558408430060 
    Tara Brach's website: www.tarabrach.com
    Natural Voice Network: www.naturalvoice.net 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, 2 layers, one layer with melody & two harmonies

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  • Published on

    214. Make Good Trouble with Family Singers

    3 Layer 4:4 Change Determination Empower Hope Scale: Aeolian (minor) Song Form: Harmonized Song Form: Layer Uptempo
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:56
    Start time of whole song: 00:09:21
    Lyrics:

    This is the struggle of a lifetime (2x)
    Never ever be afraid to make some noise, and make good trouble.
    Make good trouble; necessary trouble.

    From the words of John Lewis:
    ​“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
    Picture
    Song: Make Good Trouble
    Music by: Angela Gabriel

    Notes: I had the privilege of recording this song together with many members of my familiy -- and something happens on this recording that is very common in community singing -- I started in the key of A minor, and group wisdom decided that the key of A-flat minor, slightly lower, felt better in our collective voice! So you'll hear us readjusting together to reach an agreed sound, and what's cool is we all get there. Rather than rerecord to get an ordinary "perfectly pitched" recording, I decided to stay with the energy of the moment -- that really beautiful feel of connection that we had in that room -- because that's what this song is encourages. We support each other to speak up, to disrupt when needed, to make good, necessary trouble! You'll hear the six-year-old in the room leading some warm ups, and even a blooper at the end (never telling whose phone it was....)

    Songwriter Info: Angela is a performer, a teacher, a facilitator, and a lifelong learner. Her mission in life is to facilitate expressive creative, musical, and vocal experiences and to encourage folks of any age and background to replace judgement with curiosity and open themselves to their unique, creative flow.

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

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:56
    Start time of whole song: 00:09:21

    Links:
    Angela's website: www.angelagabriel.me 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, 3 layers, each harmonized

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