Tags

  • Published on

    179. Let Your Voice Be Heard

    2:2 Determination Empower Hope Listen Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Call & Response Song Form: Harmonized Wisdom
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:05
    Start time of reprise: 00:20:00

    ​Lyrics:

    Hmmm, let your voice be heard
    Hmmm, every sacred word
    Hmmm, let your song be sung
    Hmmm, truth is on your tongue
    Picture
    Song: Let Your Voice Be Heard
    Music by: Sarina Partridge

    Notes: Getting access to Sarina Partridge's catalog of songs was a beautiful moment for me -- SO many good things -- wise, accepting, generous, warm -- the songs reflect the songwriter, for sure! Join me today singing "Let your voice be heard..." -- I love the laid-back feel combined with the invitation to speak up -- and listen to next week's episode to hear Sarina's own voice, getting an inside perspective of how an educator might approach song leading with full heart. 

    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: 00:03:05
    Start time of reprise: 00:20:00

    Links:
    Sarina's website: SarinaPartridge.com
    Sarina's Patreon: patreon.com/sarinapartridge
    Sarina's Bandcamp: sarinapartridge.bandcamp.com

    Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, harmonized melody with harmonized response

    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

    175. One Foot/Lead with Love with guest Melanie DeMore

    2:2 3 Layer Determination Hope Journey Love Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Call & Response Song Form: Verse & Chorus Songwriter Conversation Uptempo
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:56
    Start time of reprise: 01:12:05
    Lyrics:

    Chorus: 
    You gotta put one foot in front of the other,
    and lead with love, put
    one foot in front of the other, and lead with love.
    (2x)

    Verses (call and echo)
    1. Don't give up hope,
    you're not alone!
    Don't you give up --
    keep moving on.

    2. Lift up your eyes,
    don't you despair!
    Look up ahead;
    the path is there.

    3. I know you're scared
    and I'm scared, too!
    But here I am
    right next to you.
    Picture
    Song: One Foot/Lead with Love
    Music by: Melanie DeMore

    Notes: Melanie DeMore both entrances and intimidates people -- she is direct, funny, a fabulous story-teller, and fierce and broad in her love. I have to apologize to listeners for the sound quality of this interview -- we had some microphone glitches on both sides that means despite the best sound studio wizardry I could come up with, there's some distortion, and it's not the usual quality of sound. But the quality of content -- where it counts -- is top-notch. Melanie shares One Foot/Lead with Love, including the story of what sparked its creation. She talks about her family, and how the wisdom and experiences of her parents shaped the way she approaches people who hold different world views. We talk about coyotes, kids, accolades, how she takes care of herself on tour as a "4-star, card-carrying introvert". She sends us out with a charge: “Here’s what you need to do, people out there: keep your head up. Keep your heart wide open. Remember to breathe, and keep doing the work. Sing on.”

    Songwriter Info: Melanie DeMore is a 3 time Grammy nominated singer/composer, choral conductor, music director, and vocal activist who believes in the power of voices raised together. In her presentations, DeMore beautifully brings her participants together through her music and commentary. DeMore facilitates vocal and stick-pounding workshops for professional choirs, and community groups as well as directing numerous choral organizations across the U.S, Canada, and beyond. She is a featured presenter of SpeakOut!-The Institute for Social and Cultural Change, the Master Teaching Artist for Music at UC Berkeley/CalPerformances; works with everyone from Baptists to Buddhists, and was a founding member of the Grammy-nominated ensemble Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir. She is Music Director for Obeah Opera by Nicole Brooks and will be touring with the company to South Africa. She is a charter member of Threshold Choir founded by Kate Munger, a mentor to the Jerusalem Youth Chorus and conducts song circles with an emphasis on the voice as a vessel for healing. In her own words: "A song can hold you up when there seems to be no ground beneath you."

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

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:56
    Start time of reprise: 01:12:05

    Links:
    Lady of Peace – written by Melanie for her mom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94Clq6DHpNA 
    Threshold Choir: https://thresholdchoir.org/ 
    Children’s Music Network: https://childrensmusic.org/ 
    Bessie Jones: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1BUnRZrkCS0NoTiXefkW6U 
    Ella Jenkins: https://ellajenkins.com/ 
    Oakland Youth Chorus: https://www.oigc.org/oyc 
    Obeah Opera (South African/Toronto) – about Tituba: https://obeahopera.com/ 
    All One Tribe collective album: https://open.spotify.com/album/1EEVSonqRIjEB0DapNIRs8 
    Melanie's GoFundMe for a home in Taos, NM: https://gofund.me/6be198cb 
    Taos pueblo – Tewa people: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tewa 
    Bebe & Cece Winans – gospel singers: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3WNUkxJcJeliFx9KXWXMgs 
    John Lewis: https://civilrightstrail.com/experience/rep-john-lewis/ 
    Margaret Nes - visual artist: https://www.ventanafineart.com/margaret-nes 
    Something Moving by Mary Watkins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3RTzI4-j64 
    Whirimako Black: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0dzCFvKwiJQ4w9ViwLzs49 
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melanie.demore/ 
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butchyg3/ 
    Melanie's email: melaniedemore(at)earthlink.net

    Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, call & echo, chorus & verse, 3-part harmony on chorus

    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

    172. Don't Go Putting the World on Your Shoulders

    2:2 Friendship Hope Love Rest Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Verse & Chorus Tend Trust
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:42
    Start time of reprise: 00:13:29
    Lyrics:

    1. Don't go putting the world on your shoulders (3x)
    You don't have to do this alone.

     Chorus:
     Alone (alone), alone (alone),
    You don't have to do this alone.
    Alone (alone), alone (alone),
    You don't have to do this alone.

    2. Come with me and we'll do this together...
    3. I'll cook dinner and you wash the dishes...
    4. Take a nap and come back tomorrow...
    Picture
    Song: Don't Go Putting the World on Your Shoulders
    Music by: Will Lawrence and Erin Bridges

    Notes: December in the north is such a great time for me to dig a little deeper -- finding mini-rests, sometimes even by taking an extra breath before I go do the next thing. I love that this song reminds me to lean on other people, too... to widen my base, to remember my connections. The irony of recording this (alone, in my basement!) was not lost on me!!! So I hope you sing extra vigorously along with me, and share this song widely -- I have been loving singing it with my Flow Singers this month, and we are really feeling that "take a nap" verse, I tell you!

    Songwriter Info: William Lawrence is an organizer and social movement strategist from Lansing, Michigan. He was a co-founder of Sunrise Movement. He is currently the Coordinator of the MI Rent Is Too Damn High coalition, fighting for rent control, tenants rights and social housing in the Great Lakes State. Erin Bridges was raised in Louisville, Kentucky, where she now lives with her dog and queer family in a big turquoise house. Like many southerners, she grew up with a love for shared meals, music sung in fellowship, pies made from the garden, and a close relationship to earth. Erin's work is rooted in building a world where everyone can access these simple pleasures. In 2017, she co-founded Sunrise, a youth movement that launched the Green New Deal, and more recently launched Hollerin' Up, aiming to fund people-powered teams for the long haul.

    Sharing Info: Erin and Will are happy for this song to be shared far and wide, attributed to the two of them!

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:42
    Start time of reprise: 00:13:29

    Links:
    Sunrise Movement: https://www.sunrisemovement.org/about/
    Sunrise Movement songbook: https://drive.google.com/file/d/120wccqh6jdV-Cb1gCZgxtuE7ELnYPUXL/view?usp=sharing which includes a beautiful acknowledgment of the complexity of oral songsharing without appropriation

    Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, verse & chorus

    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

    160. (O Spirit) Guide Me to Those I Need with guest Aimée Ringle

    4:4 Chant Hope Journey Listen Love Prayer Scale: Aeolian (minor) Song Form: Unison Songwriter Conversation Trust Wisdom
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:53
    Start time of reprise: 01:34:28

    ​Lyrics:

    O Spirit, guide me to those I need.
    Guide me to those who need me.
    I follow where You lead.
    Picture
    Song: (O Spirit) Guide Me to Those I Need
    Music by: Aimée Ringle

    Notes: If you've run across Aimée Ringle's work, you know her wicked musical skills, her exuberant, high-energy presence, her huge heart and desire to be of service... and you may not yet know how she grew into her voice, the questions she asks herself around how best to contribute to songcircles, her deep desire for village community, and questions about how to make that real in the here and now. We dig a little into one of the hard conversations in songcircles or any group situation where people bring varying skill levels -- how can people of varying skill levels feel welcome and find space and satisfaction as they are? We talk about what Aimée finds she needs to be able to let songs come through and more! Aimée shares the story of how O Spirit came through and we sing it both with guitar and in an up-close and personal way. It's a big episode because we let our conversation spread out, enjoying the end of summer and a sense of expansiveness. I hope you, too, find that pleasure of connection when you join us.

    Songwriter Info: Aimée Ringle is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, song-leader, and storyteller. She has an invigorating teaching style that is enriched by her capable percussion and guitar skills. Aimée’s work as a song-leader and storyteller have woven her into an ever widening community of cultural shifters around the country in the realms of sustainable agriculture, alternative education, community living, healing, creativity, and spiritual exploration ~ all of which are reflected in the songs she carries. As a song-leader, Aimée’s work and example have become a valued part of several Ancestral skills gatherings including Winter Count, Spirit Weavers and Sharpening Stone.

    Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Aimée for recording and/or performing permission. She says: "For now, the song is just the chorus, but I am paying attention to its evolution and leaving space for the possibility of verses, etc. But this will not be a group process and I'm not inviting unsolicited creative ideas in this process."

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:53
    Start time of reprise: 01:34:28

    Links:
    Aimée's website: www.aimeeringlemusic.com 
    Aimée's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AiméeRingle
    Aimée's O Spirit video on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8wzISTpTsh
    Aimée's Bandcamp: https://aimeeringle.bandcamp.com
    Earth Practice: https://www.instagram.com/earthpracticemusic/
    Tone Home by Elijah Ray: https://soundcloud.com/entheo/tone-home?in=l29rjc61w9os/sets/the-upload-1
    I'm My Own Walkman by Bobby McFerrin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8DUi9RCTiQ
    Samara Jade: https://www.instagram.com/samara_jade_music/
    Three Wheels Turning: https://threewheelsturning.com/
    "We are what we repeatedly do." Aristotle interpreted by Will Durant: https://blogs.umb.edu/quoteunquote/2012/05/08/its-a-much-more-effective-quotation-to-attribute-it-to-aristotle-rather-than-to-will-durant/
    The Sharpening Stone: https://www.instagram.com/thesharpeningstone/
    Laurence Cole: https://www.laurencecole.com/
    Liz Rog: https://www.facebook.com/liz.rog1/
    Shireen Amini: https://shireenamini.com/music
    Song Village: https://www.songvillage.net/
    Emergent Strategy and Holding Change by Adrienne Maree Brown: https://adriennemareebrown.net/book/emergent-strategy/, https://adriennemareebrown.net/book/holding-change-2/
    Billie Eilish: https://www.instagram.com/billieeilish/
    Ganavya: https://www.instagram.com/ganavya 

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Aeolian, unison chant

    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

    159. The Ambulance Song

    3:4 Friendship Heal Hope Journey Love Prayer Safe Scale: Aeolian (minor) Song Form: Layer Tend
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:04:12
    Start time of reprise: 00:17:38

    Lyrics:

    Send them surely on. Bring them safely in. (4x)

    May all that is needed be clearly revealed. May all that can heal be healed. (2x)

    May family and friends be held in their holding. Hold and be held. Hold and be held. (2x)

    Ooo Love. Sweet Love. Ooo love is comin' where you are.
    Picture
    Song: The Ambulance Song
    Music by: Aimée Ringle
    "Ooo Love" part by: Laurence Cole

    Notes: We live on a busy road, not far from a fire station -- an ambulance is not an unusual sight -- and thanks to Aimée Ringle, I have the perfect song to wish the people involved well... and now you do, too! Next week, Aimée and I talk about the tender place music is able to open up, how someone with considerable musical skills and experience finds how they, too, can be included in community singing... how we are what we repeatedly do, and what that means for Aimée. She is generous, vulnerable, clear-sighted, and willing to name her own challenges. I hope you can join us... but before that, please enjoy adding this song to your personal repertoire!

    Songwriter Info: Aimée Ringle is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, song-leader, and storyteller. She has an invigorating teaching style that is enriched by her capable percussion and guitar skills. Aimée’s work as a song-leader and storyteller have woven her into an ever widening community of cultural shifters around the country in the realms of sustainable agriculture, alternative education, community living, healing, creativity, and spiritual exploration ~ all of which are reflected in the songs she carries. As a song-leader, Aimée’s work and example have become a valued part of several Ancestral skills gatherings including Winter Count, Spirit Weavers and Sharpening Stone.

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

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:04:12
    Start time of reprise: 00:17:38

    Links:
    Aimée's website: www.aimeeringlemusic.com 
    Aimée's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AiméeRingle
    The Ambulance Song video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b6WxqtlIbo 
    Aimée's Bandcamp: https://aimeeringle.bandcamp.com
    Laurence Cole's website: https://www.laurencecole.com

    Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, Aeolian, 4-part
    ​
    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

    156. We Got All The Love with singer Tom Norton

    4:4 Abundance Be Grateful Celebrate Change Empower Enough Friendship Hope Joy Love Prayer Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Harmonized
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:35
    Start time of reprise: 00:17:09

    ​Lyrics:

    We got all the love
    to change our world.
    Halleluia!
    We got all the love,
    all that we need,
    blessed be.

    (The word 'love' can be substituted by 'soul', 'joy', 'hope', 'friends', 'prayer', 'cake'...)
    Picture
    Song: We Got All The Love
    Music by: Helen Yeoman

    ​Notes: So many different things going on in this episode! First, in some ways this is a "greatest hit" of the community song world, so maybe you already know it? Helen Yeoman's confident, sweetly harmonized zipper song speaks to what can build and sustain hopefulness -- this knowledge that, in some way, we are exactly where we need to be. I am delighted to welcome onto the podcast my beloved husband of almost 35 years, Tom. He gives us the benefit of his long vocal chords to reach some low notes that are out of my range! Instead of looping this episode, I went back and edited in the alto and tenor parts -- and, oof, the pressure to perfect it, to sing exactly in tune -- I'm not sure I could ever let it go. But here you have the best I could do this week, with the alto panned left and the tenor panned right, soprano and bass in the middle. If it's a song you already know, I hope this gives you great practice; if it's new to you, welcome (and check out the shownotes for other learning options)! Fill in our sound with your voice!!!

    Songwriter Info: Helen is a well-loved choir leader & composer from the UK. her songs are sung all around the world - literally. She is self-taught and calls on every day events as well as global issues for her inspiration. In 2015 she won the esteemed international UK Songwriters Contest in the gospel category. She has four children and lives in Devon, England. Helen runs workshops and holidays in the UK and Europe and is coming to the USA in September 2024.
    ​
    Sharing Info:     When sharing in a money-making venture, like a workshop, class, or performance, please contact Helen for permission and rates.
    ​
    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:35
    Start time of reprise: 00:17:09

    Links:
    All of Helen's music can be found at www.helenyeomans.co.uk

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major with raised 4 & 5, 4-pt 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, or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!