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  • Published on

    126. Meditation

    6:8 Accept Be Present Breathe Calm Chant Enough Flow Gentle Grieve Harmony Heart Listen Notice Release Ribbon Scale: Minor Song Form: Harmonized Tend Trust
    Song: Meditation
    Music by:​ Neal Jolly
    Lyrics:

    The beat of the heart in the chest,
    The pulsing of blood in the hands,
    The in and the out of the breath,
    The here, the now, the you.
    Picture
    Notes: A vivid reminder of what it's like to drop into hyper-awareness of breath and body... combined with a song that makes me extra aware of breath flow (like, it runs out! ) Very satisfying combination. The harmonies also move in intriguing ways -- now close, now far, now drawing back together and intertwining. As often happens, I struggled a bit to release this episode -- it's not perfectly, exquisitely in-tune... and it's not a perfect, exquisite voice that's singing! But I remind myself again and again that the point here is not perfection -- it's good that you'll be able to understand the song and sing it, too... and carry it off into your world. It's good that I spent an evening singing a song that helps me be more aware of my breath and body. It's good that I got to gaze at Patty Piotrowski's artwork for this piece as I sang. This is just a darn good way to be spending my life... so thanks for your company in this practice of singing beyond perfection!

    Songwriter Info: Neal has been leading singing sessions in Cornwall for seven years. His style is influenced by membership of the Natural Voice Network and the sessions are non-performance, inclusive, mindful and with an ear to the spiritual/sacred in the widest sense of those words. Neal's songwriting is inspired by outdoor spaces where he does regular singing events, and being in the present: the only place where we can experience the world and each other.

    Sharing Info: Please share this song and make a donation to https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jollygoodsinging, the amount reflecting your own income and assessment of the song's worth to you.

    Links:
    Jolly Good Singing on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jollygoodsinging/

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:04:00
    Start time of reprise: 00:14:41

    Nuts & Bolts: 6:8 minor with harmonic minor moment, 3 part harmony

    Join the A Breath of Song mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share) 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 https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!
  • Published on

    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
    Song: I Let Go
    Music: Te Martin

    ​Lyrics:

    I let go
    I lay down
    I release
    Return again


    Picture
    ​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

    117. September Round

    4:4 Autumn Beauty Celebrate Change Cycles Earth Gather Grow Harvest Journey Peace Release Scale: Dorian Song Form: Round Summer Trees
    Song: September Round
    Music: Catherine Young
    Lyrics:

    Summer’s over; it’s September
    Leaves turn to red and gold,
    Green leaves—remember
    Gather all your colors in a fine silk thread
    Weave all your colors in your leafy bed.
    Summer’s over
    ​Summer’s over
    Picture
    Notes: Catherine Young, a poet deeply rooted in the Driftless region of Wisconsin, USA, gives us a wistful melody in the ancient Dorian mode -- a minor scale that has a beautiful, lifted sixth degree that gives it a particular flavor you'll come to know well by singing this with me. In the northern hemisphere, fall is upon us -- the equinox approaching -- and this song carries with it the beauty of this time, and the grief of letting go of summer. I teach the melody first, just letting my mouth form shapes to really get to know this beautiful tune -- you can create your own shapes, and then round it with me, or on your own -- or stay with the original melody. So many options!

    Songwriter Info: Catherine Young is a writer and performing artist whose work is infused with a keen sense of place. She is author of the ecopoetry collection Geosmin and the environmental memoir Black Diamonds. Her weekly podcast Landward:Readings of Place and Season is available online from WDRT. Rooted in farm life, Catherine lives with her family in Wisconsin's Driftless Area where she is totally in love with meandering streams. She holds concern for water and deeply believes in the use of story and art as tools for transforming the world.

    ​Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share but Catherine always welcome financial and/or networking support. Please contact her to purchase sheet music.

    Links: 
    "September Round" is from the song almanac Rounding the Year which can be purchased in print or as pdf from Catherine: catherineyoungwriter@gmail.com
    You can also request to be put on her mailing list.
    For writings and recordings, visit Catherine's website: http://www.catherineyoungwriter.com/
    Podcasts: https://wdrt.org/landward/
    Instagram:     https://www.instagram.com/catherineyoungwriter 

    Live online international book launch conversation for her book Black Diamonds: a Childhood Colored by Coal.
    Thursday, September 28, 2023 6 PM Central Time (7pm eastern).
    LINK FOR EVENT:     https://www.crowdcast.io/c/black-diamonds

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:53
    Start time of reprise: 00:17:53
    ​​
    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Dorian, 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

    116. Be Peace

    2:2 Accept Be Present Breathe Change Generosity Gentle Grow Heart Hope Journey Light Love Peace Release Scale: Ionian (Major) Song Form: Layer Trust Wisdom
    Song: Be Peace
    ​Music:     Deborah Leeds
    Lyrics

    Part 1:  
    Be peace, bring light

    Part 2:  
    This I am, this I am.
    Oooh-ooooh.

    Part 3:  
    Life is a mystery, she carries me.
    Oooh -ooh -ooh.
    ​
    Part 4:  
    So let go, let go
    And do your part to bring light,
    bring light
    And love.

    All: Be peace, bring light (Repeat for a good long minute)
    ​Be...............(Hold the word, like an "Om")
    Picture
    Notes: This song by Deborah Leeds both challenges and relaxes me-- it has a little "go big or go home" energy -- "Be peace, bring light!" Doesn't feel to me like a small task in today's world! But then it has a sweet, relaxed lilt, and as I sing "this I am," there's a measure of acceptance -- I can only bring me, after all. Then there's an opening of trust -- "Life is a mystery; she carries me" -- ah, now I can "let go, let go, and do (my) part to bring light, bring light and love." Layering all those parts together means I can choose the one I want to sing -- or touch on all four.

    Songwriter Info: Deborah Leeds has loved singing and harmonizing with others since she was two! Most recently and in a way that has been life-changing, she encountered Community Choir. A brief visit to Maggie Wheeler's Goldenbridge Choir in Los Angeles re-awakened her deep connection and need for songs and singing with others, and a simple and spontaneous prayer (in the form of a question posed to Maggie: "Please tell me there is someone doing this near me in Berkeley, CA") led to the discovery that Kaitie Ty Warren was forming her Living Room Choir five blocks from Deborah's home. It has been a love fest for the past seven years. Deborah has forayed into songleading, and most recently into songwriting. She is currently the Musical Assistant to the Living Room Choir. She is exuberant about the joy of singing, the absolute truth of medicine in songs, and is happily awestruck at the impact and healing that comes from singing with others. "This is one of the things that you would wish on everybody!" And so she does. And with that, shares this song. Enjoy!

    ​Sharing Info: Please share and enjoy this song, and please do contact Deborah to let her know that Be Peace has taken wing and found a perch in your choir or singing group! 

    Links: Deborah's current website is her professional website as a Psychotherapist, and you may contact her that route, deborahleeds.com, or via her email at onedeborah@icloud.com

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:04:00
    Start time of reprise: 00:12:48
    ​​
    Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, 4 part 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!​
  • 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

    ​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

    109. This Is It

    12:8 Be Present Celebrate Change Determination Empower Future Heart Justice Light Love Release Scale: Aeolian (minor) Song Form: Unison
    Song: This Is It
    ​Music: Maggie Wheeler
    Lyrics

    This is it.
    This is it!
    This is the place you wanna be (x2)
    Don't wait until tomorrow to let yourself be free

    This is it
    This is the place you wanna be

    2. This is the song you wanna sing 
    Don't wait until tomorrow to let your voices ring

    3. This is the love you wanna feel
    Don't wait until tomorrow to let your love be real

    4. The world is calling out to you 
    Don't wait until tomorrow for what you came to do
    ​

    Picture
    Notes: This is a prime example of how on this podcast, there's lots of space for YOUR voice! This Is It is a deeply grooved song by Maggie Wheeler, and I did a super simple bass line -- so you could make it more complex -- a light variety of percussion sounds -- so you can add more -- the melody in one voice, so you can make it richer and rounder and groovier -- and one harmony on top, so you can add more in the middle, or even higher up. AND there's space for you to add extra calls! A Breath of Song is unique in that it's not about MY singing -- this is not for you to listen to and admire -- this is for you to sing with, to make yours. Because, as Maggie advises, "This is it. This is it! This is the place you wanna be, the song you wanna sing, the love you wanna feel.... the world is calling out to you -- this is it!" Next week, Maggie does the first ever return songwriter episode, and we get to learn where "this" is for Maggie right now... another chance to get to know a miraculous person a little better.

    Songwriter Info: Maggie Wheeler is best known in the U.S and internationally for her work as an actress in film, television and voice-over and most notably as the character of Janice on NBC’s hit series Friends. Maggie is a passionate singer, songwriter, choir director and workshop facilitator. She has been teaching her vocal workshop "Singing In The Stream" for over 30 years at retreat centers, universities, communities and schools to provide the experience of creating interpersonal harmony and internal harmony through the powerful act of creating vocal harmony. Maggie directs the 100-voice Golden Bridge Community Choir in Hollywood, an inter-generational, non-auditioned choir now in its 17th year. She is a prolific songwriter with a catalog of powerful and timely songs that have been sung by choirs worldwide. Maggie’s original music for choirs and communities is available on Apple Music and other music platforms. To accompany her CD entitled 'Walk With Me’, Maggie created a songbook available by request through her website www.goldenbridgechoir.com Throughout this time of change Maggie continued the Golden Bridge Choir online producing virtual concerts and videos as well as hosting a weekly online community gathering called Together In Song, bringing together over 4000 people from around the world to join in the healing power of singing. 

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

    Links: To learn more about Maggie’s work please visit: www.goldenbridgechoir.com and maggiewheeler.net

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:20
    Start time of reprise: 00:13:50
    ​​
    Nuts & Bolts: 12:8, Minor, unison with optional harmonies

    ​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!​