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  • Published on

    218. The River

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:49
    Verses taught slowly: 00:11:55
    First run through: 00:15:50
    Start time of reprise: 00:20:53
    Lyrics:

    Bass part:
    Dum t-ka dum dum dum k
    Dum t-ka dum dum dum k
    Dum t-ka dum dum dum dum
    Dum t-ka dum dum dum k


    Melody:
    1. The river is a healer, the river is a sage.
    The river knows no end and the river feels no age.
    The river is a leader every single day,
    It's living in the moment and it always finds a way.


    Chorus:
    Water heal my body, water heal my soul.
    When I go down down to the water,
    by the water I feel whole.


    2. The river calls me over, it's calling out my name
    In the day and in the night I hear that river all the same.
    It's calling me over, calling out my pain,
    oh a river gathers tears just like a river gathers rain.


    3. The river is a traveller, always on the go
    A river never worries if it's fast or if it's slow
    River take me to where I need to go,
    Oh and I will just relax and let the river flow.

    Picture
    Song: The River
    Music by: Coco Love Alcorn

    Notes: Coco is entering a long and challenging journey with an aggressive cancer diagnosis. She’s hopeful and grounded, but as an independent musician, she doesn’t have access to benefits like employment insurance or sick leave. With her treatment schedule, she’s had to cancel every concert, every tour, and even postpone the recording of her new album. She also had to pause her local choir until further notice. This means she’s facing at least a year ahead with almost no income — while focusing all her strength on healing. Supporting her directly through buying her music, or donating to the GoFundMe will make this time easier. In the meantime, you can sing this song of Coco's, bringing river healing energy into the world!

    Songwriter Info:
    “Coco is the ultimate musical spark plug... an electrical connector through which the creative energy flows. In my 30 years of touring around the world, I have never seen another performer able to bring people together like Coco does.” ~ James Keelaghan - Artist Director, Summerfolk and renowned Canadian singer/ songwriter
    The first thing you notice about Coco Love Alcorn, is the voice. It's a rich, dynamic, supremely soulful instrument – hailed by the press as extraordinary, beautiful, and stunning – that has a way of touching your heart and making you care. 
    As a performer, Alcorn is always in the moment, joyful, and genuine. She combines diverse musical influences including jazz, R&B, pop, folk, and Gospel. Her playful and witty character, love of improvising, and willingness to engage fearlessly with the audience has made Alcorn an established presence on the Canadian music scene. 
    Born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia and now based in Owen Sound, Ontario, Alcorn’s career has spanned more than 20 years, 12 (9 solo) albums, cross-Canada tours, collaborations, festival appearances, award nominations, and notable success in TV and film licensing. And it took someone with a spirit like Alcorn's to navigate this path. 
    "Throughout my career I have explored across many genres, collaborations and projects, taking a winding path to get to here,” she says. “But I’ve loved every step of my journey and trusted my inner curiosity to take me where it wanted to go.” 

    Sharing Info: Please support Coco directly if you are sharing this song, either by buying the music on her website here: https://cocolovealcorn.com/store or supporting her GoFundMe here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/SupportCocoThroughCancer 

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:02:49
    Verses taught slowly: 00:11:55
    First run through: 00:15:50
    Start time of reprise: 00:20:53

    Links:
    Coco teaching the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgmg1K7BFxo&t=133s 
    Coco's GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/SupportCocoThroughCancer
    Lisa Littlebird teaching tracks: https://thebirdsings.com/the-river/
    Sheet music for The River: https://cocolovealcorn.com/store 

    Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, verses & chorus, harmonize

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

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  • Published on

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

    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

    159. The Ambulance Song

    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

    153. Blessings Whenever You Breathe

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:56
    Start time of reprise: 00:15:43

    ​Lyrics:

    Blessings whenever you breathe
    Blessings whenever you breathe
    Blessings whenever you breathe
    Blessings all around

    Bless your heart
    Your tender, tender heart
    Bless your heart
    Blessings whenever you breathe
    Picture
    Song: Blessings Whenever You Breathe
    Music by: Melanie DeMore

    ​Notes: Melanie DeMore has probably influenced your singing, whether or not you've had the chance to sing with her in person yet! This week is a chance to spend some time with one of her songs that is a breath blessing -- as we sing, you can notice the breath pouring in, and just to be sure we don't miss it, there's a tapping rhythm on the chest to help center attention. Melanie is one of my heroes in the songleading community -- and I was too intimidated to ask to share one of her songs -- but it turns out, (no surprise to those of you who know her already), she's absolutely lovely (although she did give me a talking-to about not viewing myself as a "real singer".) What finally got me over the hoop of reaching out to her? The fact that she has made an ask of the songleading community, and there's a special chance to give back to someone who has given so generously...

    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: 00:03:56
    Start time of reprise: 00:15:43

    Links:
    Help Melanie find a place to call her own in Taos, New Mexico: https://gofund.me/6be198cb
    A great interview with Melanie about being a vocal activist: https://chorusamerica.org/article/%25E2%2580%259Ci-use-my-voice-weapon-mass-connection%25E2%2580%259D-interview-melanie-demore

    Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, Mixolydian. 2-part with 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!
  • Published on

    146. Begin Again

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:45
    Start time of reprise: 00:18:57

    Lyrics:

    I begin again with my breath,
    joining earth,
    earth and spirit.
    I return again to my breath,
    ​walking home the unknown path.
    Picture
    Song: Begin Again
    Music by: Jean Farmer

    ​Notes: Jean Farmer's song was just right for me this week, as some old wounds were reopened. I was frustrated with myself -- I didn't want to have to heal again. This song helped me find the kindness and willingness to start over, connecting with this breath and the earth. Jean said I could harmonize at will -- so I give you four different ways -- a simple echo, a descant, and then a 3-part harmony with part above and below and some different sounds, and of course, the unadorned song so you can play or enjoy joining your voice with mine. I'm so glad we're singing together!

    Songwriter Info: Jean Farmer has experienced the joy of singing in community from her earliest days, often singing with her sisters as a child and later leading songs around the campfire. She was a registered nurse for 35 years. Since retiring from Nursing, songs have been coming through her, often in the middle of the night. This opening to welcome the songs is a spiritual practice: a path to centering, a form of self-expression, and a way to create and build community. She often sings at labyrinth walks and other contemplative gatherings in Northern California with her singing partner Robin O'Brien in a group called Notan.

    Sharing Info: 
    The song is free to share in oral tradition groups. Please credit Jean Farmer as the author. Please contact Jean for recording and or performing permission. (jeanwfarmer@gmail.com)

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:45
    Start time of reprise: 00:18:57

    Links: 
    Notan Bandcamp: https://notan.bandcamp.com/album/mother-tree
    Notan website: https://notan.org/

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, unison with optional harmonies

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    (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

    136. Breathe Deep

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:41
    Start time of reprise: 00:17:42
    Lyrics

    All you need is a quiet moment.
    All you need is a quiet moment.
    All you need is a quiet moment,
    go inside. Go inside.

    Breathe deep, breathe deep.
    Breathe deep, everything's alright.
    Picture
    Song: Breathe Deep
    Music by:​ Sara Stutz

    Notes: I had an early morning voice as I was recording this, full of creaks and gaps -- and it shifts as it goes! I didn't rerecord, partly because, you know, time, and partly because I'm challenging myself to let recordings be human and real, and partly because A Breath of Song is all about turning up with the voices we have... so you're welcome! 😊 Sara Stutz's beautiful song starts in one calm place, and then ever so gracefully settles into an even calmer presence. I can feel my whole system regulate every time I sing it.

    Songwriter Info: Sara grew up in a musical family and has always loved to sing. Over the years, Sara sang in choirs, performed in musical theater, led songs as a camp counselor, studied music in college, performed classically and thankfully, landed in the world of community singing about seven years ago when she met Kaitie Ty Warren and started singing with a few folks in Kaitie's living room. The heart connection, and joy that the Community Singing world has brought to Sara has been life changing. Sara is currently co-leading Living Room Choir ANEW with Kaitie Ty Warren and recently had the great good fortune to travel to Victoria Canada to complete her Community Choir Leadership Training (CCLT) and become part of the Ubuntu Network. Sara also works as a pediatric physical therapist and loves to use singing, rhythm and movement to support connection and emotional regulation for little and big people.

    Sharing Info: Sara would be delighted if you sing and share her song. She'd love to hear how this song might land with you or your group.

    Links:
    Sara is co-leader of Living Room Choir ANEW: https://thelivingroomchoir.com/
    Sara's email addresses:
    smstutzpt@gmail.com
    sara@saramstutzmspt.com
    Kaitie Ty Warren: https://kaitietywarren.com/
    Community Choir Leadership Training (CCLT): https://www.communitychoirleadership.com

    Song Learning Time Stamps:
    Start time of teaching: 00:03:41
    Start time of reprise: 00:17:42

    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 3-layer, harmonized (5 parts total)

    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!