Finding Flow

I think it's very interesting that for many of us there are all sorts of blockages that prevent the natural flow of creativity from emerging.....for singers in singing workshops there may be long-held beliefs about the validity of their own voices, for example which prevents them from releasing their natural voice and sharing it with others.  And for me, there is an interesting moment that happens when we are working on a new arrangement after we have identified a 'feel' and found our way into a song a bit, and then we start to use the material to work an instrumental section.  It's a moment when there is a blockage between the flow that has happened in the vocal bits and the desire to translate that into an instrumental passage......and I have found that the way to unblock the blockage is to gently give it time and attention trusting that the deeper forces at work will allow the instrumental to emerge.  This notion of the flow in creativity is a very physical thing - our whole bodies are involved in our music-making - and by actively working to develop a greater physical fluidity I think we can hugely assist in the flow of music from within us.  One way of developing this fluidity is the practice of Medau - which I usually describe as a sort of danced yoga.  The quality of movement is paramount in Medau which encourages participants to literally breathe life and movement into their bodies.  The learning from Medau helps us translate this physical flow in to the musical flow both in our own playing and in playing and singing with others.
Lissie

Amazing Maisery!

A little trip down to Sussex for Fiddle & Faff last weekend, when we went to a vocal harmony workshop led by the amazing 'Lady Maisery' at Lewes Saturday Folk Club.  Lady Maisery is a trio of musicians Hannah James, Rowan Rheingans & Hazel Askew whose music has been nominated for the Folk Awards.  Their vocal harmony is particularly skillful and appealing and so we were very excited by the prospect of a day working with them.

Listening to them we are drawn into their sound world and we really enjoyed their generosity in sharing how they work with the workshop participants.  By the end of the day, those who attended had ways into making their own arrangements at their fingertips. On our journey home we discussed how to further develop our own singing days and look forward to putting this into practice in November. 

The evening concert was a delight.  Their distinctive vocal harmony together with the instruments they play (accordion, fiddle, harp, concertina, banjo), gave us a feast of songs and tunes.  One of their hallmarks is vocalising or 'diddling' to various carefully chosen syllables resulting in rhythmic exciting renditions of  tunes.  This was something that we had explored together in the workshop and it was a joy to hear them performed expertly in the evening.
www.ladymaisery.com

Inspiring Improvisations

It was a  privilege to spend last Saturday with musicians, some very accomplished, some describing themselves as beginners, making music simply because we can. With no agenda other than to enjoy creating, we spent some time making music from the simplest elements of pulse and rhythm and from our favourite sounds on our instruments. There were some extraordinary moments of being in the music together, when communication flowed and the sense of the music being greater than the sum of the parts. was very present. It is remarkable how musicians, whatever their technical ability, can express themselves in the way in which they play. Open strings on violins played with such variety and panache, beautiful melodies created out of a few notes on the recorder, stunning riffs on cello and double bass giving flight to melodies that people didn't know they had the ability to play. At times there were conversations about the meanings of words that describe elements of music. And, helpful as words can be at times, definitions are not necessary to be in the same place at the same time with others who we have not met before and play music together. An experience to be repeated before too long. 

Stunning Sounds!

Stunning sounds made by those who attended our latest Singing Workshop last Saturday. As part of our warm up we were all invited to sing any note, and when we needed to take a breath, choose a different note to add to the mix. A truly remarkable sound, which drew the ear, perhaps because each of the singers found they were listening so intently. It has been remarked by people listening to our gigs and CD that they find our music has a healing quality.  In the freedom offered by not having to 'get it right' to start with, and then immersing ourselves in the melee of sounds, there was a real healing quality to this gentle warm-up too.  At the start of the morning, we had asked our singers just to tell us their name and perhaps something about themselves.  The responses ranged from those who felt they were quite confident singers to those who said that they only sing in the bath and had very little confidence in their own voices.  Hopefully by the end of this beautiful warm-up everyone felt that they could not only contribute very meaningfully, but that their confidence was raised for everything else that followed.  And so from there we went on to explore several songs in arrangements new and old with a bit of improvising thrown in for good measure. 

A great place to sing, the Garden Room at The Blackthorn Trust lends itself to such a workshop. Given the scrumptious lunch improvised by Andy in the Blackthorn Cafe we all felt thoroughly spoilt.  Here's to the next one - we appear to have someone signed up already who in conversation yesterday said, "I can't sing." To which Lissie, with certainty, gently replied, " Yes you can."