From the desk of Heather Gallant, 577 Executive Director & Community Song Leader
Six months ago, a friend shared a video of a New York City one-day choir on social media with the caption along the lines of, “Can we do this in Northwest Ohio?” Even though I had no idea how to do it, the idea spoke to me. I immediately said “YES!” and we set up a time to strategize.
In our first meeting, we talked about how good it feels to sing with other people. It’s healing. It’s connective. It’s fun. We lamented how many people lack spaces to participate in informal community singing, and how many opportunities to sing with others carry certain expectations:
- First, the expectation of performance. For many people, that’s not something they’re interested in doing. Performances may cause stage fright and performance anxiety.
- Second, the expectation that you’re a good singer. For many of us, we received messages that we were not the “best” singers. This brings up feelings of shame, insecurity, and inadequacy. Who wants that?
- Third, the expectation of a standing commitment or rehearsal, as opposed to uninhibited, casual voice-raising. For a time-strapped society, that may feel overwhelming or out of reach.
- Fourth, the expectation of formality: that someone must be a part of an organized choir (of which there are many incredible ones locally!), must know how to read music, must understand musical “language,” and must navigate an established group’s customs and culture. This expectation may feel like a lot of effort, draining energy rather than adding it.
All these expectations present barriers to singing. But that doesn’t mean that our bodies and spirits aren’t craving a chance to sing with others!
As I started asking others if they might be interested in a community singing activity at 577, I generally received one of the following answers:
- Yes! Sounds incredible! I love this idea and have been wanting to do something like that!
- Absolutely not, I’m the worst singer, you couldn’t possibly want me, that sounds like my nightmare!
With this feedback in mind, I researched how other places do community singing. What songs do they sing? How do they structure their time together? Do they give people anything ahead of time? How in the world does this work? I attended online workshops, read articles and books, and talked to people already doing this work.
I tried it out with a group of friends first, and then another. I realized that what we’re building together through this effort is like a mixtape.
A mixtape is a collection of favorite, familiar, and new-to-you songs. When cassettes and CDs were popular, people would curate a compilation of songs for friends and romantic crushes to enjoy when they’re together or apart. Mixtapes would be put on car radios for road trip sing-alongs or played at house parties. The music would be so loud that it wouldn’t matter if you were a good singer or not. The point was connection and self-expression, the joy of singing with your pals.
The benefits of singing together are vast:
- We can just bring ourselves. Song is music created with breath. The financial and access barriers of joining in song are low, as no specialized equipment is needed.
- Group singing improves physical health, lung function, and immune response.
- Singing predates spoken language. It honors an ancient way of connecting with others. Before written history and recording equipment, group singing was an ancient means of communication, storytelling, play, and social connection.
- Community singing gives us an opportunity to laugh with each other when the improvisational nature of the activity gets silly or doesn’t go quite as planned.
- Singing can be a low-stakes way of bonding people from different backgrounds through a shared experience. Because we present ourselves with a bit of vulnerability, singing promotes open-heartedness and sharing with each other.
- Singing ties us to a mood. It encourages us to be in our bodies rather than just in our heads and reconnects us to our senses. Singing helps us slow down to follow a more natural pace of life.
- It moves us away from consuming entertainment and toward participating in it, regardless of how “good” we are.
- It just feels good to raise our voices with other people, giving us a chance to have fun and spread joy!
This is playing, not performing. Imagine the feeling of singing around a campfire, or in the shower, or with your grandmother when you stayed overnight at her home, or with your best buddies on a summer road trip with all the windows rolled down. That’s what we’re going for. Forget perfection. Forget polish. That isn’t the point.
The very first open-to-all Mixtape event is happening Saturday, May 10, from 12:30pm to 1:30pm. We’ll meet on the Outdoor Stage at 577 and then venture inside the Geodesic Biodome to play with the acoustics in this beautiful space. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, we’ll plan to gather in Virginia’s House instead. Please park in the Courtyard Parking Lot.
Who’s ready to sing together? Click HERE to register.
Heather
