One of the things I enjoy about improvising with words is what I discover about my state of mind. Sometimes, I uncover what I’m thinking or feeling as I hear the words come out of my mouth. It’s a strange, somewhat surreal and very open experience.

I sang this on our first singing day in Tenerife. While singing, I explored the connection I felt to the people and the place. (I felt this connection over and over again during my time there.)

In a shape-shift, the music starts somewhere and is allowed to … yep, you guessed it … shift. Another aspect of the shape-shift format is that often part of the group sings and the other receives the music, usually sitting or lying in the center of the singing circle.

On several occasions during our 10 days at Jardin Mariposa, the owner, Petra, invited friends to meet and sing with us. (That’s how I met Leiko and got to go to the local beach. *smile*) She and 3 or 4 others joined us for this shape-shift, which happened during one of our evening singing sessions. (We typically sang 6 to 8 hours a day. I loved every minute of it. *grin*)

We had been singing for quite some time when I was moved to start speaking. This “story singing” is one of the things I began discovering during my 30-day song-capade and it really solidified during this second session.

[Oops! You\'ll have to visit songtaneous.com/blog to listen.]

“The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain,
the sound of wind in a primeval wood,
and the sound of outer ocean on a beach.”
– Henry Beston

Midway through, I invite Alessandro (Switzerland) to join me. We’re replaced by Johanna (Germany). Right before this video ends, Rhiannon moves back to the center to move us into the next transition, which isn’t shown here.

(If you’ve got time, you can find the remaining 3 videos on youtube. *smile*).

Or, more accurately, they’re afraid someone will hear them. *smile*

Oh yeah, I remember that.

…

In my own singing journey, I learned that a BIG part of being a singer is a willingness to look silly and sound funny a lot of the time. You make funny faces, you make funny noises, you wear scarves when it’s 70 degrees outside and bathe in hand santizer in the winter.

YOU are the instrument.  You use — and therefore have to exercise — your entire voice. Even the parts that aren’t so pretty or that you’ll likely never use in performance. (Although, the opportunity to use my whole voice is one of the things I love about improvising.)

To be a singer, you have to be willing to take up space.

If you can’t practice in an “as if no one is listening” kind of way, you’ll stifle your progress.

(And if I can’t perform in a “let ‘er rip” kind of way, I kind of feel like “what’s the point?” That might just be me. *grin*)

…

I remember deciding to become singer.

Deciding to sing and be heard.

It was finding the courage to do the goofy parts of singing and stop worrying about if anyone might hear them. The warming up (yes, even at gigs!), the stretches, the loud siren noises and squeaky high notes. (My mom often jokes that it’s a good thing my neighbors know I sing or they might call somebody!)

It’s also about being prepared to sing “in the moment,” which usually means you’ve spent some time learning some songs, learning your keys and working on your voice. Even if you improvise, it helps to have done this prep work.

…

I like this video of Bobby McFerrin (well, because it’s Bobby and) because he tunes his instrument as the quartet players tune theirs. Even done playfully, it drives home the point — for a vocalist, the voice IS the instrument.

(I also like that he bridges the gap between being a novice violinist (5:20) and expert vocalist with such grace and good humor.)