The entrance to HANC

This weekend, we were Songtaneous at the annual Wild Rice Festival in Roseville (MN). This annual festival supports the efforts of the Harriet Alexander Nature Center (aka HANC) and featured all kinds of fun family activities, from traditional wild rice harvesting and honey extraction demonstrations to a pancake breakfast.

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I hadn’t been to HANC before, so I was delighted to walk from my premium parking spot through the parking lot to a tree covered path a few yards away. To the right was the area where the Native American dancers would perform. (Sadly, our schedules were in conflict and I only got to see one dancer from a distance as I was leaving.)

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Flute player and storyteller Duke Addicks

Crossing the parking lot, I followed the sound of flute music through the woods to the small outdoor ampitheater to the right of the path. (The word ampitheater was somewhat grandiose for the friendly intimate entertainment space that appeared to my left.)

On stage, flute player and storyteller Duke Addicks coaxed haunting and spritely tunes by turns from a variety of Native American flutes. Between the tunes, he shared a ton of Native American stories and lore, including how the flutes were made. In his last set, he played a huge drum — “the heartbeat of Mother Earth” — while he told stories.

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New singing friends: Morgann, Kara and Taylor. (And Spices’ member, V! in the background.)

Shortly after I arrived, my singer friends began to arrive. Some have sung (or currently sing) with me in my a cappella group. Others I know from the Saturday Songtaneous sessions. One I went to music school with and I met and sang with three new friends for the first time.

Taylor, Kara and Morgann responded to an invitation I sent to McNally Smith through my friend Judi. (Thanks, Judi!) We hadn’t sung together before, but each of them dived right in. During our second Songtaneous, I met a mother and daughter who came up “on stage” to sing with me. My favorite way to meet new singers (and players *smile*) is through making music together.

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Each singing session was scheduled to last 45 minutes. I taught the audience — which included my singing friends — a number of chants, including the rainforest chant I learned from Ysaye Maria Barnwell. I’d invite different friends to join me on stage to help sing. We sang songs and chants and created some spontaneous inventions as well. I watched time well in the first set, but by the second set, the music just carried us away.

Many of you have asked, wondered (or worried *smile*) about what happens at a Songtaneous session.

Well … it’s different every time because it’s spontaneous. *smile*

(Realizing that might not be the most helpful answer,) here’s what happened at the last Songtaneous session.

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Saturday Aug 8, 2009

We settled in to sing on a warm, but not yet muggy, afternoon. (The humidity rolled in later that afternoon … with a vengeance.) We sat in a circle of chairs in my dining room.

Before we began singing, we read my friend J’s intentions and then I suggested that we “fall in” to some singing.

“Falling in” means we start singing long notes and then slowly add other ideas — harmonies, rhythms, melodies, etc. — as feels comfortable and natural. We’re exploring the sound ideas each of us can add. Even beginners find things to add. (Promise!)

Then we go “where the music takes us.” Some people clap their hands or tap their feet. Others sing with their eyes closed. Some folks like to move. A word or phrase may come up. We were moving into something nice and …

Whoops! I’d inadvertently locked one of our singers out.

Happy to have another singer, we repeated our intentions and briefly discussed them. K suggested inviting people to add intentions and I invited people to create a personal intention for the day which they could share (or not). For example, “Today, my intention is to sing simply” or “I’m going to practice listening with my eyes open.”

That done, we fell in again and created a long (7 to 8 minutes) dreamy “piece.”

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After a break for beverages, we moved into a word game where two people tell different stories at the same time. J hadn’t done this before and I wanted to try it again. (Everyone was gracious enough to let me practice.)

This game makes your whole brain work. Hard.

The goal is to tell your story while occasionally borrowing words from your partner’s story. This means that you have to talk and listen AT THE SAME TIME! Your partner strives to do the same. The two of you work to keep the stories (kind of) coherent and from being too much the same.

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Much laughter and hard work later, we moved back to singing with a pattern game. I like working with patterns because they provide structure. It’s the difference between telling someone to draw something and telling someone to draw a picture of a monster in a tree.

We started with everyone singing the same pattern and then we added other patterns as I (or others) came up with them.

(Listen to an example of singing patterns. Oct 2008)

As our Songtaneous time together came to end, we chatted and finished up the snacks. (Mmm, snacks.)

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There you have it. If you hadn’t guessed, I love Songtaneous Saturdays. Sharing songs, stories and treats with singers always energizes and inspires me. I enjoy what each person brings (and sings) and the conversation and insights we share during our time together.

I hope to sing with you soon.

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Reminder: The next Songtaneous session is Saturday, September 12. And, I’ve been invited to present Songtaneous September 19 at the Wild Rice Festival in Roseville MN. Visit the events page for more info on both of these events.

My friend J visited this weekend. She’s one of the many friends I’ve made through spontaneous singing. She and I met at an improv workshop years ago and reconnected this year. We chat a couple of times a month — often spontaneously singing together on the phone.

J runs her own improv group back home and she and I will be co-facilitating some workshops at the Women in Spirituality conference later this fall. So I invited her to attend one of the summer Songtaneous sessions so she could see one “in action.”

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One of the things I like about spontaneous music making is that everyone can do (and does!) it differently. J and her group have been known to make up music for and with dancers and in various locations.

She brought along some percussion and found instruments and a list of intentions, which I told her up front I intend to steal. (The list of intentions, not the instruments. Is it stealing if you tell someone you’re going to do it?)

J and her group collaborated to come up with intentions for how they want to create together. These aren’t rules, but reminders conceived to help banish BBHoF and let music grow.

Here are my two favorites:

4. Everyone here has something yummy to contribute.

9. Find a balance between your own magnificence and insignificance.

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After working with their list this past Saturday, I’m committed to creating something similar for Songtaneous.

Wanna help? Feel free to post your intentions or reminders in the comments section.