Saturday, October 3, 2009

joy to the Brain: Class #6: :SING

Your homework for this class is to sing, from beginning to end, any song you know, and to sing at least one song every day. The shower is an excellent place to start.
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7 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 8, 2009 at 5:38 PM

    You didn't mention the homework of gazing into someone's eyes for two minutes. I'm glad my husband isn't reading this page is he would think he didn't have to do it. However it might stop the daily arguments/fights over me thinking he/we had to do it. We actually did it already three times and i've found it rewarding. He may be softening as today he suggested that maybe it would be more effective if we didn't do the singing part at the same time. However it's 5:30 and we are back to arguing about it. It's interesting and even the arguing seems a bit intimate, evoking wry smiles.

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  2. AnonymousOctober 13, 2009 at 10:40 PM

    Singing has been so much fun. Years ago I would serenade my ladylove by doing my Frank Sinatra imitations. For years she has been telling people that I sing like Frank and I usually ask her to stop being silly. This last week I have been again singing Sinatra's songs to her. My voice sure isn't what it used to be, but it has been a lot of fun and a sweet way for us to remember our younger days.

    On Sunday, I attended a picnic which included members of the Northbay's "Love Choir". They sang many folk and classic rock songs and warmly welcomed anyone who felt like joining in the singing. The pleasure of harmonizing with others' voices almost made me want to move up the coast and join their choir.

    I just discovered a website that Dr. Lewis and fellow students from Joy to theBrain may find interesting: www.wisebrain.org

    Bests,

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  3. AnonymousOctober 15, 2009 at 9:43 PM

    I've been dutifully doing my homework singing one song (with most of the words!) daily. I'm always happier after singing it. What's surprising, is that now I'm humming throughout the day and I find myself turning the car radio from NPR to KCSM more often; a nice bonus.

    One of my favorite homework songs is "Would You Like To Swing on a Star". I'm curious what others are singing for their homework.

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  4. AnonymousOctober 19, 2009 at 2:49 PM

    My singing career crashed in about 1940 when my Music Appreciation (oxymoron) teacher, on her stalks about the room, said succinctly in my ear, "JUST MOUTH IT." I enjoy listening but have a hard time expressing.

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  5. Tom ConneelyOctober 19, 2009 at 5:18 PM

    For an enjoyable,inspirational film about the power of singing that kept an entire nation (Estonia) together in its opposition to Russian dominance, I suggest the documentary film "The Singing Revolution", available from Netflix.

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  6. AnonymousOctober 19, 2009 at 6:55 PM

    re the sense of belonging with shared elements of group humor/ laughter—& playfulness in song and dance. That was an interesting link of song with chimps grooming each other’s heads-- The awareness increasing bonding with one another. (how silent I was—I remember only one song from early childhood: “I’ll be down to get you in a taxi honey. Better be ready by half past eight. We gotta be there when the band starts playing, so honey don’t be late—tomorrow night at the Dark Town Strutters Ball!”(a whole socio-economic class analysis in that!) Dancing was another matter-- soft shoe at 4 or 5, tap dance at 6 and ballet at 12. In high school no ballroom dancing lessons, but I knew how to move with music and LOVED folk dancing after sking at Nordan Sierra Club lodge. Community—yes. High School dances—no! Yes, I’ve always loved to dance. My face smiles tracing down the decades. Every kind of dance I can feel in my body—and its communal, not individual. But NOT singing, not making any kind of sound—why? Even today, my voice is really too soft, as if reluctant to touch, interrupt or be heard. I don’t KNOW even one song with the complete words, so I can’t do that homework. Frere Jacques 4 lines of sounds but I can’t separate them into words. Like the “Solly Molly” I used to say at school, not realizing it was “Salue Marie”

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  7. AnonymousNovember 2, 2009 at 12:36 AM

    My singing career crashed, too, but about 1955 when my junior high music "teacher" chose not to teach any but her favorites. However, I love listening to a wide range of music, and my find my musical expression in whistling songs and things I make up - I avoid inflicting this questionable musicality on others, but I enjoy it when I'm working in the garden or doing a little carpentry project.

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