Singing Workshop
Singing used to be my favorite hobby when I was a teenager and it played a huge role in my life up to my mid-twenties. I was a member in several choirs and took (mostly classical) singing classes throughout those years. When I turned 25 I joined my first band as a piano player (sometimes I did some background vocals too) and I realized that I wanted to make more “modern” music (mostly pop) instead of classical music. In the following years I started to learn how to play the double bass and then the electric bass. I also became a member of different bands and found my first musical opportunities as a bass player.
As I began to play more bass and was still developing my solo piano project at the same time, singing became less important in my life because a day only has 24 hours :-) But I still kept my love for being able to fill a room with my own voice or the joyful feeling of singing harmonies with others in my head and my heart.
In my environment there are many opportunities to share things with other people for which I am very grateful. There are different circles of friends who organise festivals or smaller gatherings and often it is very appreciated if people contribute in one way or another to the event. For example, I have made music with different people as part of a musical program over the years (as well as taking cooking or cleaning shifts, doing artist care etc).
While being part of all these wonderful events the idea of doing a singing workshop with a group of people grew in my head (at one festival there bad been a duo of musicians doing a singing workshop already but it was before my time with these people so I couldn’t attend). When the opportunity arose to contribute to a small and private indoor festival that took place this fall I thought I might jump in at the deep end. Where else could I try being a workshop instructor if not at one of these little events?
So I signed up for leading this workshop and did some preparation. I definitely feel like I have enough to say and some knowledge to share through the years of my own singing experience. But I still felt a little insecure because it was my first singing workshop after all, I was afraid that too little people would show up and I didn’t know what would be the level of the singers participiating.
But in the end it all turned out fine. Quite a few people were coming to sing and we shared some good moments full of laughter in my body warm-up. When we got to the actual singing part even more people were joining as we were placed in one corner of the living room where everyone could see and hear us. We were even able to sing some parts of the songs in two voices. One of the things I learned is that it doesn’t matter so much which songs I bring (something I had worried about before) and that most of the people just enjoyed singing melodies and harmonies with the group. And we really sounded quite good I think :-) After the workshop was over some people told me that we also created a beautiful atmosphere for those not participating (some of the people in the room were doing a kitchen shift or another quiet activity). For me, that was a great thing to hear. So if the next opportunity comes up to sing with a group of people and/or lead a singing workshop I would definitely be down for it again.