Singing: The Key to a Long Life
I came across this essay a couple of years ago. My mother sent it to me, as she does countless articles and things that she think I might enjoy. This piece is from the NPR series This I Believe. The essay is written and recorded by Brian Eno.
from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97320958
Brian Eno's story reminded me of an experience I had several months ago when I was doing an opera in Banff, Alberta, Canada. I was born in Banff and despite leaving there when I was four years old, I still had friends and teachers and babysitters that knew me from when I was 'just this big.' It's a funny experience when someone remembers you from childhood and they look at you with wonderment, only to see you looking back at them with great confusion. And there was a lot of that, especially after singing opera in front of these people. I can only imagine. The stage lights up and despite my now womanly exterior, they see this little girl, and then she opens her mouth... Anyway, I digress.
There was an evening where we finished rehearsal, and we were all invited to Music Night at Sandy and Jim's place--these people were my preschool instructors! We all show up, people from the opera, people from town, relatives, and young ones and music teachers. It was a motley crew. And for just a few hours, we went through song books and sheet music, singing and playing together. Three guitars, one accordion, one piano, a djembe, and about fifteen people. There were Canadian folk songs, some pop stuff, lots of Beatles songs, and the hippies even taught us some old marching tunes. I sat on a couch with the younger members in our evening of song and put little pieces of felt and Velcro together in silly faces and hilarious animals, while harmonizing sweet melodies. We even had a little break for pumpkin pie and cider. It was wonderful.
So, listening to Brian Eno speak about his experience with communal singing, I was reminded of how I must have come into making music. Maybe starting in preschool with Sandy and Jim, I learned that music is a communal experience. An experience that is ancient and central to our human expression. And that's where I yearn to make music from, forming the link between that primal communication and the cultivated style of classical or contemporary music.
