Blue Ridge
Vocal Connection
Listening.
The theme of our last rehearsal was listening. Singing with a choir demands our attention in a variety of ways. We read the score; its notes, pace, and lyrics. We watch the conductor for cues. We monitor our own voice. But we also need to be listening to each other.
As I’ve alluded in the past, this is my first experience with singing in a group. Prior, I’ve really not done much singing at all. I don’t sing in the shower or in the car and I don’t really like the sound of my own voice. But now I’m forced to listen to others and to myself, and fashion the sounds emanating from me to match those of the other singers around me. We all sound better together than we can sound individually. Although I’ve participated in teams before, none have been like this and certainly the cooperative nature of this experience is new to me.
I read a magazine article recently entitled “The Anti-Social Century,” in which the author argues how Americans are spending more time alone than ever.
The first half of the Twentieth Century was quite social. From 1900 until 1960, membership in a variety of types of organizations from social clubs like Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, and Ruritan were up, as was church attendance. Book clubs, chess clubs, sewing and quilting clubs, and volunteer organizations all flourished.
Then we entered a period of withdrawal, encompassing the lives of almost everyone alive today. In the period from 1985 until 1994 alone, active involvement in community organizations fell in half. We embraced egoism and individualism. Advances in personal technologies put distance between us and in doing so has changed our workplaces, our politics, our relationships and even our personalities. Our governments provided fewer gathering spaces. We devoted our towns and cities to cars rather than pedestrians and we moved our neighborhoods farther apart. We went to fewer movies and watched more television at home. Many of us, especially after the pandemic, started working at home. Into the 21st Century, personal devices have enveloped us in our own worlds.
It’s a tough trend to buck, even if most of us don’t think it’s healthy, that it has led to diminished personal health and fragmentation and discord in our society.
So part of my reason for joining this choir was to stay social and build my relationships. It has helped me do that. Before I joined, there was only one person in the choir that I knew; now I’m getting to know many others. My life is better for it.
The choir has had only one performance since I joined and I didn’t participate because I didn’t feel ready. Our next scheduled performance is just after our next rehearsal, and while I still don’t feel totally ready, I plan to sing. Afterwards that evening, I’m hosting the choir to my home for a pot-luck with the goal of getting to know more members.
When we listen to one another, when we share experiences, we build esteem and self-worth. And we build peace.
Stay tuned.