Cultural Appreciation
Blue Sky has always sung lots of songs from different cultures. There is a reason.
We like to sing in simple harmonies that are easy to pick up and remember.
Our own folksong tradition is one of solo songs, that don’t so easily work for communal singing.
Zulu songs are mostly lively harmony songs that the whole community knows and they are sung wherever needed. They are short, easy and repetitive, for people to join in and dance to.
Bulgarian folk songs are often sung in 3 part harmony… for dancing and telling tales … and toasts and celebrations.
So these songs and others from different cultures are just right for open access community choirs and people love the different rhythms and “exotic “ harmonies.
We in the Natural Voice Movement have always tried to acknowledge where songs have come from and what the words mean , but over the years songs passed round in the aural tradition can lose this information
With the rise of Black Lives Matter we are examining our practise as we realise that we have acquired, taken over, songs from different cultures without enough thought or permission or recompense . I have heard it said that the indigenous people of America have protested that not only have Europeans taken their lands, now ( in the 70s) we are taking their songs as well. Black people in America have provided a huge rich culture of spirituals , gospel music, blues Jazz leading to Rock, which has often been taken over by Europeans who have made their fortune while the blacks are left outside ( Black and White minstrel show. )
So what we are trying to do in Natural Voice Movement is to only sing songs that we have good information about, understanding the context and being very careful about ritual songs.. probably not singing them at all. And sharing this with our choirs so we all have this information. In doing this we all gain , our experience as we sing these words is deeper and our understanding of other people in the world expands.
It is also important to pay back , to thank the communities for what we have gained from them . We have been doing this by supporting charities like Water Aid ( Huge Sing For Water events have raised lots of money) but not enough.
We in Blue Sky have raised money for Oxfam and Water Aid and Amnesty but lately have been supporting local charities ( which is also really good). Maybe we need to look out for ways to benefit the cultures our favourite songs have come from. ( eg Thina Simunye, from the Agape Aids orphanage in South Africa. I bought their book and DVD when I first introduced this forabout £20 but that is very little ) We have communities and individuals here in Southampton from many places around the world, perhaps we should be in touch with them.
Maybe we as a group could work out ways of saying “thank you for the music”
Maggie
We like to sing in simple harmonies that are easy to pick up and remember.
Our own folksong tradition is one of solo songs, that don’t so easily work for communal singing.
Zulu songs are mostly lively harmony songs that the whole community knows and they are sung wherever needed. They are short, easy and repetitive, for people to join in and dance to.
Bulgarian folk songs are often sung in 3 part harmony… for dancing and telling tales … and toasts and celebrations.
So these songs and others from different cultures are just right for open access community choirs and people love the different rhythms and “exotic “ harmonies.
We in the Natural Voice Movement have always tried to acknowledge where songs have come from and what the words mean , but over the years songs passed round in the aural tradition can lose this information
With the rise of Black Lives Matter we are examining our practise as we realise that we have acquired, taken over, songs from different cultures without enough thought or permission or recompense . I have heard it said that the indigenous people of America have protested that not only have Europeans taken their lands, now ( in the 70s) we are taking their songs as well. Black people in America have provided a huge rich culture of spirituals , gospel music, blues Jazz leading to Rock, which has often been taken over by Europeans who have made their fortune while the blacks are left outside ( Black and White minstrel show. )
So what we are trying to do in Natural Voice Movement is to only sing songs that we have good information about, understanding the context and being very careful about ritual songs.. probably not singing them at all. And sharing this with our choirs so we all have this information. In doing this we all gain , our experience as we sing these words is deeper and our understanding of other people in the world expands.
It is also important to pay back , to thank the communities for what we have gained from them . We have been doing this by supporting charities like Water Aid ( Huge Sing For Water events have raised lots of money) but not enough.
We in Blue Sky have raised money for Oxfam and Water Aid and Amnesty but lately have been supporting local charities ( which is also really good). Maybe we need to look out for ways to benefit the cultures our favourite songs have come from. ( eg Thina Simunye, from the Agape Aids orphanage in South Africa. I bought their book and DVD when I first introduced this forabout £20 but that is very little ) We have communities and individuals here in Southampton from many places around the world, perhaps we should be in touch with them.
Maybe we as a group could work out ways of saying “thank you for the music”
Maggie