What Do We Say When We Sing The Words?
 

Author:

Jelle van Buuren

Abstract:
"As instrumental improvisation can lead to communication on a preverbal level, vocal improvisation can join a verbal element to it and thus lead to true, meaningful but still safe dialogue and real music at the same time, as long as at least this one condition is observed: we permit ourselves to repeat ourselves.
Where in common life this tends to be considered as harmful to your reputation, in music it is known to be very helpful to be more clearly noticed and even appreciated for it. Johann S. Bach must have felt this while writing the Kyrie Elyson in his overwhelming Mass in B-flat. It counts about 10 minutes of transporting singing on two lines only.

The workshop will take advantage of this outstanding musical quality."

If you choose to participate in this workshop you will be invited to make your thoughts sing, in your mothers tongue, or in English, where normally you might have spoken them. We will take some time to reflect upon what we experience, but singing will be our main occupation.

I have experienced this method to be particularly strong in challenging patients to reveal in music therapy where their force lies at that moment of their lives, which can be in hope, joy,
longing for happiness, but also in anger, rage even, jealousy for instance.
Singing the words that go with those feelings in repeated patterns takes the singer to a safe spot in the sky, like for a bird when it circles above its prey, from where the ‘hard feeling’ can be considered and maybe felt again without too much pain.
Before inviting patients into this action a music therapist should, to my strongest conviction,
have been through his/her own, shameful hard feelings. If not so, one cannot feel free enough to encourage patients into it.

The maximum number of active participants is 8 for this workshop, but 16 persons more can be present and observe while the others play and sing.
One can bring a personal instrument; there is no need to be specially qualified as a singer in any way but it's alright if you are.