Easy Songs
What is What are easy songs? about ?
Easy songs can be used in a very wide range of ways for almost any facilitation need:
opening or closing a ceremony
forming bonds amongst a group
soothing hearts after conflict, tender sharing, or grief
empower participants, put them in touch with their power & energy
meditation or contemplation
and more!
Teaching and then singing easy songs can be used as an opener or a closer, to create community, to acknowledge a transition, as a way of connecting when there have been a lot of words and/or a lot of emotions. Easy songs and group singing can also be used to energise the people, bringing them into a contemplative or focused space, or to calm them down.
Audience
Audience description for Easy Songs
Everyone!
It does not matter if you've been told that you are "bad at singing". Group singing of easy songs is for absolutely everyone.
Requirements
Not specifically
Run Through
Easy songs can be a powerful tool for shifting the energy of a group, for changing the mood, for building a sense of community. Singing can ease fear and anxiety so it can be well used in emotionally difficult situations as well. One does not need to be a skilled singer for the magic of music to move the group.
I find an easy song to be a powerful way to end a ceremony or to begin or end a workshop.
If the song has really simple lyrics, there is no need to have anything written down.
If you think the group would be supported by seeing the words (this can be comforting to some who are uncomfortable singing), then write the lyrics on a big poster (or on a large piece of cardboard). When there is a single shared point that everyone is looking at, it works better than each participant looking at their own printout.
Read the lyrics aloud as a group.
Demonstrate the whole song so they get a feel for the shape of the song.
Then sing one line and have the whole group repeat it back to you. This is called call-and-response.
Repeat for each line. If the song is simple, you might be able to go directly into singing the whole thing together. Repeat it more times than you think is necessary. The better people know the song (aka the more times you repeat it), the more they will be able to relax into it and enjoy the experience.
To access a spreadsheet with great songs for group singing, please visit
Art Monastery Songs & Chants
- Be cognizant of the fact that MANY people have been told they were bad at singing and/or carry some kind of embarrassment, discomfort, or even trauma around singing. Because of this, it can be even more powerful to sing anyway!
- Begin by reassuring people that this is not about having a beautiful singing voice, being able to read sheet music, or even singing the right notes. This is about allowing the body to resonate like a bell. If you can talk, you can sing!
- In addition to singing as an embodiment practice (letting the body resonate like a bell, which feels good), this is also about coming into resonance with the space and with the other people. Harmonizing is symbolic and has an impact on our minds, moods, and bodies.
- For songs that have more than 2 lines of lyrics, either print out the words on sheets for everyone to hold, or EVEN BETTER, make a big poster (at the Art Monastery we like to paint the words on a big piece of cardboard). There is a psychological difference between everyone looking down at their own paper or looking up toward the same source.
- Have everyone speak the words together aloud first.
- Then sing the whole song (or one repetition of the melody) so they can feel the shape of the song. After the demo, do "call and response" where you sing one line or phrase, and they sing the same line back to you. When in doubt about where to break the line or phrase, choose the shorter phrase.
- Slowly, slowly add on. Add more material more slowly than you would expect them to learn. Make it sooooo easy. If someone says "could we do it 1 more time before adding on?" do it 3 or 4 more times. The more familiar and comfortable they feel, the more fun they will have and the more potent the impact will be.
- Be VERY familiar with the song yourself.
- Ideally, have at least 2 other people who also know the song well and can "lead from the inside".
- If it happens that one or more people of the group refuses to sing because of heavy inhibitions, you can always suggest that they beat the rhythm with two sticks or other objects so they can still feel being part of the group.
- Unless you're dealing with experienced musicians, don't use sheet music. It tends to intimidate people.
- Don't move too fast when teaching the song.
Online
Do easy songs work online?
Yes and no. Because of the sound delay with zoom, it does not work to sing together with everyone unmuted (unless you are doing an asynchronous vocal improvisation). If you can have 2 facilitators on the same computer, that is ideal. Then the facilitators can be unmuted and all the participants can be muted. So in the participant's experience they are only hearing themselves and the 2 facilitators.
Generally, singing together is more powerful in person.
Material
Lyrics written in very large letters on a big piece of cardboard (or something light and stiff) or printouts for each participant
optional drum or guitar or other musical accompaniment
project
ERASMUS +
Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union. Find more information about the program and its goals here: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
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