Hi All, welcome to the session logs! If you miss a session and want to know what we sang and some of what we talked about, this is the spot to come. :)

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Session log #1  – September 30 

We warmed up our bodies a bit by stretching and gently rolling our necks, then I led us in an open vocal warm-up with some call and response silliness over a few guitar chords 

I started by leading a simple song called Hold On. I sang the melody for you a few times to get it in your head, then brought in the looper so we could all sing along to a full vocal arrangement of the song. I left a little space in the middle for you to sing a bit with open space, then we jammed for a while on the outro! 

Then we jammed out on a song of mine called Ain’t No Friend, from my Rebirth album.  I taught the melody of the chorus, then we worked on the harmony parts with the looper, and we spent some time digging into them. Then we did a sing through of the whole song so everyone could hear the verses and bridge and get to sing the chorus a bunch of times in context. (audio learning files up above)

Tiny Lights – taught the chorus, did a sing through, and hinted at the bigger arrangement that we’ll dig into later. (audio learning files up above)

Little intro to scatting – over a 12-bar blues progression we did some call and response scatting. 

Water people – This is a newer song of mine. We did a quick sing through. The verses are call and response and the chorus is very easy to pick up. (audio learning files up above)

Fast jam of Down By The Riverside.  We didn’t do a deep dive because most people probably know it and it’s easy to catch on to.    – with an impromptu ending jam about “joy and peace, unity and love”, lyrics provided by you guys in the chat! 

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Session log #2  – October 7 

Just like last week, we started by stretching our bodies and gently rolling our necks. Our bodies resonate when we sing so when we feel relaxed and loose, our voices resonate better. 

Did a quick warmup, bouncing around a bit. Then I messed around with humming a drone and stacking a bunch of harmonies on the looper. I encouraged you to explore your voice during this point, taking care not to push too much as we were just warming up. 

Our first song was Three Little Birds (Bob Marley). I had a little arrangement prepped on the looper with drums and harmony vocals. This isn’t part of our core material, so it was just an excuse to have some fun and explore with a light and easy sing along. 

Then we sang a song of mine, simply called A Song To Sing. Again this one is not part of the core material, but it’s a pretty simple song to jump in on and has a fun “Oooo” part. 

Then we sang Ain’t No Friend. Of all the songs we sang we dived deepest into this one. We had sung this song in week one, so I reviewed the harmony parts that I taught you last week. Before singing through the whole song I gave you a chance to try each harmony part on its own, and also to sing them along with the melody, thanks to the looper! I also taught some vocal “horn” background parts (buh ba doo duh). (Learning files above)

After that we reviewed Tiny Lights. I taught a new background part that comes up later in the song: “Tiny Lights… In the world”. (Learning files above)