Introduction to Play It By Voice
Play It By Voice is a blog, podcast and online practice handbook for choir singers, vocal group singers, choir leaders, and for people interested in co-creation as an important part of society.
I am a founding member of the a cappella group The Real Group, Sweden, former musical director of Perpetuum Jazzile, Slovenia, and I now serve as Honorary Professor of innovative choir direction at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus & Aalborg, Denmark.
Singing with rhythm is a natural part of being human
Singing and rhythm are built into us by default.
Early on in my career I realized that the practice of ensemble singers is based on the same exercises, regardless of whether you sing with an amateur community choir or with a professional a cappella group, for example.
Over the years, however, I have often found that there is a lack of understanding within vocal music as a whole of what choir singers do in the moment of singing in order to achieve desired musical results.
The practice handbook part of Play It By Voice at Substack is for development of practical skills that are fundamental to all kinds of ensemble singing. You can do the exercise modules together with your choir, or on your own. The purpose of doing the exercises is for you to feel adequately prepared and to experience the fun and playfulness of singing together with others.
Learning by doing
Different musical challenges bring out the practical knowledge that lies within us, in our bodies and minds. When we start trying to sing something new, we are rarely aware that the knowledge to succeed in new musical challenges can be found within ourselves.
Although the inspiration to learn something new may come from a book or through conversation and discussion, we acquire practical knowledge primarily by doing. Everyday activities such as tying your shoes, chopping wood, frying pancakes, growing potatoes, driving a car, and so on, are examples of practical knowledge.
We learn to sing a cappella by singing with each other. Everyone who sings in a vocal group or choir will sooner or later face the same or similar challenges. It is natural to encounter obstacles from time to time. My general advice when this happens is to keep singing! Especially when it doesn't sound so good. Keep trying! Sooner or later, the pieces will fall into place.
Learning to walk
It's fascinating to watch a small child learn to walk, isn't it? Every child has their own way of tackling the task. The little child tries and tries – and one fine day, she can walk. Once she has learned, she doesn't think about it much, she just keeps walking. And then she can join in and play with the other children. Learning to sing a cappella works in a similar way.
A culture that creates self-doubt
Is it possible for adults to acquire pieces of practical knowledge essential to a cappella singing?
After many years of problem solving, through countless attempts and mistakes, I have come to the conclusion that the answer to that question is undoubtedly ‘yes’.
However, there are often misunderstandings or misconceptions ingrained in choir singers, combined with culturally imposed requirements and limitations – spoken or unspoken – that hinder or prevent exploratory learning processes.
Fun and focus
You can overcome limitations imposed by your culture. How? My short answer: through a combination of fun and focused practice.
In my experience and opinion, there are about twenty to thirty ‘know-how-to-walk’ skills that you need to become aware of in your body and mind in order to sing a cappella in a vocal group or choir. The number of practical pieces of knowledge required varies depending on the repertoire you sing and the level of ambition of your group. You probably already possess a lot of this knowledge – things you may not be aware of that you already can do. Or pieces of knowledge waiting to emerge; to unlock through specific exercises – when needed.
Once you have integrated a specific piece of practical knowledge into your body and mind, it becomes a tool to use while singing, when needed, without having to think about it too much. You need to keep singing with others and alternate this with practising on your own.
Practice modules
A large part of singers' development together is about collective abilities that the group works on during rehearsals. However, some things can only be learned through individual exercises. Most of the Play It by Voice exercises that direct your attention to specific know-how-to skills also have social and creative training built in. Some of the group exercises only take a minute or two, while others can take up to an hour.
When it comes to individual exercises, ten to fifteen minutes of practice a few days a week, preferably in the morning, is sufficient. The exercises are not particularly difficult, but these things cannot be learned through force. Your motivation comes from within. The main purpose of the exercises is to make you feel prepared with practical knowledge that you can draw on in the actual moment of singing together with others.
Playful learning
One of my goals with Play It By Voice is to inspire learning through exploration and play. Adults need to play too! When we play, we don't notice when we learn new things. Playfulness can provide practical knowledge in a natural way that cannot be achieved through stress, pressure or competition.
Good luck, have fun!