The Benefits of CircleSongs

In August 2011, about 150 people from around the world came together in New York, amidst the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irene. Some of us traveled for days to get there. Some were delayed by the weather. Some of us had waited for years to have the opportunity to experience what we were about the experience. All of us left that experience changed by the magic we encountered.

What brought us to the quiet, rural town of Rhinebeck was none-other than Grammy Award-Winning artist Bobby McFerrin. He, along with five of his hand-picked faculty from around the United States, were there to teach us about CircleSongs, a process he developed of improvisational community singing.

McFerrin was one of the people late in getting there due to the weather, which delayed the start of our full experience by nearly a day. But someone from his PR firm was on hand to get things started with a mass CircleSong. It was clear from the beginning that we were about to experience something magical. One person at a time, all strangers to me, got into the middle of the circle and led the group in an improvised song, inviting those of us forming the circle to participate. We were nervous and excited, watching and listening to each other closely. And when the first round was over, there wasn’t a smile-less face in the room. We knew we were there for a profound reason.

From that point on, we came together in community, whether walking around the beautiful campus, eating at the cafeteria-style dining hall, or forming our own little song circles at the little café or atop the highest point of the campus in the meditation hall. The experience of singing together led to so much more than we could have imagined.

Once I returned home, my soul was on fire as I continued to listen to recordings of what we created together and we shared videos, pictures, and stories from our experiences on our Facebook group. It took me a couple months to be able to articulate what I experienced in New York and what benefits I had gained that I wished to pass along to others who would participate in my CircleSong group in my local community.

CircleSongs provide rich opportunities to:

1. Express yourself creatively. If ever there was an opportunity to be creative, CircleSongs provides it. Everything created in a CircleSong is in-the-moment, improvised, and spontaneous. You are only limited by your imagination.
2. Break down social barriers (language, culture, etc.) . Out of 150 people who attended the New York training with me, most were from the United States. But we also had people from France, Belgium, Canada, Brazil, Germany, India, Denmark, Norway, etc. And one of our teachers was even born and raised in Lebanon. There’s something about music that cuts through barriers. In CircleSongs, we sing musical phrases without words. We sing sounds. Some are universal sounds. Some are more related to culture. But there is room for any and every sound. And the sounds someone from a different place and culture makes affects other sounds. It is a true blend of human experience.
3. Strengthen connection to yourself. Even though you sing with others in community during CircleSongs, you are still on your own. Left there to listen to others and the conductor in the middle of the circle, feel the music, and deal with any inner voice that begins talking to you during the process.
4. Foster cooperation, teamwork, and community. It is difficult to create a cohesive improvised song without working together. There’s a phenomenon that happens in the circle, which most musicians call “the pocket” or “the groove,” when everyone is in synch. You can feel that moment happen. Everyone is singing together, listening to each other, working toward the same thing….true creative expression. When you’re in the pocket, you know that everyone there serves a unique purpose. Everyone is needed. Everyone is contributing to the beautiful song that is being created.
5. Support yourself and others in creative, uninhibited expression. Support is a cornerstone of the CircleSong process. We must listen to each other. The conductor in the middle of the circle creates one musical phrase after another and assigns it to different parts of the circle. He/she creates one phrase and passes it along, then must listen to what comes up next in the improvised songwriting. As a conductor of these circles, I can tell you that everyone in that room contributes to what music comes out of my mouth. The music is inspired by everyone there – their energy, their musicality, their very being.
6. Promote self-confidence and a sense of accomplishment. Even people who profess they are not singers or are not creative leave a CircleSong experience with a different perspective. Where they claimed they could not sing, they have now sung. Where they claimed they were not creative, they helped to create something. When we accomplish something we are hesitant to even try, it inevitably raises our confidence. Even those of us who identify ourselves as singers and as creative leave a CircleSong boosted. CircleSongs are about creating. And in that process there is a beginning, a middle, and an end. At the end, we typically smile. Some laugh. Some clap. There has been something profound that has been accomplished. And everyone feels it.

The best way to get a sense of all the benefits from CircleSongs is to experience it for yourself. I invite you to join me for CircleSongs Phoenix, which I will be leading beginning January 9, 2013, in the Phoenix, AZ metro area. For further information about CircleSongs and to listen to samples of CircleSongs I led while studying in New York, please visit http://www.krylyn.com/circlesongs. To register for an upcoming CircleSong Phoenix group go to http://circlesongs.eventbrite.com.

Happy Holidays…Flash Mob Style

Looking for some unique holiday celebrations? Look no further than a bunch of people randomly bursting into song and dance in public. The best part is watching the bystander reactions of surprise turn into joy. Happy Holidays! Enjoy these holiday flash mob videos!

1. ‪Carlson School of Management Flash Mob, Deck the Halls‬

2. FlashMob Lisbon Airport for Christmas

3. Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus – Must See!

4. Singing Flash Mob – All I Want For Christmas

5. Holiday Christmas Music Flash Mob of the American Festival Chorus at Cache Valley Mall

6. Darth Vader conducts Christmas Choir Flash Mob – Carol of the Bells

7. Simpson College Hallelujah Chorus Flash Mob

8. [OFFICIAL] Frisco Square “Christmas in the Square” Flash Mob – Frisco, TX

9. YVR Christmas Flash Mob

Lessons from Connecticut’s Recent Tragedy

In light of recent events, I wanted to take a moment to say how deeply saddened I am by all the loss, tragedy, and fear kicked up in Connecticut this past Friday, 12/14/12. While the press seems always focused on “why,” I’d like to just point out there is never a good reason. No good reason to drive a young man to think that killing others and himself is the way. No good reason why innocent lives are lost and others are forever changed by traumatic experience.

The debates have started about gun control and mental health services yet again…an all too frequent discussion in the aftermath of so many of these types of events in recent history. It is easy to get swept up in fear and in judgment.

But the real challenge is continuing on, learning from what happened, and supporting those affected by it, including ourselves. Instead of focusing on why, we must focus on what. What have you learned from this as far as how you want to be treated and how you want others to be treated? What can you do to take good care of yourself and others right now?

In the darkest of experiences, I believe there is always a lesson to learn. What will that lesson be for you? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Photo: rainbow © by paparutzi

What is a CircleSong

Imagine a room full of people with the same intention…to come together, express themselves creatively, work together in community, and have fun. This is what it is like during the process of Circle Singing.

The term CircleSong was coined by the innovative, improvisational Grammy Award-Winning singer Bobby McFerrin as a way to explain his process of community singing, a tradition of several indigenous cultures around the world. Singers stand in a circle with one person (aka the “conductor” and “composer”) in the middle who leads the singers in a song, introducing different motifs or musical phrases to each singing section.

The effect is a layering of sound, as I like to call it. Think of a finished piece of music and all the parts to it, including the rhythm, bass, chords, melody, harmony, etc. In CircleSongs, all these parts are accomplished with the voice, no instruments. And introduced one at a time. The composer lets the creativity flow, thinking of new musical parts to add as inspiration strikes. It is not planned. It is all spontaneous and improvised, sparked by the energy in the room.

There is something special that happens when you get people singing and making music together. Musicians call it the “groove” or the “pocket,” when that moment happens when everything seems to synch up and just be an effortless expression. Everyone is on the same page, so to speak, and feeling the music in the same rhythm.

Once this synching happens, when everyone is singing one of the musical phrases, the composer then sings a solo in the middle of the circle and/or invites others into the circle to sing solos. Think of the solo as the melody to the song, with all the other voices are singing the underlying arrangement of the song. The composer is supported by the arrangement and the other singers in this safe space, the middle of the circle, and once again draws on unplanned, spontaneous, improvisation as the inspiration.

I have been leading CircleSongs since days after I returned from New York and my training with CircleSong creator, Bobby McFerrin. I have seen the power of this process change people’s attitudes about themselves and about singing in general. I’ve gotten people from claiming they can’t sing to stepping in the middle of a circle of strangers and singing a solo. I’ve felt the energy shift from anxiety and nervousness to calm and energized. I’ve seen looks of terror on faces turn to smiles.

To say that the CircleSong process is inspiring is an understatement. It is a calling, a part of my soul, and an absolutely necessary part of my creative expression. Which is why I’m so excited to be bringing CircleSongs to my local community on a regular, monthly basis, starting January 9, 2013. I invite you to give CircleSongs a try.

For further information about CircleSongs and to listen to samples of CircleSongs I led while studying in New York, please visit http://www.krylyn.com/circlesongs. To register for an upcoming CircleSong group go to http://circlesongs.eventbrite.com.

8 Songs to Help You Celebrate Your Success

This month is all about celebrating our success here at krylyn.com. Are you ready to let your hair down, shake your groove thang, and get to some celebrating? Sometimes, we need a little musical inspiration to help light a fire. So crank up those speakers and enjoy some of my favorite songs that highlight the art of celebration.

1. Celebration‬ by ‪Kool & The Gang‪

2. Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield

3. One Moment in Time by Whitney Houston

4. Let’s Get It Started‬ by ‪The Black Eyed Peas‪

5. Footloose‬ by ‪Kenny Loggins‪

6. ‪Put One Foot in Front of the Other‬

7. Oh Yeah by Yell

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8. I Believe‬ by Fantasia

How to Accept a Compliment

When someone pays you a compliment do you typically respond by stating all the reasons it isn’t true or what obstacles you’ve had or in some other way negate what the other person has said? For some reason, it seems we are allergic to compliments or even acknowledgement of a job well-done. Our society focuses so much on improving and looking for what’s wrong (rather than what’s right), that it’s hard for us to know how to act when someone points out something positive. It just seems so unexpected.

Yet think about how easy it is to think of the negative things. Our society thrives on negativity, fear, and drama. It’s everywhere in the media. Just watch a news cast, tabloid magazine show, reality TV, etc. and you won’t have to wait long to hear what so-and-so said about that person (gossip) and how to improve any and every area of your life (read you’re not good enough the way you are). It’s like we’re actively looking for the bad stuff. So much so it can be hard to see the good. And that leads to missing all the positive things going on in our lives, even the little things we’ve accomplished, mastered, and overcome.

I believe it’s often the smallest things that make the biggest difference. But what happens when those small success go unnoticed? We can get grumpy, thinking nothing is ever going well. We can lose sight of what we want, what we’re striving for…lose focus and motivation…and develop a really bad attitude about ourselves, others, and everything around us.

So how do we get back to noticing the small, positive things? It really is just about noticing, being aware, and looking for it. Here’s some tips:

• Next time someone says something positive to you, notice if you have any thoughts spinning around coming up with reasons you don’t really deserve the compliment. Words or thoughts such as “yeah, but” or “you don’t have to say that” are clues you might have difficulty accepting any positive feedback. Instead of spouting negatvie stuff, simply smile and say “thank you.”
• Start conversations with people by pointing out something positive about them. It could be the way they look, their clothes, or the way they handled a recent situation or project.
• Notice at least one thing you enjoy about life each day and acknowledge it.
• Give yourself at least one compliment every day. You DO deserve it.

For more tips on how to celebrate your journey and look at the successes you’ve had along the way, , please join me for my next monthly FREE Telseminar, “To Your Success: Celebrating Every Step of the Journey.” Simply go to the REGISTRATION page at https://krylyn.com/free-teleseminars/to-your-success, and enter your name and email to get signed up. Even if you can’t attend the live call, you will get access to the recording of the call, but only if you register.

Photo: Free Compliments © by ilovememphis