We Can All Make Music.

Make. Show. Watch.

If there are no listeners, is anybody singing?

First up, music-making, even done alone, involves listening. It certainly can't be done in groups without listening, because making beautiful sounds together won't happen without the makers being aware of how their sounds mesh with each other. It's no wonder then that most singologists talk about singing being as much about listening as it is about vocalising.

Ultimately, hearing the sounds the circle is making is as integral a part of the pleasure as the making itself.

That’s why singing together needs no audience. Indeed, it is the participants, rather than the listeners, who reap the most profound benefits. This is not just rhetoric - there's a lot of serious scientific research available which proves that the emotional impacts of singing are most powerfully felt by participants in group activity. Contemporary western society has only recently forgotten this truth.

Our culture seems determined to convince us that the effects of concert-going or CD-listening are just as profound as actually making music, and that ordinary folks would be best advised to ingest the art of the talented rather than have a go at it themselves.

And of course, there’s the perspective that ultimately public performance is the point of music-making, but we disagree.

Don't get us wrong - many of us love performing and all of us enjoy a good concert. What's more, we recognise that many singing circles may, sooner or later, decide they want to put on a show - and “all power to them”, we say.

We also recognise that:

some leaders find the most effective way to bring maximum focus, concentration and application to a group is to introduce the promise (aka “threat”) of public performance at a specified time.

some singers feel that public performance is the peak experience of their art, that the energy flow which occurs in a performance situation is what makes it all worthwhile (for them), and that songs have a right to be heard.

there are those (many of whom work for arts funding agencies) who sincerely believe the fundamental purpose of art is only achieved when the art is presented to others.

performing builds confidence and can inspire “superhuman” acts when people do things they never imagined was possible for them.

in a community context, the local singing group doing a show can be both uplifting and useful for participants and audience alike.

achieving a high degree of technical competence improves the “value” of the work.

All these points of view contain elements of truth, but they all over-look the fundamental issue. The biggest buzz in music is in the making. We can all recall being at concerts where witnessing the dynamic between the musicians was at least as moving as the sounds they were making. We're sure that directly experiencing this dynamic (rather than witnessing it) is when the most profound effects of music-making impact on participants,and not only that, but the effects of witnessing music-making, while obviously enjoyable, are simply not as intense as experienced when actually doing it yourself. Furthermore, from the music makers' perspective, the buzz of public performance may be completely different to the buzz of music-making and, in all likelihood, the former probably swamps the latter.

This all adds-up to the distinct possibility that not only does group singing require no audience, but also that its impacts are far more intense without one.

Our perspective is also influenced by ideas about good musical entry points and journeys. If we start with doing it together, then everything else follows - appreciation, love, technique, and dedication to whatever aspect of this joyful and fulfilling human attribute which may infiltrate the participant's desire, be it performance, recording, musicology, music therapy, music teaching or any other aspect of the vast spectrum of experience music covers.

As far as we're concerned, making music with others is the first step toward creating a sound world together.

Back to top

CMV - making a sound world together.