A Different Voice, A Different Song

Abstract

Abstract This book explores the history and significance of the natural voice movement and its culture of open-access community choirs, weekend workshops, and summer camps. Founded on the premise that “everyone can sing”, the movement is distinguished from other choral movements by its emphasis on oral transmission and its eclectic repertoire of songs from across the globe. First, the book reveals how and why songs from non-Western and folk traditions inform the movement’s ideological, methodological, and ethical principles and contribute to the rewards—social, psychological, and existential, as well as musical—reported by participants. Second, it argues that the UK-based Natural Voice Practitioners’ Network, built on the pioneering work of English folksinger Frankie Armstrong, has become a major player in the democratisation of singing and represents a powerful force for community building and for facilitating intercultural understanding. Third, it suggests that the natural voice phenomenon poses a significant challenge to assumptions about musical competency and training that underpin music education in Britain and other Western societies. Among the book’s most striking revelations is the extent to which amateur and aspiring singers who are not musically literate, and who may belong to socially marginalised groups, become competent participants in a vibrant musical community and, in the process, find their voice metaphorically as well as literally. These trends are theorised in terms of the politics of participation, the transformative potential of performance, building social capital, the global village, and reclaiming the arts of celebration and conviviality.

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