Photo: Michael Gold
... a few words about music.
Important note: this work makes no medical claims, and it is up to you, dear reader, to use any information you find here responsibly and intelligently, toward yourself and others.
All material ©Sing into Joy
Why Sing into Joy, now?
September 1, 2020
Q: Why was Sing into Joy—suggesting singing as a pathway to wellness—created during the coronavirus pandemic?
A: So many reasons, and not just for musicians:
- People are painfully missing the arts in general and music in specific: making music themselves, the communality of making it with others, being able to attend live concerts, shows and other events.
- For many people hunkered down in isolation, feeling depressed and stuck soon followed, and this has been slow to lift. Studies show that singing for just 10 minutes a day produces measurable positive effects on mood.
- With the shift online for office-and-school-based work, plus the unstable job market, professionals are feeling the need to present themselves and their ideas confidently and effectively to colleagues, clients, employers, students.
- Early in the coronavirus spread, the world became aware of the importance of maintaining our breathing health, as we saw this illness profoundly affecting people’s ability to breathe. Was there anything we could do about it?
- Having sung professionally and taught voice for over 3 decades, it didn’t take me long to think not just about the deeper, healthier breathing practices one learns as a student of singing, but of ALL the elements that go into healthy singing, as activities that can promote health and well-being.
- Singing will mostly have to take place online, or in the company of our own families, for some time to come. People need an online resource that not only gets them singing again, or for the first time, but connects the act of singing to health.
Q: About the breath: Isn’t there a certain irony in starting a singing program while we’re being told we should not sing together because we’ll spread those legendary aerosolized droplets that travel far and linger long in in the air?
A: There’s so much we can do that’s positive and also safe!
- It’s true that singing together in the same room—unless it’s an extremely large room with very few singers spaced far apart—is verboten right now. But we can still sing for ourselves, and in person with others with whom we might be quarantined; and we can share our singing with each other, and our discoveries about it, online.
- A fallow time for rehearsing and performing with others is the perfect time to enjoy working on our skills, experimenting, and daring to make “mistakes” we can learn from.
- In fact, the very effect of quarantining, driving us to stay close to home and to use the Internet more, has given rise to some very creative artistic and technical solutions to help our efforts to connect, learn, and stay healthier through music.
If you’d like to explore the possibilities, contact me.
My plan is to post a new blog each week. Stay tuned, and sign up for the email list!
Sing on!
Danielle
P.S. To respond to this blog with your thoughts or questions, go here.
You can also ask to join the private Sing into Joy FB Group here to delve deeper. Or visit and like our FaceBook page.
©Danielle Woerner 2020
