Rallying voices and altered expectations
When we sing in community, or in rally, or worship, or in anthem, we demonstrate a most inclusive style of singing. An ‘all in’ type of thing. Every voice is needed.
An inner city street rally, singing songs of peace as they walk in thousands, do not seek out their best singer to be their soloist. It’s not a time for a show, a flawless performance. Singing in this context requires every voice, and places no emphasis on how much singing training you’ve ever undertaken.
The footy match anthem is the same. No one in a grandstand will ever turn around and tell you to mime because you’re out of tune. Not singing, in these instances, is the outlier. Singing is the usual.
And because group singing in this context falls under the banner of ‘non-performance based’, everyone is welcome! Which makes joining in a lot easier.
I was lucky enough to be in my teens and 20’s during the peak era of 3 day festivals in Australia. When they were just becoming permanent features, when they were the highlight of every season and everyone got tickets.
Before they became too big for their own futures. Before they began disappearing.
At these festivals, in the crows, everyone would sing. All the people, not just the ones who had lessons or were considered singers. EV. ER. Y. ONE.
And the singing would be at the top of our lungs, with gusto and passion and excitement, and the feelings of euphoria and connectedness with every other person was off the charts (yes, even for the sober ones).
If only we could bottle the musical belonging we feel when it comes to sports anthems, religious worship, festival banger or rally song. If we could store that medicine and use it for the school assembly, or the audition or the singing in front of our friends.
Maybe if we focused on musical belonging, this would organically come. Maybe it’s the sense of ‘belonging’ as a musical being that we are missing. Not just a feeling of being individually valuable enough to express ourselves musically, but a sense of belonging to the musical world.
Maybe this is what we seek? Maybe we don’t even know we’re seeking it. But when all the stars align and we find ourselves in a space designed for every voice, where even the ones who self identify as non-musical will join in song.
That is when our musicality wakes up, and there is little medicine like it.
