Kate's Voice

One Christmas, we hired a pianist to come to our home to accompany our family and friends as we sang our favorite holiday carols.  We got out the caroling books ( I used to force my kids and students to go caroling with me, so I do have a stack of caroling books!!), grabbed glasses of wine or soda, or hot chocolate for those traditionalists among us, and gathered around the piano to sing.   We had a good time, but in retrospect there are some recommendations I can make if you want to try the same thing yourself.

1.  We had music books, but not everyone read music, and not everyone could see the small print in the caroling books, so we got rather quiet by the third verse of most songs.  My suggestion:  Choose 12-15 carols that you think everyone will want to sing and find the lyrics here, at Santas.net.  Download them and make the print large enough for everyone to read, and then print out copies.

2. It’s not always easy to find a key that everyone can sing.  Therefore, either make sure the pianist can transpose keys, or if you aren’t using a pianist, check the key before singing to make sure it feels good for all, OR simply pick some songs that are high, some low and some in the middle so everyone gets a shot at singing some songs, if not all.  And even though you may think people will be tired of the tried and true holiday favorites, they appeal to us because, as described in a nice article in the Denver Post, they remind us of our own stories. Be sure to include the ones your singers suggest.

3.  Not everyone can sing, but everyone wants a solo!  Give those who can’t carry a tune something else to do.   And I don’t’ mean that they should just pour the drinks.   However, you might provide rhythm instruments or bells, or even perhaps a beer bottle.  In fact, if you are short on singers, you might just scrap the singing and go for a beer bottle choir.  Check out this video from the Bowen Beer Bottle Band on YouTube.  Now that’s a fun caroling session!

And what does that song say about what is important to you?  That’s the question we asked when working with groups of teens in our community based theater program, Team Cabaret.   It turned out to be a great question.  You see we believe that we choose songs because they speak to us about who we are.  It’s amazing how you can be singing a song half-mindedly and suddenly realize you are singing words that describe exactly what you are feeling or what has you worried!!  The other day, I was feeling bit overwhelmed and noticed I was humming “Crazy.”  Hmmmm.

So imagine the fun I had looking at a post on Yahoo Answers where the asker asked, “What are lyrics that mean a lot to you?”     All the answers were lyrics that the answerers related to their own lives.  And on www.fanpop.com,  the question was asked, “Do song lyrics mean a lot to you?” and 89% of the readers voted, “Yes, of cource (sic)!”

For some of you, this is a no-brainer.  But it’s also something I love to fool around with.  When someone tells you that they have a favorite song, find out what it is and ask them what part stands out for them.  You’ll get some insight into that person!  Meanwhile, what is your favorite song to sing in the shower?