Singing

A small group of us met this afternoon just to sing. Some of those who came are living with Parkinson's - and they and the others who joined in are members of the local branch of Parkinson's UK, and supporters of its work. There is some speculation that music, and singing especially, might be of help in turning back and correcting some of the symptom's of Parkinson's; but anyway, it's a good thing to do. You don't have to be good at it, though in fact the very amateur group that gathered today sounded pretty good to my ears (and, more to the point, to those of my wife, seated at the piano). I sing a lot with choirs, and we spend a lot of time and effort patiently striving to sing accurately, harmoniously, and in a way that reproduces what the composer had in mind when he or she set down those notes on paper. I enjoy it, both the challenge of the task and the creative way in which we work together in harmony when we do choral music. But it's also good just to sing, without too much worry about how accurate we are. Folk music in particular is the property of whoever chooses to sing it: songs that sprang from some particular pen, or pipe, or guitar fret, somewhere and sometime, but which have now been given away, and let loose in the world. Thank you to the anonymous singers and players who have given us so much. I was supposed to be leading today's group, but I can take no credit for the fact that were singing so well - music was already flowing in our veins.