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Freestyling

The joy of making an unexpectedly beautiful sound together with friends.

A second piece of advice is to choose songs that don’t have big empty spaces between vocal lines. Unless you’re doo-wop singers who fill the gaps with “dut doo-doo doo wah,” those big spaces will remain. You want songs that are word- and vowel-rich because it’s on the long vowels of a song such as “Bring It on Home to Me” (“You know I’ll alwaaaaays be your slaaaaave”) that your harmonies express themselves.

A capella singing isn’t only about harmony; it has two other important dimensions. The first is rhythm. It’s thrilling to get the rhythm of something tight and sing it well together. The second is tone. To hit the same vowel sound at a number of pitches seems unremarkable, but it’s beautiful when it happens.

Last thing: Notice in what key you like to sing the song. It helps when you come back to it. Just knowing the first note is enough.

If I were asked to redesign the educational system, I’d insist group singing be part of the daily routine. It builds character and encourages co-operation.

We have a simple rule in the group: We never perform for anyone or record. These exclusions give us the freedom to get it wrong. The same should be true if this becomes a central part of school curricula: You’ll do this every day, and never be tested.

Brian Eno is an English musician and record producer. This article was originally published in the July/August 2008 issue of Resurgence, a British magazine at the heart of earth, art and spirit (resurgence.org).

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