Circle The Earth (ASL) for MSP

Please scroll down to find the ASL video

Peace, peace, peace,

Peace the whole world over;

Building friendships, sharing our worth,

Take my hand, let's circle the earth with

Peace peace peace.

Paz, paz, paz,

Peace the whole world over;

Building friendships, sharing our worth,

Take my hand, let's circle the earth with

Paz, paz, paz.

Shalom, shalom, shalom,

Peace the whole world over;

Building friendships, sharing our worth,

Take my hand, let's circle the earth with

Shalom, shalom, shalom.

Frieden, frieden, frieden,

Peace the whole world over;

Building friendships, sharing our worth,

Take my hand, let's circle the earth with

Frieden, frieden, frieden.

Salam, salam, salam,

Peace the whole world over;

Building friendships, sharing our worth,

Take my hand, let's circle the earth with

Salam, salam, salam.

Amani, amani, amani,

Peace the whole world over;

Building friendships, sharing our worth,

Take my hand, let's circle the earth with

Amani, amani, amani.

Shanti, shanti, shanti,

Peace the whole world over;

Building friendships, sharing our worth,

Take my hand, let's circle the earth with

Shanti, shanti, shanti.

Let's Sing!

Is singing for everyone?

I sing since I have memory. My grandma used to do the chores around the house while singing and whistling and it always made my heart happy. Later as a teenager I started singing at my high school choir and I’m still singing to these days. I actually cannot imagine life without singing. That must be why I enjoyed so much singing with others and sharing the joy of singing!

There was a time though when singing was not a source of happiness but of competition and criticism during my years in the competitive and demanding classical music world. It makes sense that the opera world is like that for it is like the Olympics of singing where only the best trained will succeed the auditions for the most demanding roles.

It is great to know that out of the professional singing world there’s room for everybody. God wants us to sing! Otherwise why would He have given us a voice? I’m convinced that we’ve been gifted with voices to sing and praise our Creator. In addition to that we can also speak languages and try to communicate with one another but the main reason for us to have a voice is to sing! So why not to use properly? Let’s sing while driving, let’s sing while cooking, let’s sing when happy, let’s sing when sad and lift our hearts!

Let your child sing. I mean let your inner child sing, but also let the children in your life sing. Let them listen to music, let them dance, let them play, let them sing. Encourage them to do all these thing because in them is the development of their brains and their hearts if you want to be more scientific. And why not, let yourself do all these things. There are tons of articles you can find that showing the results of many researches on how the artistic, abstract side of our brain (the right side that controls our left side)  benefits from all these practices.

The lack of skills for artistic activities comes from the lack of practice. Maybe you have never tried to sing or dance. The good news is that singing is accessible to most of us. If you can talk I’m positive that you can sing. Just pick a simple song that you really like, maybe a song from your childhood, and try to sing it alone, I mean with out accompaniment, on a comfortable place for your voice. Now the most important part of enjoy singing, don’t be too hard on yourself! I’m not suggesting that you should stand in the middle of the mall and start singing in front of everybody there. I’m just saying sing for yourself or like if you were singing for your pets or for your plants. Give it a try!

Do you need more reason to do it? Read this article 7 Reasons Why Singing Matters

Happy singing!

Artisan Box

The Foundation of Singing

Training your voice

Developing a daily routine

Learning to play your most precious musical instrument, your voice, takes time and dedication. Just like when you learn to play any other instrument. Being able to talk and to sing is a gift. Developing a routine is the path that can help you discover your voice’s unique sounds.

Let´s get started. First choose a part of the day when you don´t need to rush and a place that is private enough to make you feel comfortable when you have to sing out loud. Your voice could be as loud as a trumpet and we need to play it loud if we want to manage it, right? Avoid singing too early in the morning until you know your voice well. As with any other muscle it takes about two hours for our vocal cords to be awake and ready to work.

v  Checking your posture

Ø  Stand with feet apart

Ø  Knees unlocked

Ø  Back straight

Ø  Head erect

Ø  Shoulders relaxed

Ø  Hands on the side

v  Stretch to relax (Check with your doctor before any physical activity)

Ø  Gently make circles with your neck in both directions.

Ø  Next, make small circles with your shoulders forward and then backward. Then deepen the stretch by making larger circles.

Ø  Now for your face and mouth muscles, clench your eyes and mouth shut and then open them wide like you’re surprised three times.

Ø  For your tongue follow the exercises shown on these two videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8fV6HX3F7E  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhRjTn0cROY

Ø  Yawn -sigh: Yawn, then starting on a high pitch, produce a relaxed descending vocal sigh with “ah”. (Leavitt, 1995)

v  Warming up your respiratory system

Ø  Empty you lungs

Ø  Inhale slowly raising your arms over your head while expanding your rib cage

Ø  Hold your air for three seconds

Ø  Exhale on a sounding “ss” while slowly lowering your arms on your side to the original position. Important: try to keep your rib cage expanded while exhaling.

REPEAT x 3

Now you’re ready to start humming some tunes!

Seven Habits for a Healthy Voice

The sound of a healthy voice often passes unnoticed. A scratchy, barking voice, however, is far more obvious. As a trained opera singer, I have grown more aware of the quality of singing or speaking voices I hear on a daily basis. This awareness is because the mechanism we use to speak is the same mechanism we use to sing. Nevertheless we acknowledge an unhealthy voice more often by the sound of the speaking voice as most people don’t go around singing all day long. Actually, as hard as it is to believe, some people never sing!

Here’s some great news: It is never late to start singing! When it comes to improving the use of your voice, you can start at any age, whether it is for artistic reasons or just to prevent vocal issues. Before you start, here are some questions to assess your current vocal performance. Read out loud to a friend or simply make a recording for your own self-evaluation and answer the following questions.

·         Does my voice get tired easily?

·         Is it difficult to understand what I say because my volume is too soft when I speak?

·         Is it difficult to understand what I say due to lack of articulation when I speak?

·         Is hoarseness a characteristic of my voice?

·         Do I need to breathe after every other word when giving a speech?

·         What’s the quality of the tone of my voice?

Whatever are the results of your assessment, here there are some great habits to develop a healthy voice:

1.       Drink a lot water during the day, especially when you are using your voice. Our vocal chords need to be moist.

2.       Get enough sleep daily. Getting from 6-8 hours of good sleep is crucial for our brains, bodies, and voices.

3.       Save your voice. Don’t make your voice unnecessarily tired through overuse. Instead, make a habit of using warm-ups and vocalizations to strengthen your voice.

4.       Breathe correctly and keep your ribcage open while speaking or singing so that your voice is supported.

5.       When you need to use your voice when speaking or singing, use the natural resonators located on your head in order to project your voice. A vocal instructor can give you exercises to develop this habit.

6.       Warm up your voice before teaching, giving a speech, or singing. Just like athletes and dancers do stretches and warm-up their bodies, so you should do with your voice.

7.       If you’re a singer that needs to scream to express yourself, acquire a “screaming technique.” Here are a couple of links that could help you maintain your voice. http://www.screaminglessons.com/ or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMUoJbOVihg&list=PLDDDA5AE2E66CEF9A&index=17

Remember: Breathing, support, and placement are the aspects to be aware of when it comes to a healthy voice. Good luck!