Instructional Recordings for Singing
 
FLIGHT: An Interactive Guide to Vocal Improvisation (Double CD)
Rhiannon w/Joey Blake, Laurel Murphy, Linda Tillery, Jeane Tracy & David Worm
http://www.RhiannonMusic.com
Join acclaimed improvisational vocalist Rhiannon (founding member of Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra) and her all-star circle of friends as she teaches you how to leave the sheet music behind and start "cutting loose" in the jazz, gospel, Latin, and African traditions. This exciting step-by-step program will take you right to the heart of a cappella singing and vocal improvisation. Have fun while building confidence and skills at your own pace. For singers of all levels. This complete self-study course includes warm-up, free singing, listening skills, vocal instrumentation, and ensemble singing. From basic voicework to improvisation with a six person a cappella ensemble, Flight will take you on a journey of self-discovery! Includes call and response exercises with space for you to sing, a cappella songs to learn as well as background grooves with vocal percussion, bass, and harmony back-up for you to solo over.
 
SINGING IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN TRADITION
Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
Dr. Ysaye Maria Barnwell (from Sweet Honey in the Rock)
http://www.ymbarnwell.com/instructional.php
http://www.homespuntapes.com/shop/product.aspx?ID=1001
Individuals, friends, choirs, church, camp and community groups of any background will enjoy participating in this uplifting singing tradition. Dr. Barnwell teaches melodies, harmonies, rhythms and counter-melodies to traditional songs from Africa, songs from African American culture including spirtuals, hymns, gospels and songs from the Civil Rights Movement. The CDs are structured so you can learn the melody of a given song, then learn up to five or six different harmony lines to sing with the melody. You then hear all the parts for the total effect of a group of people singing together. Dr. Barnwell fills the lessons with her wonderfully warm voice, performing all of the parts from bass to soprano. George Brandon provides the cultural and historic context to each form of the music presented here much like he has done in the workshops taught with Dr. Barnwell at the Omega and Augusta Institutes and around the country for the past 25 years.
 
Betsy's Teaching CDs for Community Choirs
Multi-part songs from around the world - Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (so far)
http://www.dancinghands.com/choir.php
Betsy Sansby, who leads the One World Community Choir of Minnetonka, MN, has just produced a set of teaching discs for community choir leaders. Each beautifully recorded volume in the series contains all the parts to five or more a cappella songs from around the world. Each part is highlighted on a separate track, so it's easy to hear how each part should sound, as well as how it interacts with the others. And each song is recorded with a click, so you always know how each part relates to the beat. Each CD comes with a printed set of lyrics, translations for the songs, and teaching suggestions for choir leaders. Songs include Kudekukuru, Follow the Heron, Sail Away Ladies, Shosholoza, Hold On, Chiro Chacho, Hambe Kahle, Bright Morning Stars, Because All Men Are Brothers, and The Parting Glass.
100% of profits from the sale of these CDs go to charity.
 
NATURAL RHYTHMS
Terry Garthwaite & Becky Reardon
w/special guests Elise Witt, Melanie DeMore, and more...
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/garthwaitereardon
Imagine Laurie Anderson and Janis Joplin taking a turn from Starhawk and then from Dr. Seuss, and you'll have some idea of the mad and moving musical adventures Garthwaite and Reardon create with vocal rhythms inspired by the natural world. These are all great songs to sing with your friends, your song circle, your choir or even by yourself.
* Also try any of Becky's CD plus her beautiful new Songbook which includes songs from all 4 recordings plus bonus songs...
http://web.me.com/beckyreardon
* And Terry's CDs of chants, songs, and rhythm pieces along with Songbooks...
http://terrygarthwaite.com/product.html
 
Other Vocal Instructional Series
from Homespun Music Instruction
http://www.homespuntapes.com/shop/product.aspx?ID=1001
Learn to Sing the Blues w/Gaye Adegbalola (from Saffire the Uppity Blues Women)
Learn to Sing Bluegrass, Country, and Folk Harmonies w/Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, Robin & Linda Williams
 
More about Community Choirs
Ubuntu Choir Network
http://www.ubuntuchoirs.net/index.php
A growing community of choirs who believes that the joy of singing is a universal birthright, and that together, regardless of musical background, we can help improve the world by joining voices in song.
 
Community Choir Leadership Training
http://www.communitychoirleadership.com/index.php
Imagine · a world where every city, town, and neighborhood had a community choir, one where the music of many cultures and faiths was celebrated. Imagine · a non-auditioned choir in your community where all were welcome. Imagine · that this choir could support and engage in powerful community-based activities. Now imagine · that you, as director, could enjoy a rich and fulfilling livelihood by leading this choir.
Choirs like this exist. The Gettin' Higher Choir, co-directed by Shivon Robinsong and Denis Donnelly, located in Victoria BC, Canada, started in 1996 with 40 members and now includes over 300 singers. This choir is the model for the exciting Community Choir Leadership Training, which began in 2004.
 
Threshold Choirs
http://www.ThresholdChoir.org
Begun in the San Francisco Bay Area by Kate Munger, the all-women Threshold Choirs honor the ancient tradition of singing at the bedsides of people who are struggling: some with living, some with dying. The voice, as the original human instrument, is a true and gracious vehicle for compassion and comfort. The choirs provide opportunities for women to share the sacred gifts of their voices at life's thresholds. When we are invited to a bedside, we visit in small groups. We invite families and caregivers to join us in song or to participate by listening. We choose songs to respond to musical taste, spiritual direction, and physical capacity. The songs may include rounds, chants, lullabies, hymns, spirituals, and choral music. There are now Threshold Choirs in 20 states and spreading to Iceland, Germany, and ...
 
Midwest Midwinter Singing Festival
http://www.singingfestival.com
Held in Lansing MI (and featured in the NY Times)
Produced by the Ten Pound Fiddle, Lansing's 30+ year old folk society, this festival is an opportunity to spend a whole weekend singing great folk songs with some of the country's favorite folk musicians. This year's festival is led by Sally Potter, Kim and Reggie Harris, Pat Madden, Julie Beutel, Joel Mabus, Susan Werner and Frank Youngman. The Ten Pound Fiddle also holds monthly community sings and hosts weekly folk music concerts throughout the academic year.
 
Instructional Series for Instruments
from Homespun Music Instruction
http://www.homespuntapes.com/
You want to learn it, they got it - mandolin, dobro, 12 string guitar, slide and steel guitar, harmonica, ukulele, bouzouki, flutes, whistles, drums, dulcimer, accordion, concertina, autoharp... in styles including bluegrass, folk blues, celtic, rock, rockabilly, swing, cajun, world/international, gospel, country, jazz...