Weaving with Sound

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Weaving with Sound

WHAT WOULD LIFE BE LIKE without music or song? conjectures Claire Hewitt. She is filled with sadness even trying to contemplate this, asserting that the world is a better place for music, sound, rhythm and harmony.

“We in the West very rarely practice and share freely this wonderful act of creation,” she told Comment. “In the past people would work together and – to make the toil light – would sing, for example the Waulking Songs. Communities would gather to raise their voices together to celebrate life, death, festivals or in simple devotional songs to the cycles of life and the earth that is our home.”

Song, reckoned Claire, would welcome us into the world, lull us to sleep, and honour our departing. Healing songs were used to help a variety of ailments. She stressed that they were, and still could be, used as a means of helping us to express emotions and act as abridge of communication when words cannot be found.

Therapy

“When we are asked to sing, why do we lack the confidence that it takes to bare our soul, take a deep breath and let rip!?” she queried. It’s her view that this is because we don’t practice this art very often that we think that we can’t do it – in fact some maybe remember being told they cannot sing. “I beg to differ,” asserted Claire. “Everyone can sing. I am sure in other cultures around the world they don’t have this ‘problem’ unless vocal chords have been damaged or cut.”

Then why don’t we use this incredibly powerful tool/muscle so much? “To strengthen muscles in the body that have been neglected, we must exercise them. With the voice it is the same,” she said.

Labelled a voice trainer, or even a voice midwife, she helps people to find their own unique voice through breathing and toning exercises, plus relaxation and visualisation techniques. Her main element is teaching 2,000 year old Celtic prayers and chants woven in with toning drones.

“Over the years I have devoted myself to using sound as a therapeutic tool in my work with people with Special Needs – and a powerful tool it can be,” she continued. “People who have no verbal communication (autistic people) I have heard sing; my voice and harp have acted as a lifeline or thread back into this world for terminally ill children. I also run voice workshops for people who wish to learn to sing from their hearts with confidence and joy.”

Tansforming Experience

In these sessions she teaches people to play with sound, to weave voices together, learning to sing and enjoy the act of giving voice. “It is a truly transformative and enchanting experience, and maybe provides the confidence to develop the singing voice. It can also be an extremely moving and healing experience too, and be a means of finding a more spiritual part to life,” she enthused. “It’s also a lot of fun as we play with sound, song and harmonies together.”

Claire offers voice workshops; coaching (individual); ‘weaving with sound’ sessions; also Voice and Sound Therapy. For any of these it is not necessary to be a singer or to have any musical talent. She maintained that all that is required is the “longing for something you cannot find words to describe, a seeking of the unknown, a childlike curiosity or just a passion for life and the expression of it!”

Dates for ‘Weaving with Sound Sessions’ at Birnam Institute are Mondays 15 August, 12

September; 3 October, 7 November, 5 December from 7.30 to 9.00pm. ‘Finding Your Voice’