Sing Your Hearts Out

This tool was developed as part of Cultural Cwtsh, which was an online creative wellbeing hub for the health and care workforce in Wales, created by the Arts Council of Wales in collaboration with artists across the country.

In partnership with the Arts Council of Wales, we’re excited to share this mental wellbeing tool, alongside with many other creative resources, with everyone in Wales!

Give yourself permission to sing your heart out!

My name is Laura Bradshaw. I’m an artist based in the Vale of Glamorgan, and I’ve been working using singing and music to encourage community engagement, confidence and wellbeing for almost 30 years.

There are different ways to participate in these videos:

You could watch them and join in the more simple parts, once – or  better still, a few times. To gain even more from them, you could pause and repeat any sections that might require a little extra learning, come back to the activities several times and once they’re familiar, you may find new aspects to try out as your confidence grows.

Your creativity can lead you down the ‘path less trodden’ with your voice. You can create your own melodies, rhythms and maybe even words. Any sections that might feel too high or too low, sing where your voice feels naturally relaxed. That way you are sure to create interesting harmonies.

I’d love it if you would claim your right to sing. Whether you are a seasoned singer or new to the activity. Give yourself permission to sing your heart out!

You can even encourage those around you to sing along too.

Download the accompanying Singing Journey PDF.

Voice Soundings  A E I O U

This is a relaxing and rejuvenating creative voice exercise that can be done sitting/standing or even lying down.

It starts with a very basic warm up, aiming to link your relaxed breath with relaxed voice sounds.

Then you begin to voice long, held notes to your own breath length – always keeping relaxed.  The accompanying track has parts that you can follow with your voice,  or you can choose to create your own notes and melodies using the guide freely.

At a certain point the track gently moves into vowel sounds.

A E I O U stated slowly but rhythmically.

Again, you can either follow the track or you can meander, allowing your voice to experiment and enjoy the feeling that singing the open vowel sounds gives.

Free Your Mind – Rounds

A series of melodies with words – kind of like affirmations.

Each section can work as a ‘round’ (a song type where a voice begins then another comes in a little later and yet it all still works harmoniously). Each of the three sections fit together.

This video can be approached in a very simple way: Singing one or two parts throughout. Or allow yourself to freely go between parts.

If you are singing with friends or family, why not see if each of you can sing a different part…

The Sections

1. Free your mind – Leave cares behind…

2. This is the time to let everything go now

Singing along let everything flow now

3. The stresses and strains, I throw down the drain

The hurt and the pain no longer remains

Welsh

Rhyddhau dy feddwl  Gad ofalon ar ôl.

Sing A Mole

A concept using repeated voice patterns, (riffs) which gradually disappear, and change.

Much of the game uses voice sounds as opposed to words, but it also has sections using simple words with the odd action thrown in too: Eg. ‘To the Left – to the right – spin around’

This is a game requiring a sense of fun and a tad of concentration.

You hear the ‘riffs’ presented, and then fill in the gaps. When the mole pops up!

Thank you

I want to thank my singing friends who gave up their time, learned how to deal with the tech for creating ‘selfie’ videos and sang and presented so beautifully.

I hope you will almost feel like you are singing as part of a lovely singing community when singing along with: Judie, Brian, Anna, Helen, Ako, Hannah.

Special thanks to singer songwriter/linguist, Joseff, who also added a Welsh language element.

Also to Mabli, a BSL learner and Thai Chi teacher who added BSL to the Rounds video.

Also a huge thanks to artist and filmmaker Jon Ratigan for bringing the project to life on screen with his wonderfully clear and artistic vision for the visual representation of the exercises/songs and games.

Jon Ratigan is an artist filmmaker on the Age Cymru Tell Me More project.