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Post by tekalynn on Sept 27, 2013 19:46:13 GMT -8
Sobemekti: Drumming seems like it'd be a good start, especially if you just keep it simple at first; you can practice holding a steady beat by drumming with a metronome or a song you like. I am certain there are ideas for homemade drums to start out with out there on the interwebs, too. Practice builds confidence. Also, Youtube is a great teacher for many many things. You could also start with intoning a hymn on a single pitch, or improvise from that starting point. I just wouldn't overthink it; the important part in my opinion is the emotional connection(and you can always ask Them whether or not they want it/like it). Solitary would be kind of an advantage, I'd think, because you could try out new things without having to worry about people judging you, haha. I agree with this. I think in my culture (mainstream US) many people are really very uncomfortable or even frightened of singing or experimenting with their voices. We have this vague idea that it has to be performance/recording perfect, or we shouldn't sing at all. In a devotional (solitary) context, I feel that the important thing is putting your voice out there to your deities. It's between them and you, and they aren't auditioning you for a recording contract, after all. The intent and force is the key. It doesn't have to be "pretty" or "melodic". If you listen to a lot of traditional chants, the singers aren't using a classically rounded tone. It's often very raw, and doesn't conform to Western chromatic rules. Also, we forget that singing to a specific pitch or pitches is a LEARNED skill. You have to learn how to hear the pitch, match the pitch in your head if it's from an external source, and then use your muscles and breath to reproduce that pitch. It's a complex procedure. If it's a hard skill for someone to master, that's because it is. It doesn't mean that the singer "can't sing" at all.
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Post by Phaedra on Sept 28, 2013 10:45:53 GMT -8
I find I get a mental connection with some songs where all of a sudden I hear the lyrics differently or feel it in a way that reminds me of a certain deity. As a result of what I listen to, not many of them are very new agey! I've said before elsewhere that Hermes will always be hand in hand with folk metal as far as I'm concerned!
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Post by marybeth on Sept 28, 2013 13:35:01 GMT -8
I have a friend who trances out hardcore(like, not in the room, can't hear conversations) while drumming to Loreena McKennett, since that's I guess what he started with as a beginning Pagan. New age-y works for some folks(although I guess that's more Celtic folk-ish new age?)
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Post by tekalynn on Sept 28, 2013 14:46:42 GMT -8
I find Gilberto Gil's "Life Gods" will send me into ecstatic dance (yes, even chair dancing just now) before I'm even fully aware of moving. If you try this, make sure you have a LARGE space cleared for movement. youtu.be/xHcgZfYWca8JS. Bach was certainly no polytheist, but his work is grounded in profound spirituality, and it definitely puts me in the right headspace. I use "Et exultavit" from the Magnificat as an offering song.
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Drekfletch
New Member
Hellenic-ish polytheist in NH
Posts: 10
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Post by Drekfletch on Sept 29, 2013 6:24:24 GMT -8
JS. Bach was certainly no polytheist, but his work is grounded in profound spirituality, and it definitely puts me in the right headspace. I use "Et exultavit" from the Magnificat as an offering song. HA. I hear Poseidon/The Sea in Quia respexit huminitatem/Omnes Generationes from the same piece. The lyrics are about being a handmaiden to Jesus, but I hear seagulls circling and the inexorable pounding of the waves.
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Post by tekalynn on Sept 29, 2013 17:15:05 GMT -8
JS. Bach was certainly no polytheist, but his work is grounded in profound spirituality, and it definitely puts me in the right headspace. I use "Et exultavit" from the Magnificat as an offering song. HA. I hear Poseidon/The Sea in Quia respexit huminitatem/Omnes Generationes from the same piece. The lyrics are about being a handmaiden to Jesus, but I hear seagulls circling and the inexorable pounding of the waves. Oh yes! I hear what you mean there. Hadn't thought of it that way, but yeah.
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Post by roguebiologist on Oct 27, 2013 6:17:06 GMT -8
Some of you might be interesting in this: have a link to an article on how Ancient Greek music sounded. There's only a fairly short sound clip but the entire article is really interesting! I'll definitely be interested to see what is reconstructed, and hope some of it will be recorded so people can listen to it. :-)
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lily
New Member
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Post by lily on Oct 30, 2013 10:11:05 GMT -8
That's really interesting, I would never have thought that 'lost' music could be reconstructed.
As for music in ritual or as an offering, I love to sing in ritual. I don't feel that it's appropriate for me to sing other people's music as an offering though, and as I'm not the world's most competent composer I don't use music as an offering very often. But I love to sing for the gods. I don't call it an offering and I usually do it as part of ritual rather than anything else, but I find there's something very raw about singing. For me, singing exposes everything about a person and that's why I like to sing for them. Because there's nothing hidden away, and I'm sharing everything about me with them.
I feel like I've just babbled in that paragraph...
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