Venturing into Improvised / Spontaneous Singing Beyond Chant pour tous

If you’ve ever joined a Chant pour tous and thought, “This is the most beautiful thing in the world, I need MORE of this!” — this article might be just what you need.

To get more of it, you can always go to more Chant pour tous events (personally, I never get tired of them), but you can also look into workshops, retreats, and paid training programs, or explore resources available online.

Vocal improvisation is a relatively new practice, but it’s already won over many hearts in France, Belgium, Switzerland, and beyond. This article offers a few links and websites to help you dive deeper into the world of vocal improvisation.

We hesitated for a long time about whether to publish this article, since the site usually only features Chant pour tous content. But after so many people expressed how unfortunate it was that there were no links here to the amazing things happening outside Chant pour tous, we decided to make this one the only exception.

 

IN FRANCE

Circlesong, impro vocale et chant spontané / France

The French public Facebook group Circlesong, impro vocale et chant spontané / France was created in 2021 and is very active. Many vocal improvisation facilitators share their upcoming offerings: weekly classes, workshops, summer schools, jams… You’ll find every kind of approach to vocal improv and events from all over France (or almost all over).

The group is public, so any facilitator is welcome to post their offerings in the group!

 

The Enchanted Circle

Founded in 2020, The Enchanted Circle is a non-profit organization promoting voice and body improvisation in France, and with the international community. It hosts an annual retreat and a summer gathering, and its website is a hub for information on the practice.

 

IN BELGIUM

Circle Singing and Vocal Improvisation / Belgium

This French-speaking facebook group Circle Singing and Vocal Improvisation / Belgium launched in 2019. Just like its French counterpart, it’s buzzing with activity: workshops, jams, weekly classes, summer intensives…

Any facilitator is welcome to post their offerings in this group!

 

IN SWITZERLAND

CircleSongs Switzerland

The French-speaking WhatsApp group CircleSongs Switzerland was created in 2022. Same idea as the Facebook groups above: a space where many facilitators share their upcoming events — classes, workshops, jams…

It’s public, so anyone can post!

 

WORLDWIDE

The Well

Created in 2023, The Well is an international collaborative network of vocal improvisers. It’s a very useful platform with many features:

• A global map & list to find people to sing with anywhere in the world
• A global map & list to find events, workshops, retreats worldwide
• A platform where you can let the world know YOU are here, ready to connect and play
• A space where you can post your own events (from casual jams among friends to workshops and retreats, free or not)

In short: A COLLABORATIVE website for EVERYONE. Just create a profile to become part of the network.
It’s likely to become THE go-to site for vocal improvisation in the coming years — so go ahead and sign up to help it grow and evolve!

YouTube playlist of tutorials for navigating the site.

 

Circle Singing and Vocal Improvisation

Circles Singing and Vocal Improvisation was created in 2007 to bring together facilitators worldwide and today mainly features events from the U.S.. But anyone from anywhere is welcome to post!

 

Vocal Improv by City/Country

The idea of a Facebook group or page to share vocal improv events has really caught on. There exist many similar Facebook groups pertaining to a specific geographical location (country or city).

Here’s a (non-exhaustive) list of these regional communities:

• SAN FRANCISCO: Bobby McFerrin’s Circlesong School
• UNITED KINGDOM:
  • UK Circle Singing and Improv
  • UK Vocal Improv Festival Retreat
• GERMANY: Circlesinging Deutschland
• LONDON, ENGLAND: London Vocal Improv Collective / Circle Singing London
• BRAZIL: Música do Círculo / Fritura Livre
• ITALY:
  • Cantare Per Tutti
  • CircleSinging Roma
• OSLO, NORWAY: Circle singing group Oslo
• NETHERLANDS: Vocal Improvisation Festival Nijmegen
• AUSTRALIA: Vocal Improvisation, Circles Singing and Vocal River Australia
• NEW YORK, USA: Sounding NYC / CircleSinging NYC
• TORONTO, CANADA: Vocal Jam and Circle Singing (Toronto) / TDotCircleSinging

 

HOW TO FIND VOCAL IMPROV WHERE YOU LIVE

1/ Check the world map on The Well
2/ Post a question in an active Facebook group in your country (e.g. if I live in Nantes, France, best is to ask in “Circlesong, impro vocale et chant spontané / France”)
3/ Use the Facebook search bar with keywords like “circlesinging + your city/country” or “vocal improvisation + location” or other similar keywords like circlesongs, improv singing, vocal improvisation, spontaneous singing, etc…
4/ Google it — some facilitators prefer to have their own website rather than use Facebook.

 

VOCAL IMPROV RESOURCES

Ressources en improvisation vocale

The collaborative French website Ressources en improvisation vocale (launched in 2019) is a collaborative site, sharing tools for vocal improvisation. Various facilitators contribute their favorite exercises and ideas. Because it is collaborative, anyone can create an account and post their best tools!

 

Practicing Circlesongs at Home

If you want to invest in a looper (a device that lets you layer vocal loops to simulate a choir), check out these excellent video tutorials in French by Nicolas Mahnich for setting up and using both versions of the RC-505 :
– RC505 mkI : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVwaGfbGzHegKweAK4Sj5X6V0oKpwTbrz
– RC505 mkII : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVwaGfbGzHegzoFUXlVIwK4wjIi-L20O0

  

Books on vocal improvisation

Books on vocal improvisation are starting to appear — some more technical, others more philosophical:

• Circlesong, The Method et Musical Fluency by Roger Treece: https://www.rogertreece.com/books-scores
• Vocal River by Rhiannon: https://www.rhiannonmusic.com/vocal-river
• Le Tao du chant spontané by Christophe Boyer (in French): https://www.lechantdelavie.com/livres
  
   
  This all is a good starting point to venture into vocal improvisation! If you feel drawn to a specific facilitator’s approach, check out their website or follow them on social media to stay updated on their events. And if you wish to experience diverse styles of body percussions and voice improvisation, as well as meet various facilitators in ONE single place, there are retreats happening all over the world, most of which are shared through the networks listed above 😉