

Songs and Singing

Featured song
Moss. A song for the Boundary Brook Nature Reserve project and for anyone else who loves moss. It's all about the greenness and leaving it be. Four parts, with an extra line to sing when you're out there with real moss.
Welcome
Hello! I’m Liz Hodgson and however you found me, you’re very welcome. This website contains my original harmony songs to listen to for free. You can also buy 'Learning Kits' for each song. Enjoy! Details of workshops and teaching are below here and also on the Teaching page (keep scrolling!)
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You may know me from workshops and singing groups, inspired by the ‘Natural Voice’ way of singing.
NEXT EVENTS!
Singing in Nature has kept going since April 2022, monthly in local nature reserves, finding a home at Boundary Brook Reserve in East Oxford. Looking forward to singing with you there on Thursday July 22nd at 2.30pm and August 31st too.
Video
This song, Light, Dark, Shadow, was created for the Pop-Up Arts Collective exhibition in 2020. Video thanks to Clare Davis and Jules Francis-Sinclair. For more about the art, visit https://www.popupartscollective.co.uk/
Donate
Click here on the button if you'd like to encourage me!
About me:
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In 2019, someone asked me if I’d been singing all my life and I realised the answer was basically ‘yes’. Lost my way in the 1970s, then discovered voice workshops, Frankie Armstrong and the beginnings of what is now the Natural Voice Network. Since then, I've run and performed in many kinds of groups. Suffice to say that the transformative act of singing is our birthright and it's been a joy and privilege to be part of the Network and give voice in company.
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About the songs:
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I love sharing songs. Somehow songwriting crept up on me, and with much support and encouragement here we are! The songs are informed by the decades I've spent encouraging people to sing, my need for conviviality and to savour the natural world. Some have been sung at Joined-up Singing, Towersey Village Voices, with Frabjous Day and/or John Radcliffe Hospital staff, at parties, in the woods...
You'll find most of them on the Songs page - keep scrolling down. Each song has a track to listen to and a 'Learning Kit' with everything you need to learn and teach them (a full recording, the parts sung separately, a score and a lyric sheet). I've also written a set of six seasonal songs which you will find on the Seasonal Cycle page.
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Do please let me know where they get to - I get a real kick out of knowing a song's been sung in Bristol or Sheffield or wherever! If you want to change or arrange them, please contact me first.
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Questions? Send me a message via the Contact page.
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Credits and thanks to many people! Photos are mostly by Jonathan Leach and me, plus Emily Marshall, Joan Hodgson, Inez Kretzschmar, Robin Stocks and the internet.
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The Songs
These songs are all by me, with some lyrics from other sources. Sometimes they started while I was cycling back from a group, sometimes on waking, or walking.
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A donation will enable you to download a "Learning Kit", which includes everything you need to learn and teach the songs: a full recording, the parts sung separately, a score and a lyric sheet.
Bindweed

Celebrating a 'weed'? Bindweed is unloved and even loathed by gardeners, but when you see it somewhere else where it's not ruining your crops or your flowers, it's a bit different. A Boundary Brook Nature Reserve moment. Three verses, two parts.
Download the Learning Kit (for a suggested donation of £5)
Click to download:


Birdlife

Another song born at Barracks Lane Nature Reserve, an urban oasis in East Oxford. Birds seem to feel safe there, so the birdsong is gorgeous and sightings can be remarkable! Three parts, can be sung together or in any combination. Quiet in the wood, now!
Download the Learning Kit (for a suggested donation of £5)
Click to download:


Lark

Lyrics from The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane & Jackie Morris. I went with the thought of seeking the lark to lift the spirits. The track here demonstrates the different parts coming in and out so you get a sense of how to play with it - and what's going on!
Download the Learning Kit (for a suggested donation of £7)
Click to download:


Singing guidelines
Be playful! Some of these songs are easier than others, so have a listen to see what you think. One way of enjoying the more complex ones is to sing one or a few parts at a time, rather than having every part going at once, e.g. Lark. Any song can be sung higher or lower than here. I suggest you align your version with the lyrics and the spirit of the song and risk stretching your singing range(s) higher or lower as appropriate. Go on! The recordings were placed to fit my range, that's all. Don’t assume that men have to sing the lower parts.
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Licence for use
Making a donation gives you the rights to sing, teach and perform these songs. If you’re thinking of recording or filming, (exciting!) I’d love to know! If you start to copy the scores or lyrics multiple times or distribute the recordings – e.g. for choir participants – then a larger donation would be welcome, or you can refer people here. If you want to arrange or change the songs, please contact me first. Thanks!
Questions? Contact me here if any of this isn’t working for you.
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Teaching

Workshops and One-to-One Teaching
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Singing in Nature
At Boundary Brook Nature Reserve by Larkrise School, East Oxford, OX4 4AN. Next one Thursday July 27th at 2.30pm. Check with me about directions. (Parking is currently tricky).
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A Harmony Songs Workshop!
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Sunday April 16th went well! No more workshops planned for now, but watch this space!
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Also very happy to be hired to run one-off sessions or to share facilitation duties with others. Get in touch about that and one-to-one coaching.
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