Singing the Unseen
With Vocal Improvisation, we can sing our inner lives, heal and grow. We can sing what is alive in a group, a room, an event/ceremony, or even a society - that needs to be expressed. We can to some extent sing the inner lives of others, for their self-awareness and wellbeing. We can relate with nature, ancestors, Mystery. Vocal Improvisation has a potent place in ritual, ceremony, community and healing.
Singing the Unseen is a vocal improvisation training that weaves CVI into the themes of the inner life, healing, groups, nature connection, ritual, and the sacred - in the context of Earth-Based Spirituality.
Entering this state - where were are receptive to the more-than-human intelligence and let it have our voice - we enter, and become more and more able to know and access, a state of deep quiet, listening, and attunement.
In that state, we can hear more.
And this is where people who, honestly, are blocked from the state of deep listening, can reject this as “woo woo”.
I shall continue.
In this state of deep quiet, listening and attunement;
We can connect with the consciousness, perhaps the wisdom, of trees and rocks.
We can relate with ancestors and perhaps, for some, future generations.
We can feel and sing the inner lives of others
We can feel and sing our own deep inner truths, and through that, come to know them better.
Then we can use this work for healing, ritual, prayer, and ‘therapeutic purposes’
I put that in ‘’ because, really, why did we ever separate singing and dancing from therapy? They’re inherently woven.
In between us as we (probably) are today and the state of deep quiet, can be things that we don’t want to feel.
So using the voice and the body, we have beautiful ways to feel and sing and move into those hard places; the voice and movement become like a river, like a water, that dislodges stuck rocks and carries them out to sea.
Rivers are inherently self-healing, self-cleansing.
There is a healing force in the universe and, among all else, we can choose to align ourselves with it.
And in this some choose meditation, some choose shamanism;
I choose voice, and body.
I choose dance, and song.
Some say or feel that it’s dangerous.
Historically, witches and shamans have been persecuted and killed for these capacities.
But, it’s a Thing. It just is, a Thing.
Voice is one of the main ways that led me to this; which is perhaps why some people want to or have been trained to keep their voices quiet; because they fear the depth of the power contained in there.
But it’s safe. Ethics guide us. It’s beautiful. It’s very beautiful indeed.
Here we go.
What do we mean by ‘re-wilding the voice’ or ‘wild singing’, the title of much of my teaching?
Wildness has got some bad connotations. Raaaa! Wildness is brash, ugly, uncontrollable, loud, wild.
Yet look at the first thing you can perceive that is wild. It may be the air upon your skin; the movement of the clouds above, the wind in the trees.
Wildness can be very still; very delicate.
Wildness is ecological genius.
Wildness is life living, evolving and being shaped by something more than human intelligence.
So when I talk about wild singing, I am talking about stepping out of music that is shaped by human intelligence, and into music that is shaped by more-than-human intelligence.
(This is why some of my students say this is inherently a spiritual practice, and some of my collaborators call it a ‘Jedi training’.)
Modules
Healing Forms and Nature Connection · 23-8 September 2025 @ Bala Brook
Ritual Singing and Earth Based Spirituality part 1 - July 2026 @ Bala Brook
Ritual Singing and Earth Based Spirituality part 2 - Autumn 2026 @ Bala Brook
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Sound & Silence · December 5-8 2025 @ Bala Brook
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Past Student’s Thoughts
“I’ve loved every minute of working with you and I think all instrumental students should do this. In fact I wish every person could experience this way of being. I have taught music at the conservatory level and at the early childhood level; at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Levine School of Music, The Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning through the Arts, etc. I trained in Juilliard, New York in Dalcroze Eurhyrhmics, a Swiss body-based approach to teaching and developing musicianship, which is extremely powerful work.
But what you bring specifically to the voice is something quite unique. To me it’s body-based, soul-based, healing-based, and community / collective-oriented. Your vocal work has a spiritual dimension that Dalcroze Eurhyrhmics only hints at. It’s very beautiful. I’m quite certain that the need and the desire for what you offer is immense.”
— Marcia Daft, Music Education Specialist
“I mostly wanted to express my deep gratitude for what you do and what you have opened in my life. CVI has literally changed my life. The structures, the skills, the tools I learned in circles with you have opened up my musical and my daily life. I have been able to finally experience and be part of nourishing, exciting musical collaborations! My song writing, my teaching, my performing is transformed by my willingness to stand in the void and let music move through me.” - Emily, choir leader and singer songwriter
“I feel so much more free vocally and like I’m accessing music from a new perspective. You’re a wonderful, nurturing teacher and have so much wisdom that ripples out far beyond the vocal realm.” - Pearl, vocal improvisation teacher
“Thank you for a revelatory and transformational weekend Briony! Much has moved in me. 🙏🏻” Mark
“And then after our course was done the peer group continued…and this has been such an incredible blessing in my life. I can’t even say how much it has meant to me over the last year and a half. Those beautiful people and voices are in my heart (and I hope my life) forever.” - Anon
“The benefits of the course are rippling out in my life in subtle and crystal clear ways. I feel more confident in all areas of my life.” - Lucy
“If everyone in the world did this, there would be no problems. I’m just so high from it! I don’t know of anything, any therapy, that makes me feel this way.” - Isabel
“It’s amazing what’s there. It’s amazing what’s there when I start listening instead of leading.” - Anon
“Working with Briony has been such a gift for me. Her expertise in the field of voice work is inspirational and I have felt so supported by her generosity, strength and tenderness. As someone who also works with the voice, I have felt so ignited by her guidance and knowledge. I took part in her Vocal Improvisation Retreat and it gave me so much for my own creative path. I feel so blessed to have worked with Briony and consider her to be a fantastic leader in this field. I will continue to work with Briony as it nourishes my creative path as a musician and as a vocal facilitator.”
— Nessi Gomes, Artist, Teacher
