Welcome to Big Ideas About Singing

Big Ideas is a set of lessons based on the principles of Wholeness In Motion.

The lessons are designed to be user-friendly for kids, parents, school music teachers, or studio voice teachers.

The program includes: 

  • 7 videos
  • For teaching purposes each video accompanying information:  
    • Pedagogy, principle, and an explanation of material  
    • Video transcript, the little song that illustrates the Big Idea, and resources.

Hi. I’m Marie Anderson! This is a project that grew out of my wish to get the news out about Wholeness in Motion. In collaboration with friends, Babette Lightner, Jennifer Moir, and Jessica Outram, we have created a place to explore the pedagogy, principles, and application of Wholeness in Motion.

Wholeness In Motion (WIM) As A Practice And Approach: 

Learning is fun when we are free to learn and play; learning is a spiral process.        

Babette Lightner

Each Big Idea has been created to reflect the pedagogy of  Wholeness In Motion, an approach that is about setting up the conditions for students to find their voice in the subject being taught. Subjects are taught in the context of wholeness. Think of these videos as a practice. Repetition allows for deep learning.

As you move through the videos, look for some of the following  WIM principles and practices: 

1. Experiment: Use comparisons and contrasts to support the learning. (Principle: to develop sensory awareness, we need contrasts!) 

2. Interpret: Develop and invite new evaluation skills in your singers (Principle: sensations are information. We can use them like a compass!)  

3. Explain: Use descriptive language to express your experience (Principle: Help students to discover what helps them succeed.)

4. Make it personal: Ask the student how this idea works for them. Find out how the student understands and relates to the Big Idea. (Principle: Learning happens in the student. Students are empowered and engaged in their own learning process.)

5. Order is important:

  • Sing/Play – Do the activity 
  • Make sense of things! 
  • Keep it real! Apply to real life experience so students can test out for themselves what is true for them. 
  • Information update: help students develop their own understanding. 
  • Wholeness in motion! Invite an activity such as “catch a ball, paint a  wall, touch your leg” or imagery like telling the story of a train moving, or meeting a friend. 

(Principle: Imaginative story-telling connected to real-life events helps students understand that we are designed to work effectively, efficiently, as a whole system.) 

6. Relationship Matters! Invite relational awareness within yourself as teacher, your students, and the planet!  (Principle: We are relational  creatures. We are whole with the world.) 

7. Welcome all abilities and offer alternative ways to engage in the material being taught. The student is invited to adjust to what works for their ability. (Principle: We are learning creatures. Everyone has an entry point to engagement.)

8. What is our purpose? Tie it all together. (Principle: voice techniques (like how to make loud and soft  sounds) and factual information (like vocal anatomy and breath function) in the context of how they support the goal of expressive singing.

More About the 7 Videos

By following the 7 video lessons in this program, students will be able to understand and apply the 7 Big Ideas About Singing provided here. 

  • Each Big Idea builds on the previous Idea. 
  • For 5 minutes each week, teacher and student explore and experiment together using the sequenced list of topics above.
  • As each lesson is added an idea is explained and explored and a perspective of wholeness emerges.
  • The intent is for you to be able to use all of the big ideas in a unified purpose.
  • Between weekly videos, you can spend as long as you wish on each Big Idea before moving on to the next.

Ways to Contribute

Your contribution to the continued growth and development of the Big Ideas About Singing Resource is essential – valued and valuable to us! Here are all the ways you can contribute to the Big Ideas About Singing project: