I should note that I knew and loved the author of “Sharing the Song: Becoming a Song Leader,” the composer Alice Parker. In some ways, that makes me an awkward person to review her work. In other ways, I would argue, it makes me an ideal reviewer.
I grew up spending every summer living near Alice Parker Pyle in the vibrant summer community of Singing Brook Farm in Hawley. When the neighborhood got together for potluck parties, Alice dressed in old costumes and laughed. She always ended the evening seated at the piano so we neighbors could sing. We sang folk songs. We sang spirituals. We sang the songs of Alice’s, and my mother’s youth — American popular standards from 1910 to about 1950. None of us worried about how well we could sing, although we did sigh a bit when Alice’s husband, Tommy Pyle, sang a solo. His rich baritone voice was like warm honey pouring over us.
Alice had many facets. She played tennis, baked bread and told all of us kids what to do. We never dared disobey her; she was a beloved but daunting figure. Occasionally, we would be privileged to hear a piece of music she had written. Mostly, she was just there, a familiar figure.
So I was surprised when I first saw and heard her lead a “sing.” I was pursuing my master’s degree in journalism in Knoxville, Tennessee, when my parents informed me that Alice would be appearing in town to lead a group of volunteers in singing. I decided to attend, mostly because I was a little homesick and Alice represented home to me.
I was astonished. The woman leading the “sing” was the Alice I knew, and yet. she was a new and different person. She was warm and inviting, and within minutes she managed to coax the disparate strangers in the room into making amazing sounds together. She stood in front of us and drew us into musical collaboration with her voice, her body and her force of will. Over the years to come, I would attend many of Alice’s “sings.” They were always a joy.
Naturally, I was excited to learn before her death in 2023 at the age of 98 that she was writing a book about song leading. That book, “Sharing the Song: Becoming a Song Leader” was published posthumously earlier this year. It was edited by her friend and mentee Alison Seaton of Washington state and massaged into being by Alice’s longtime friends and counselors Kay Holt and Marilyn Pryor of South Hadley.
The book is small but full of nuggets of wisdom. Although Alison obviously did quite a bit of editing — Alice knew she was dying when they worked together on the manuscript — Alice’s voice comes through strongly.
Those of us who were lucky enough to see Alice in action as a song leader — and I imagine that group includes most of the professional and amateur singers in this area — will rediscover in the book lessons we acquired tacitly as we sang with her.
Among these is the idea that a song is much more than notes and words on a page of music. “A song does not exist until it is sung,” Alice writes. “The written notes have no magic; that lies in the sound evoked from them.” She reminds readers that “ear learning” is often more effective than reading notes.
Occasionally, the book strays into a few technical terms that may baffle the amateur singer. Mostly, however, it addresses that singer directly. It reminds the reader, as Alice did in life, that singing is a natural human activity, one that fosters communication between people.
“As we open our ears and join our voices, we are sharing not only the song but our common humanity. We drop our defenses and drown in sound,” she notes.
The book posits that the best song leaders “embody their song.” It shares tips for training oneself to do this. The process is basically acting. One thinks deeply about the song in question — perhaps doing a little research — and then sets out to portray it.
“I never sing as just me,” Alice explains. “Alice Parker has no voice to speak of, no experience as a sailor, or picking cotton, or (perhaps a little) of being lovesick. But I can imagine like crazy.” She inspires us all to imagine, too.
“Sharing the Song” contains a link to videos in which the reader can observe Alice leading groups in singing a variety of songs. Watching them, I was at first a little teary-eyed. I miss Alice. I soon realized, however, that the videos were a cause for celebration, not sadness. Thanks to them, to books like “Sharing the Song,” and to her numerous compositions and recordings, Alice Parker will always be in our ears, in our hearts, and in our voices.
“Sharing the Song: Becoming a Song Leader” (GIA Publications, 100 pages, $18.95) may be purchased at giamusic.com/resource/sharing-the-song-book-g-11502.
Tinky Weisblat is an award-winning writer and singer known as the Diva of Deliciousness. Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.