What Is Circlesinging?
Picture a room full of people standing in a circle. At the center is a leader who makes up a short musical phrase on the spot — no written music, nothing prepared — and passes it to one section of the circle using nothing but gesture and voice. That section catches it, loops it, holds it. The leader makes up another phrase and passes it to another section. Then another. Layer by layer, something grows. By the time four or five parts are woven together, the room is making music that no one in it has ever heard before, because it has never existed before.
That is circlesinging.
Where it comes from
The practice as it exists today was named and developed by Bobby McFerrin — the ten-time Grammy-winning vocalist and conductor best known for “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” but beloved by musicians worldwide for something far deeper than any single song. McFerrin did not invent the impulse behind circlesinging. He was, as he has said himself, tapping into something ancient — the primal human instinct to lift your voice with the people around you and make something together. He simply found a form that makes that instinct available to everyone, regardless of musical background.
Members of VoiceExchange learned circlesinging directly from McFerrin and members of his vocal ensemble Voicestra at his Circlesongs workshops between 2011 and 2014. What we pass on to our community is what we received from him.
What it feels like
People who come to their first circlesinging event often describe something they did not expect: they forget to be self-conscious. The structure of the form — follow the leader, hold your part, listen to everyone else — gives the analytical mind something specific to do, which frees the rest of you to simply be present. The music holds you.
What follows is different for everyone, but certain things come up again and again. A feeling of calm. A sense of genuine connection with the strangers around you. The particular satisfaction of being heard — of contributing something and having the room receive it and give it back. People leave circlesinging events reporting that they feel more grounded, more connected, and more themselves than when they walked in.
Is it for me?
If you can make a sound with your voice, it is for you.
You do not need to read music. There are no lyrics to learn, no parts to rehearse, no audition. The musical sophistication of the person standing next to you is irrelevant — the form makes room for everyone, from trained vocalists to people who have not sung since grade school. If at any point you would rather listen than sing, that is completely fine. Everything that happens in a circlesinging event is an invitation, never a requirement.
What we do ask is that you respond honestly to what arises while you are there. That is all. The rest takes care of itself.
The part that makes it irreplaceable
The song that gets made at a circlesinging event exists only once. It did not exist before the people in that room came together. It will never exist again. No recording captures what it felt like to be inside it. No description does it justice.
The only way to understand circlesinging is to try it. Come sing with us!