An Australian musician is touring the U.S., turning everyday people into a choir capable of beautiful harmonies.
Transcript
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Think about that moment when you're in a group, and somebody wants everybody to sing. Now, some people belt it out. Some would die. First, they...
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
(Laughter) Which are you, A?
MARTÍNEZ: Which am - it depends how much rum I've had, Steve.
INSKEEP: Oh. Oh, good to know. I can't wait to be singing with you later, after we've...
MARTÍNEZ: Uh-oh.
INSKEEP: Maybe a little later in the morning. Anyway...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
INSKEEP: ...Go on.
MARTÍNEZ: Now a musician from Australia wants to draw you out. NPR's Adam Bearne has the story.
ASTRID JORGENSEN: There it is. There's the beginning.
ADAM BEARNE, BYLINE: In a small concert venue in Washington, D.C., founding director Astrid Jorgensen divides a crowd of amateurs into three color-coded groups based on how high or low people think they can sing. Then she teaches them to harmonize, starting with the high singers. Think sopranos.
JORGENSEN: If you are blue, it says (vocalizing).
BEARNE: Then the middle group, the altos.
JORGENSEN: And if you're green, it said (vocalizing).
BEARNE: How does Jorgensen lead the baritones? - with a voice-altering mic that always gets the crowd laughing.
JORGENSEN: (Through voice changer) If you're red, it says (vocalizing).
BEARNE: Then a slideshow acts as a visual aid to teach the singers one song.
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS #1: (Singing) Video killed the radio star.
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS #2: (Vocalizing).
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS #1: (Singing) Video killed the radio star.
BEARNE: This is Pub Choir, on tour in the U.S. now. Jorgensen says it's really not about drinking.
JORGENSEN: It's more like a suggestion that singing can be social. Singing can be relaxed. I feel like we have put way too much pressure on making music.
BEARNE: Jorgensen takes that pressure away, playfully teasing the crowd, like when the baritones overpower the room with sheer volume.
JORGENSEN: You were tasting blood here. I need you to relax. One, two, three, sing.
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS #3: (Vocalizing).
JORGENSEN: Everyone sings better if they're smiling and laughing. I don't know how to say that without sounding like a bully, but I do tease the audience to greatness, I think. That's my goal.
BEARNE: And Jorgensen says it makes them feel great.
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS #1: (Singing) I heard you on the wireless back in '52...
JORGENSEN: So many people come up to me and just say, it's been so long since I feel like I agreed with a room of strangers.
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS #3: (Vocalizing).
BEARNE: And science says, humans singing together is the best group activity for social bonding. Robin Dunbar, a professor of evolutionary anthropology at the University of Oxford, has studied it.
ROBIN DUNBAR: There's something magical about singing in harmony. This synchrony effect produces a massive uplift in the endorphin system.
BEARNE: The system our bodies use to ease pain and relieve stress - Dunbar says it also makes us feel bonded to others. Maybe that's why other musicians want to get in on the Pub Choir action. On a previous tour, Wheatus lead singer Brendan B. Brown performed the band's most famous track with an audience in New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BRENDAN B BROWN AND UNIDENTIFIED AUDIENCE: (Singing) Her name is Noelle, and I have a dream about her. She rings my bell.
BEARNE: It's a choir for everyone, whether you're an operatic maestro or a "Teenage Dirtbag."
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BROWN AND UNIDENTIFIED AUDIENCE: (Singing) 'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby. Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby. Listen to Iron Maiden, baby, with me. (Vocalizing).
BEARNE: Adam Bearne, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BROWN AND UNIDENTIFIED AUDIENCE: (Singing) Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, dirtbag. No, she doesn't know what she's missing.
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