Gathering Song – Heather Houston Music

Infinite Bliss – Heather Houston

January 29, 2020/in Heather Houston Gathering Song, Layered, Polyrhythmic 3 Made Up Syllables Heather Houston Birds, Calling in Elements, Community, Earth Wisdom, Gathering, Joyful, Rhythmic, Up Beat /by Heather

This fun polyrhythmic chant came to me on the winds at Pinnacles National Monument. I love to hike alone there and experience “the hills are alive with the sound of music” kinds of moments. 🙂 It’s vast and spacious and filled with fields of wildflowers! Absolute bliss! So this song got titled Infinite Bliss.

I like to really break down the rhythms on this one, pointing out the up beats and down beats at the beginning of each phrase.

Bele Mama – Cameroon, West Africa

July 20, 2019/in Heather Houston Gathering Song, Quick Teach, Round 1 Traditional Children, Community, Fun, Gathering, Joyful, Mothers, Opener /by Heather

This is a great ice-breaker of a song! The perfect opener. It gets your group singing in harmony in a matter of minutes. Possible meaning is “Mama come out and play!” When I first learned this, I learned that it was from the Torres Straight Islands and that it meant “Beautiful Earth.” The more research I do, the more I find that it’s actually from West Africa and has traveled and traveled far and wide. I learned it off of a “WombSong” CD. Enjoy!

This song is in the public domain
Arrangement by Heather Houston
www.heatherhoustonmusic.com

Lyrics:

Bele mama, bele mama ee ay
Bele mama, bele mama ee ay
Bele mama, bele mama, bele mama, bele mama,
Bele mama, bele mama ee eh