Transcript of a 10 minute 'provocation' given by Laura Cousins and Clare Tarling at the Arts and Health South West conference in November 2015.

1. Lifemusic CIC
ARTS AND HEALTH SOUTH WEST CONFERENCE
NOVEMBER 2015
TRANSCRIPT OF A 10 MINUTE ‘PROVOCATION’

2. Lifemusic Community Interest Company
 Lifemusic CIC is a brand new Community Interest
Company.
 It has been founded following years of development,
research and teaching by
Dr Rod Paton at the University of Chichester.
 This is a transcript of a recent presentation given to
the Arts and Health South West Conference in
November 2015.

3. Who is a musician?
 Put your hand up please, if you are a musician ..?
 Put your hand up please, if you are a singer ..?
Thank you!
 Put your hands up please, if you are a HUMAN BEING?
 That's right! You are by default then also a MUSICIAN AND A
SINGER! It is your birthright!

4. Human = singer + musician
 You may think you are neither of those things but I'm sorry to say you would be wrong. You are
only remembering something that someone said to you, maybe a long time ago, that nowadays
means you believe you cannot sing or make music.
 This is entitled a "provocation" and indeed I mean to provoke you: Lifemusic aims to change your
way of thinking about yourself as singer or musician. As far as we are concerned, if you are a human
being then you can sing and you can make music. They are part of your inalienable human rights.
 To convince you that everyone is musical, we start by throwing away all those things you use to
judge yourself - we don't believe in the existence of a "wrong" note because the word "wrong" is a
judgement call. There is no judgement in Lifemusic.

5. Music-making is an act of trust

6. The sound of connection
 Every sound you make has a meaning. In some cases,
with some of the people that Clare and I have been
working with recently, this might mean that the blink of
an eyelid or puff of your cheeks has a meaning, and so
can be perfect inspiration for a piece of group
improvisation.
 And finally - music-making becomes an act of trust: The
longer you make music with other people, the better you
get to know them and the better it feels. In some ways,
the sound of the music itself is much less important than
the sounds of connections being made, musical
conversations, and friendships being forged.

7. Training + Contact Us
Our next Lifemusic Practitioner Training course starts in January, in
Poole. For more information:
 Website: http://lifemusicmethod.blogspot.co.uk
 Phone: 07972 009 762
 Email: info@lifemusic.co.uk
 Twitter: @LifemusicMethod
 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LifemusicMethod