Everyone came back together on a beautifully sunny Monday morning to continue the workshop. The main work of this week was going to be songwriting. On Friday afternoon I had given some basic suggestions for composing songs, and I didn't know on Monday if I would need to say more, answer questions, give clearer guidance. Sometimes it takes people a little time and a lot of encouragement to begin trying their hands at new songs.
Not this time. As people entered the classroom that morning, I could see that many had already been hard at work over the weekend. People sat down, opened notebooks, and started working on pages that were already covered with writing. I was really encouraged, before the morning session even started.
We had our opening time of singing, prayer, and a talk from the Bible, and then I went over the routine we would start that day. For songwriting days in the workshop, I divide the time into sessions of about an hour or hour and a half. People can stay in the classroom or go outside in the lawn around the classroom. They can work individually or in small groups (almost everyone in every workshop I've done has opted to be part of a group, which is no surprise in the community-oriented cultures of Melanesia).
This is the part of the workshop where the main responsibility shifts from me to everyone else. People have a great time working together on new songs, and I love walking around and feeling their creative vibe. The time just flies by in these sessions. Enjoy some shots of a few of the groups at work:
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| Workshop participants usually start by writing a set of lyrics, and then find a tune to go with it. |
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| A wonderfully scenic spot for songwriting, just outside the classroom |
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| More than one group combined the guitar and the kundu (a drum found in many parts of PNG) |
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| The kundu has a wooden, hourglass-shaped body, covered on one end with a lizard skin. It's played by hitting the skin with an open palm. |
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| Catching a bit of shade under a house. |
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| Some groups were happy to stay in the classroom and work on songs there. |
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