Songleader Flight School

Littlebird Songleader Flight School
A 6-Week Online Course

The Self-Directed Version Is Available Now

The 2023 Cohort is full and closed for registration. Stay tuned for 2024 dates!

There has never been a more potent time to invest in healing, celebrating, and connecting our world through song. During this time when group singing is just beginning to come back online after the disruptions of the Covid era, we can up-level our knowledge, capacities and connections; readying ourselves to greet the singing reunions to come with more joy than ever before. Our spirits and communities are in need of your gifts.

“Flight School was exquisite, divine, and nourishing! Lisa designed the lessons and prompts with thoughtful care, insightful reflection, and valuable tools. I feel woven into a web of song leaders who are led by love and dedicated to infusing joy, kindness and compassion into our world.”~ Francesca

“Community singing is a powerful and joyful way to reconnect us to our courage, joy and humanity. It’s also the quickest way I’ve ever found to create a “we” out of a group of “me’s.” Flight School is a great gift to emerging song leaders who want to lend their voices to this beautiful movement. Lisa’s generous and brilliant course equips budding song leaders with everything they need to foster song in the world with confidence and skill.”
~ Barbara McAfee, Professional Songleader, Author, TedX Speaker & Creator of the Full Voice program

ABOUT THE COURSE

Developed by veteran community singing facilitator Lisa G. Littlebird, this online course offers an accessible but deep dive into the basic skills needed to effectively lead, organize and grow community song circles. The course has been refined based upon student feedback in the previous sold-out cohorts. It is offered over six weeks with a digestible and interactive presentation of the material each weekday.

Whether you are an experienced singer with a vision of starting and leading a choir, or you are new to singing and wanting to rapidly grow your confidence singing with others, this course is designed to meet your unique needs.

Lisa writes:

“It is my passionate mission to see community singing become a prolific activity in contemporary Western culture. I know firsthand that singing together profoundly boosts the wellbeing of each singer as well as the community as a whole. I hold a vision where community singing is as commonplace as yoga, found in every neighborhood.

Flight School is a pathway for new song leaders to step forward – enriching the lives and communities around them while providing joy and abundance for themselves. I see the uprising of a singing revolution that offers vitally necessary transformation and healing to our hearts, communities and planet.”

This is a course for those who share that vision and wish to be a contributor in it. You will leave the course with:

• • A digestible but comprehensive songleading toolkit.
  • A library of resources to support your ongoing learning and service in singing, song facilitation, community organizing and business management.
  • A rich network of peers and allies on your path from around the world.

COURSE FORMAT

The course is offered in two formats. You may purchase access to the course and use it in an entirely self-directed way, or join a supported, interactive cohort.

The online course includes access to more than 10 hours of audio and video content, along with dozens of articles and other resources to support your development and success as a song leader. Once purchased, you have access to the course for as long as it exists.

The structured cohort (non self-directed) format also includes:

• Pre-course self-evaluation and testing to help identify your goals.
• Personal goal and milestone tracking.
• A daily email with a link to that day’s coursework delivered to you each weekday for six weeks. The classes are pre-recorded so you may complete each day’s class whenever it works in your schedule.  You can also choose to augment or skip classes according to your interest.
• Office hours offered weekly at different times throughout the course where you have opportunities to ask questions and receive direct, personal support from Lisa.
• An assigned, small peer group for weekly meeting. Your peer group becomes your primary place for interactive study, accountability, practice, support and networking.
• Five live group Zoom calls with Lisa and your cohort, all recorded for later playback if you can’t be with us live. These are recommended but not required.
• Access to a private Facebook group with all other students to share resources during the course and beyond.
• A certificate of completion at the end of the course (no CEUs) with Lisa serving as a reference and mentor in your future endeavors.
• Invitations to attend all in-person trainings. (See the in-person retreat invite below.)
• Resources and connections with peers and allies for a lifetime!

The structured cohort provides the support most students need for successful completion.

The self-directed option offers flexibility for those who need the material on a different schedule, are only wanting a portion of the content or are highly self-motivated. You can purchase the self-directed option now and access will be provided immediately at checkout.

With either purchase, you will have access to the course for as long as it exists.

COURSE SYLLABUS

This course is well-rounded in that it addresses the full breadth of skills that Lisa has found to be most useful in successful oral-tradition style song leading. You will likely have some areas of fluency and other areas that are less developed. The course is designed in a self-paced, modular and customizable way, so you can focus more on your personal areas of growth and move quickly through the sections where you already have competence.

While the course will touch on best practices for songleading online, the majority of the focus will be on skills for leading songs in-person.

We will cover the following:

• Group leadership & facilitation skills
• Music theory basics
• Ear training and harmonies
• Specific skills for effective song sharing
• Building and organizing song repertoire
• Voice fundamentals – for yourself and coaching others
• Community building
• Business skills:  Organizational systems, marketing and creating an immediate career path for generating income
• Profiles of other successful songleaders
• Many new songs

Each segment includes specific skills and knowledge, Lisa’s personal tips and best practices and a large, living library of musical and professional resources.

Of course, the most effective way to become a songleader is to practice! This course is focused not only on skill building, but on supporting you with actionable steps toward creating live practice opportunities.

This course presents the equivalent material of a college course. Plan for about an hour each weekday of coursework and study, with additional time for peer and large group calls. No assignments or emails will be distributed on weekends.

IS IT FOR ME?

This class can be used and customized to meet a wide range of goals and experience. There is no grade or final test upon completion, allowing you freedom and ease to self-direct your time and focus.

Experience with songleading is not required for this course, however I recommend the following basic pre-requisites:

• Some experience with singing in groups and the ability to accurately hear and match pitches and melodies.
• A capacity for self-directed focus in an online learning environment.
• The ability or willingness to gather groups of people together and offer leadership and clear communication in that environment.
• A sincere interest in personal growth and in sharing songs with others.

If you register for an organized cohort, you will be with a group of other students taking the course at the same time, offering a unique opportunity to learn together and share resources.  To ensure the most beneficial experience for you and the other students, we will ask that you:

• Intend to participate for all 6 weeks and complete the course, including your commitments to peers for study support. If you miss a few days it is no problem to catch up on following days or weekends. If you will miss more than a week, it’s possible to catch up in intensive study sessions but perhaps not ideal. You may want to wait until the next offering.
• Budget an average of 1 hour each weekday during the course for study and singing, plus 2 hours a week for the peer and large group calls.
• Are willing to share your contact information with the other students. We will ask you to actively participate in these relationships during the class.
• Have regular, reliable access to a computer or tablet with moderate to high-speed internet.
• Have a basic technology skills, including: the ability to receive and send email attachments, navigate websites with video and audio files and download and use Zoom on your PC or Mac. We organize the peer groups through WhatsApp which is a free app, available for any smart phone.
• Have some experience singing in a group. You need not identify as a confident singer. This course is for anyone willing to develop more skills and confidence.

If you’re still not sure it’s a fit, email specific questions to Lisa: lisa@thebirdsings.com. Your course fee is refundable until the course begins.

IN-PERSON RETREAT

All current and past students of Flight School cohorts are invited to attend the in-person Flight School retreat with Lisa in Carmel Valley, CA this spring.  We gather on Tuesday afternoon April 4th – Saturday afternoon, April 8th, 2023. This optional but wonderful gathering is an irreplaceable and rich time of connection, song harvesting and opportunities to practice your skills from the course with other singers.

Learn more here.

New cohort students will have the opportunity to register for the retreat at checkout, or anytime after registering for the cohort, until spaces sell out.

COURSE PRICING

The self-directed version of Flight School is available now for $250.

The live cohort is $750, or two payments of $375 each.  This six-week cohort includes lifetime access to a course packed with content, five live calls, live office hours to ask questions and connect personally with Lisa during the course, as well as invitations to in-person retreats, now and in the future. As a Flight School cohort grad, you also receive my enduring support as a song leader in your local community. Need to brush up down the road? You can re-take the course in a future cohort anytime for just $99.
Joining the cohort is joining a family.

If you have already purchased the self-directed version of Flight School, you may register for this cohort at a $200 discount.

Scholarships:
Stay tuned for 2024 cohort dates before applying.  Partial scholarships are available for song leaders who identify with a culturally marginalized group such as People of the Global Majority/POC or LGBTQ. To apply, email lisa@thebirdsings.com with:

• a link to a 2-3 minute video of yourself sharing your desire to join the cohort and your song leading vision
• an amount you can pay to participate that is within your means but still significant

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