Before I stopped going to song circle, I would see the same people sing the same songs that they had sung hundreds of times before, but they couldn't get their faces out of the book. I guess they thought that if they didn't use the book they wouldn't remember the words. But they might be amazed if they tried it once without the book, and realized that they really did know the words.

I only learn a song when I force myself to throw away the written words and rely on my memory. I usually stumble through the words a few times, but then quickly get them down.

As I said before (see my previous post, way back), RUS is a great collection of songs FOR group singing, but it should not be used IN group singing. If any of you have that old standby song book "Song Fest," read again the preface to the original collection. That says it all.

Cheers, S. in Seattle