Voice | Elizabeth Laprelle | All Levels | Period 1 | Week 3 (July 20-25, 2025)
Let’s get lost in some old story songs! We’ll cover some beautiful mountain ballad repertoire and we’ll also talk about using our voices as storytelling tools, the “high lonesome sound”, and the lives of some of the old singers, sometimes hearing what they think about the songs in their own words. We’ll listen to some old recordings and we’ll spend some time working to get all those words into our heads (it’s easier to do when the song touches your heart!). All melodies will be taught by ear. Lyrics will be provided.
About the Instructor
Elizabeth LaPrelle is a scholar and singer of Appalachian Ballads from Rural Retreat, Virginia. She built her style and repertoire from research into archival recordings, and family and friends. She started making recordings with her family as a teen, and received her undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary with a major in Southern Appalachian Traditional Performance. In the experimental folk duo Anna & Elizabeth, she toured internationally and helped re-popularize the “crankie” performance art form. She’s also a banjo-player, and a visual and interdisciplinary artist. She lives with her husband Brian Dolphin and their young son.