Welcome to The Music of Relating

Find what’s available when you apply the principles of music to the connections you have with people in your life:

From course creator Annabeth Novitzki:

As a voice coach and Relatefulness facilitator, I spend a lot of time with people who are struggling to let their voice out. They’re afraid to truly be heard. They’re terrified to discover how powerful they are. They don’t want to “get it wrong.” 

From being an Expert Author for the voice articles on WikiHow, to singing for Game of Thrones, I keep discovering that the bravery and willingness it takes to make music feels exactly the same as what it takes to speak from my heart and soul.

Did you know that you speak, whisper, and yell with the exact same instrument that you sing with? It functions precisely the same way – it starts with the desire to express, which energizes breath to flow between the vocal cords, which are two tiny muscles in your neck, and then sound comes out of your mouth. By learning the skills of singing more powerfully, you also learn how to speak more powerfully. This course will teach you how to use your voice more fully in any way you want.

The Music of Relating video course features over 10 hours of video content with facilitators at The Relateful Company who are also accomplished musicians, organized in accessible topics, with tangible suggestions of ways to incorporate what you learn into your everyday life:

Harmony & Attunement with Kedar Shashidhar

If you know where to look, you can always tell where there might be disconnection brewing in a conversation. You can use the same skills that singers use to sing in harmony with each other to navigate conversations.

• Kedar is a multi-instrumentalist and sings with an award-winning barbershop group. He and Annabeth dive in with their playful rapport as they discuss how it feels to sing in harmony, and what skills they rely on to communicate with others from healthy attunement

Voice Ranges & Wisdoms with Lisa Rombach

Have you ever heard a voice and immediately felt calmed or aggravated just by the pitch or timbre? Insights into how the voice is produced will help make your intuitions and intentions more tangible in all of your interactions.

• Lisa and Annabeth are both formally trained in opera singing. They discuss the different voice ranges in singing, and explore various wisdom centers in the human experience that can influence the depth and power of speech.

Hearing & Listening with Jordan Myska Allen

Musicians learn how to root their attention in themself while deeply listening to others. This is also a core skill of excellent communication with family, co-workers, and loved ones.

• Jordan, the founder and CEO of The Relateful Company, used to tour the country with his band. He and Annabeth outline precisely how someone hears a pitch and then sings the same note, and they compare that to how people can truly listen in conversation and respond with intention.
   

Rhythm & Silence with Philip Watson

With some people there’s naturally a comfortable pace in the conversation, and with others it can feel too fast or slow, and interrupting can happen without even meaning to. Musicians learn the subtle methods of collaborating to really be on the same page, and these skills can create the space for a lot more beauty in your conversations too.

• Philip is a music producer and songwriter who has performed on The Voice. He and Annabeth explore rhythm and how musicians communicate the beat implicitly and explicitly. They also explore how powerful moments of deep silence can be in music and conversation.
  
  

Overtones & Undertones with Jordan Myska Allen

Not everything in music or conversation is obvious or easily seen, but it can have huge impact. Learning to discern these unseen elements can add richness, prevent unnecessary conflict, and forge mutual understanding.

• Jordan and Annabeth demonstrate how the human voice has overtones and undertones, a series of notes that give voices their richness and color. They compare this to the subtext that often goes unspoken in conversations, and the subtly potent intuitions that guide our life choices.
  
  

Interoception with Adam Sippola

We rarely think of music or connection as physical, but they are both deeply rooted in the body. Re-integrating this innate awareness can expand your interactions and ground them in your body’s wisdom.

• Adam is a singer, actor, and cellist. He and Annabeth explore the concept of interoception – the skill of noticing and feeling your internal sensations, feelings, and experiences – and how fundamental this skill is to being present with yourself and others, and the ability to share yourself with others in talking or in music.

+ Tons of Bonus Content!