The truth about why we stopped singing together - Barbara McAfee

Voice coach and author Barbara McAfee explains why so many people are afraid to sing, what group singing does to the nervous system and the sense of self, and why the loss of communal song may be one of the most significant things modern life has taken from us. Barbara is a voice coach, author, speaker, and performer, with over 30 years of experience helping people unlock their full voice through practical vocal techniques and tools for authentic, flexible self expression. In this episode, Lian and Barbara explore what actually happens when people sing together, why the fear of singing runs so deep in so many of us, and how recorded, pitch-corrected music has done to the human voice something similar to what airbrushed images have done to the human body. They look at the oral tradition as a living technology for transmitting knowledge, holding grief, and keeping communities in tune across generations, and at the way group singing can restore something that most people don't realise they've been missing until it returns. From there, the conversation moves into singing at the threshold of death, the Morning Star Singers' eighteen years of bedside work, and what Barbara has witnessed about the way song changes the experience of dying, for the person leaving and for everyone gathered around them. Listen if you've ever felt the pull to sing with others but the fear talked you of it before you even began. We’d love to know what YOU think about this week’s show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage. What you’ll learn from this episode: Why the fear of singing in a group runs so much deeper than shyness, and what actually put it there How group singing can move faster than team building, therapy, or any amount of talking when it comes to creating genuine connection What happens when singing is brought into hospitals and hospices, and why staff and patients alike respond as if they are remembering something Resources and stuff spoken about: Visit Barbara’s Website ( Join Barbara on: YouTube ( Facebook ( Instagram ( LinkedIn ( Watch Barbara’s TEDx talks: Bringing Your Full Voice to Life ( How Oral Tradition Singing Helps Us Work & Live Better Together ( Barbara’s audiobooks & Paperbacks - For links see Barbara's website( Bandcamp: A catalogue of Barbara’s original music ( Join UNIO, The Community for Wild Sovereign Souls: ( This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth. Register your interest for the upcoming Wild Sovereign Soul journey here ( Be Mythical Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth: Go Deeper:

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The truth about why we stopped singing together - Barbara McAfee is an episode from The Primal Happiness Show by Lian Brook-Tyler.

This episode is 55:00 long.

This episode was published on Apr 9, 2026.

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