Singing Meditation is a fine primer on this spiritual practice. Ruthie Rosauer has led singing meditation groups since 2004.

She sings with music therapy groups and directs the Threshold Singing choir that performs for the terminally ill. Liz Hill is co-author of fiction for young adults. After many years of not singing, she reclaimed her voice in a singing meditation group led by Rosauer.

Rosauer and Hill are convinced that everybody can sing, so it's not necessary to have a small group of professional musicians do it for us. People singing together create soulful bonds with one another and open the doors of their hearts. Singing meditation is a twofold movement: "singing out to the divine mystery and sitting silently to listen for a response."

The authors explore toning (vocalizing long, sustained sounds), singing (chants, rounds, songs in harmony, and call-and-response songs), the words and silent intervals of two to five minutes. It's very pleasing to see the respect given silence here. The authors close with suggestions for starting a singing meditation group, leading a session and a selection of songs from a variety of religious traditions (Skinner House Books).