Five reasons to join a choir

We’re often told that singing in a choir brings lots of benefits, but what exactly are they? During my internship with Singing In…, I have been able to really see just how positive our community choirs are for our participants. As someone who has grown up singing in choirs and playing in orchestras, this has been really interesting for me because I have been able to compare my own experiences with those of members of our Grenoside and Hillsborough groups. However, I still wanted to better understand the specific benefits of joining a community choir, so I did a bit of research, and I am excited to be sharing my findings with you in this blog post.

1. Meet new people

At Singing In…, the social aspect of our choirs is just as important as the music making. We know that joining a local choir is a great way to meet people living in your community. You make new friends, and we make this even easier by providing tea, coffee and biscuits to accompany your chats during the break.

Singing in a choir has been shown to create community bonds particularly quickly because it gives you a shared purpose which works as an icebreaker. These community bonds help to reduce social isolation which is important because having a good social network can give you more health benefits than other lifestyle changes, including giving up smoking.

2. Improve your singing and music skills

At Singing In… there are never any auditions. We welcome everyone to our choirs, whether you’ve sang in a group before or not. Our choirs help you improve your singing and music skills, teaching you how to control your breath and how to hold a harmony. For your brain, learning new harmonies and rhythms is comparable to solving a puzzle because it requires focus, problem-solving skills and creative thinking. Moreover, whilst there is absolutely no requirement to be able to read it, we often rehearse with sheet music as well as lyrics, so this is also a skill that you can develop if you want to.

3. Boost your mental health

Singing in a choir can help to improve your mental health. The satisfaction of performing with a group, even at rehearsals when there’s no audience, releases endorphins and dopamine, the brain’s ‘happy’ chemicals. This, along with allowing to focus on what you can do rather than what you can’t, helps to boost your self-esteem. Singing also reduces your levels of cortisol, which is the hormone that is responsible for stress. Furthermore, singing is cognitively stimulating which means that it improves your memory, concentration and brain plasticity, and it can also help people who are living with dementia.

4. Improve your physical health

As well as improving your mental health, joining a choir can also positively impact your physical health. Learning how to stand and sit correctly whilst singing can lead to improved posture in your everyday life, which can help with alleviating aches and pains. Singing well also requires you to learn how to control your breathing. This controlled breathing acts as physical exercise for your respiratory system and can improve your lung capacity and energy efficiency. It can also help to lower your blood pressure. In addition, singing in a choir can help to boost your immune system because it reduces your cortisol levels whilst simultaneously boosting the Immunoglobin A antibody.

5. Have some fun

Finally, perhaps the best reason to join a choir is that it is great fun! At Singing In…, we work on a wide range of music. At the moment, our choirs are rehearsing songs from a variety of genres, including nostalgic pop, traditional folk tunes and 80s anthems, so there really is something for everyone! Our groups are really friendly, we keep our rehearsals low-key, and there is plenty of fun to be had each week, so you’ll always leave with a smile on your face!

After having learnt about all these amazing reasons to join a choir, I’m sure you’ll want to get yourself involved. We’d love to welcome you to one of our weekly, friendly, non-auditioned groups. They take place every week, and always include a tea and coffee break! We can’t wait to meet you!

Adelaide

Are you passionate about community music making?

Members of the Singing In... Grenoside choir performing in the Sheffield Winter Garden.

If the answer to the above question is a huge 'YES' and you're looking for a voluntary role where you can use your experience to help grow an exciting new social enterprise, then keep reading on!

Community Music Makers CIC is a not-for-profit organisation formed in 2024 that brings communities together to make music through group activities that are accessible and welcoming. Our mission is to provide high quality, affordable musical activities led by experienced tutors that include numerous opportunities for mixing socially with others.

Last September we took on the delivery of the ‘Singing In…’ community choirs and music groups in North Sheffield, but we’ve got ambitious plans to work with more people who might be put off by the perceived barriers of joining a music making group, and we’re growing our board of directors to help us achieve that.

By welcoming additional non-executive directors to the board, we plan to widen our pool of knowledge and experience and strengthen our organisation.

We’d love to hear from people who are passionate about community music making, and the health and wellbeing benefits that taking part can bring. Previous experience as a board member or an understanding of good governance would be helpful, as would experience in grant funding. A strong commitment to inclusion is essential, and we’re especially keen to hear from individuals from underrepresented groups who reflect the diverse communities in which we work.

Non-executive directors will be placed on the public register with Companies House as a director of the company. Non-executive directors are volunteers, although out-of-pocket expenses can be paid to ensure they are able to attend in-person meetings and other events.

You’ll be expected to attend a quarterly meeting of up to 90 minutes in duration, with up to 30 minutes preparation for each meeting. There may also be the potential to take on some additional responsibilities by engaging in ad hoc working groups around specific projects.

If you want to be part of our organisation at this exciting time, please send a CV and cover letter (or a video of two to three minutes in length) to info@singing-in.com letting us know why you would like to be a part of Community Music Makers and what you can bring to the role.

We're looking forward to hearing from you!

A cracking good sing!

Many parts of the country have their own sets of local carols, but there is arguably nowhere with a set as extensive as in North Sheffield and North Derbyshire.

Going back many years, churches in England had a West Gallery, a raised portion opposite the altar, in which were positioned musicians and singers who provided music for worship. The significance and popularity of the music grew, with local people penning their own hymns. During the 19th century, tensions began to grow between church leaders and the musicians and there became a concern that the musicians were ‘enjoying themselves too much’. Out of a desire to reduce the dominance of the musicians in services, West Galleries, and the musicians who performed in them were replaced by harmoniums, and later, organs and more formal church choirs.

With the musicians and singers finding themselves with nowhere to play and sing their favourite hymns, they headed to the local public houses and began to merrily sing them there! This was particularly the case around the Christmas period, a time of real celebration, and with a few drinks inside them everyone else began to join in.

Perhaps because of the unique geography and the industry in the area, the singing of the carols in busy pubs remained strong in places such as Bradfield, Dungworth, Ecclesfield, Grenoside, Oughtibridge, Wharncliffe Side and Worrall. They were originally sung in four parts, with the sopranos, altos, tenors and basses sitting with each other in the four corners of the pub. David Elliott, one of our team who worked with us on producing our Singing In... Carols book recalled the amazing sound if you found yourself near the centre, “the perfect spot for a cracking good sing!” Different variations of the individual carols were, and still are, found nationally, and indeed locally too. You might travel just a mile up the road from Oughtibridge to Worrall to find your favourite carol sung quite differently.

Over recent decades, as people began to travel more widely and word spread about the carols, more singers joined in, with some travelling nationally and even internationally to experience the scene in Sheffield and North Derbyshire. However in the packed out pubs today, with the beer flowing and a desire from many to sing the tune, you won’t hear the harmonies quite so clearly and some people are fearful that their own local arrangements will succumb to standardisation and be lost forever.

The motivation behind preparing our Singing In... Carols book, one of our larger lockdown projects, was to make the carols more accessible in a choral setting, and we hope it will be of interest to those who want to sing them in the way they were originally intended.

If you've not done so yet, I'd highly recommend that you go and experience the atmosphere of the local carols in the pubs this December. You can find the full list of dates and venues on the Local Carols website.