Why You Should Join a Choir — Alex Taylor Lessons
Many of us start our life’s journey with music by singing. It’s of course the oldest and most human instrument — it’s quite literally a part of us! And, if you’ve ever sung in a choir, you know there’s no better feeling than making beautiful sounds with other individual voices. It moves and inspires us — but it also makes us good music makers! Anyone that plays an instrument should also join a choir and learn how to sing — and here’s why:
1) Sight Reading
There’s a reason that all music colleges and conservatories teach sight singing to ALL music majors. Singing is our most ancient musical tradition, and everyone can learn how to sing. Using tools like solfege makes its easier to look at a brand new piece of music and know just from looking at it how it sounds. In choir, you’re exposed to so much music that your ear will become much more in tune with turning how music looks into how music sounds.
2) Blending/Listening
A critical aspect of choir is getting many voices to sound like just one voice. Since everyone’s voice is unique, this presents quite the challenge. As a singer, you can do your part by listening to others around you and blending your sound with theirs. This makes you aware of what your peers are doing, and it makes you figure out how you fit in to the entire piece.
3) Body Awareness and Stamina
Singing uses almost every muscle in your body, so to sing well you really have to be aware of what your body is doing. Focusing on good posture and deep breathing will help you develop this awareness and build stamina for any musical endeavor (and that’s not just from standing on rises for a whole rehearsal!).
4) Confidence and Calm
Singing in a choir has been scientifically proven to make you calmer and feel more connected to those around you (see the links at the end of this post). Whenever you feel more connected to others, you feel more calm, and when you’re calm, you make good choices. It’s the ultimate tranquilizer: It soothes you with the music while also energizing you whenever you’re connecting with other people.
5) Teamwork
Choir is the ultimate team sport. Unless there’s a soloist, being in a choir demands that you set aside your personal ego so that the choir can sound the best. This can be really difficult especially whenever you’re used to being the star soprano, but it is really rewarding to achieve your goals with others.
Singing in a choir can be a transformative experience, not only for your musical skills but also your mood — and your life!
https://ideas.time.com/2013/08/16/singing-changes-your-brain/
Originally published at https://www.alextaylorlessons.com on August 10, 2020.
