‘Becoming the song’: Alice Parker, community singing and unlearning choral strictures

This article conveys research about participatory community singing that I explore through various lenses. I present thoughts and reflections from my interview with Alice Parker, who has many years of experience leading community singing events as well as ethnographic data collected from a monthly community singing event in the American Midwest. I analyse these data through the lens of a ‘traditional’ choral conductor who, prior to undertaking this investigation, had little knowledge about participatory singing traditions; I also utilize scholarship on the differences between participatory and performative music activities. In our interview, Ms Parker drew on many years of experience in both areas to provide touchstones for facilitating community singing events and also the distinct differences between these events and more traditional choral settings. Perhaps in reflecting on this dichotomy, facilitators of these two important forms of music making might learn from one another.

Evaluating the benefits of inclusive community singing towards well-being: narratives of diverse community members attending an inclusive singing group

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the benefits of an inclusive community singing group towards well-being. Design/methodology/approach This study used an exploratory qualitative study (EQS) approach. Semi-structured questions were devised and used to elicit participants’ experiences on the impact of an inclusive community singing group towards well-being. A thematic approach underpinned by the four phases of The Silences Framework was used to analyse the data. Findings This study found the following benefits of an inclusive community singing group towards well-being Connecting with others, Physical improvement, Learning new skills, Giving to others and Mindfulness. Originality/value This study concluded that inclusive community singing plays a pivotal role in enhancing the health and well-being of communities.

“We’re pushing back”: Group singing, social identity, and caring for a spouse with Parkinson’s

This article explores spouse caregivers’ experiences of a community singing group for people with Parkinson’s disease and their carers. Previous studies have demonstrated the health and wellbeing benefits of group singing for a range of populations including people with Parkinson’s, however, caregivers’ experiences of these same groups remain under-researched. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six spouse caregivers who regularly attended a joint caregiver/care recipient Parkinson’s singing group for a minimum period of 18 months. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to explore and interpret caregivers’ experiences of group singing. Using the “social cure approach” as a theoretical lens in the later stages of analysis, findings demonstrated that group singing created a social identity which helped fulfill caregivers’ basic psychological needs for belonging, meaning and purpose, social support, and agency within the marital relationship. Caregivers’ new and valued social identity helped counteract the diminishing effects of life impacted by Parkinson’s. These findings support the recognition and further understanding of group singing as an accessible and cost-effective community-based psychosocial intervention for Parkinson’s spouse caregivers.

Community singing, wellbeing and older people: implementing and evaluating an English singing for health intervention in Rome

Aim: The aim of this research was to explore the transferability and effectiveness of the English Silver Song Clubs model for older people in a different social and cultural context, that is, in the capital city of Italy, Rome. Methods: A single condition, pretest, post-test design was implemented. Participants completed the following two questionnaires: EuroQoL-5 Dimension (EQ-5D) and York Short Form (SF)-12. Results: After the singing experience, participants showed a decrease in their levels of anxiety and depression. An improvement was also found from baseline to follow-up in reported performance of usual activities. The English study showed a difference between the singing and non-singing groups at 3 and 6 months on mental health, and after 3 months on specific anxiety and depression measures. This study (Rome) shows similar findings with an improvement on specific anxiety and depression items. Conclusion: Policy makers in different national contexts should consider social singing activities to promote the health and wellbeing of older adults as they are inexpensive to run and have been shown to be enjoyable and effective.

Training of Moria choir conductor members and conductors in efforts to improve quality in Medan city

In ecclesiastical worship activities in the Christian community, singing activities both in the format of 'choir', congregational singing and others are integrated in a series of worship services in the church. It is also found among members of the Runggun Benameriah Protestant Karo Batak Church (GBKP) congregation who also use the choir format in activities to praise and glorify God. For Christians singing is a spiritual need. In both churches there are several types of choirs, both the choir moria (mothers), mamre choirs (fathers) gem choirs or youth / youth and elderly choirs. Each choir has a trainer (amateur) who also acts as choir leader, referred to as Dirigen. The problem is that often the quality of the choir that is displayed is low. This means that there are always a lot of technical errors and un-melodious voices from the choir members during the choir presentation. If this condition continues and occurs continuously, the presence of the choir can eventually interfere with the implementation of worship. Another condition is that almost all Dirigens in the GBKP choir are people who have limited musical abilities, and have no background in formal music education. His managerial ability and technical ability to teach choir is very weak. Dirigen's lack of musical knowledge and technical ability will certainly have a profound impact on the quality of the choir he leads. Therefore this dedication team will improve the choir management ability in vocal material and the ability of conducting to all participants so as to minimize the technical difficulties found in the preparation and presentation of the choir. This community service activity is expected that members and conductors / choir leaders can utilize their knowledge and experience as professionals in the field of choir training among community members in general.