The first step is to join a choir, and it’s easier than you think. There are probably choirs all around you that you’ve never noticed, or there might be one you’ve heard many times before. A university choir would be a great first step, and they often accept beginners, especially if it’s being offered as a course.

The next step is learning to sing, specifically singing for a choral setting. Everybody will be starting at a different level, but the main thing is to go for it. 90% of singing well is deciding that you can sing well and doing your best, so be confident and get started. There are also lots of people who will give voice lessons in your area.

Depending on type of choir you’ve decided to sing in, you’ll need to alter your sound and style. For example, if you join an a capella choir you’ll need to learn very solid rhythmic techniques and pep. If you prefer mass choir music, then blend and control will be your most important assets. In every situation, choral singing is all about communication with your conductor and fellow singers.

The next thing you’ll have to master is sight singing. This is the ability to sing music accurately as you read it off the page. Sight singing music is a difficult skill, especially if you don’t read music, but it is learnable. To get better, ask you voice teacher, practice with a friend, or find a web seminar on the subject. This is tough, but extremely important for a choir to function well, so don’t give up.

If you, or somebody you know, is a talented musician, you might want to start a choir. This is also totally manageable, and a great way to do something for your community. Children’s choirs foster communication skills, trust, patience, musicality, and art appreciation. Starting one up in your community would be a fantastic way to do some good. Best part is that you only need some choir music, a pitch pipe, and some free time.

Singing in a choir, or leading one, is one of the best things you can do with your time. It will expose you to a new world of art that you couldn’t imagine. The most important part is to be confident and enjoy what you’re doing.

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Abstract reasoning skills are required in learning math and science. Music participation improves these skills. Regardless of socioeconomic background, students who participate in instrumental music score higher on standardized tests. Physician and biologist Lewis Thomas found that the highest percentage of any undergraduate group to be admitted to medical school were music majors. Students who are emotionally stable and have a positive outlook are also found to outperform their peers academically.

In a similar vein, students who participate in music instruction foster an appreciation for the arts and a more positive outlook on life in general. A McGill University Study found that those who had piano instruction had higher self esteem. Others studies have concluded that college age musicians are emotionally healthier than their counterparts. A study conducted by Barry Bittman M.D. at Mind-Body Wellness Center in Meadville PA brought new perspective when it comes to music playing a role in stress reduction. Study results showed that individuals part taking in their first keyboard lesson showed significantly more stress reduction than those who relaxed with a newspaper or magazine. There have been a number of studies which demonstrate positive health outcomes from listening to music. Classroom teachers have noted that students participating in musical instruction show academic improvement as well as attitude and behavior improvement.

Music has an astoundingly positive effect on both our minds and bodies. Physiological effects include slowing pulse and heart rate, lowering blood pressure and decreasing the levels of stress hormones. Recent study findings support the theory of using music to reduce stress in a number of different situations. Music therapy is found to significantly reduce stress in cancer patients which in turn improves quality of life. Making music can reduce burnout and improve mood among nursing students. Listening to music has been found to relieve depression and increase self esteem ratings in elderly people. The sensation and distress of those suffering from both chronic pain and postoperative pain are reduced with music. Listening to headphones before and after surgery significantly reduces stress in hospital patients. Music encourages coordination and communication in disabled and distressed children. Individuals who sing often report a feeling of exhilaration that last for an hour or so. The sense of achievement one feels when actually playing an instrument or singing in a chorus or choir verses listening to music only adds to the positive emotional and esteem benefits.

Stress has biological effects that impair the immune system functioning. An impaired immune system weakens the body’s ability to fend off infection and malignancy, but an impaired immune system can also produce symptoms such as fever, weight loss, musculoskeletal pain and fatigue. The three areas that are most important in protecting and bolstering the immune system are diet and nutrition, exercise, and stress reduction. Altered mood states such as depression, anxiety, and panic are harmful to the body in many ways. Secondary symptoms include fatigue, difficulties with memory and concentration, aches and pains, and problems with sleep. Music reduces stress and also enhances mood. Maintaining emotional well being is essential to stress reduction which in turn keeps your immune system in ideal shape. Therefore music has a positive effect on both the primary and secondary symptoms of an impaired immune system.

There are numerous findings that music participation increases learning skills, specifically, memory skills and abstract reasoning skills. Music in any form, <, private lessons or choir participation is also proven to have a positive effect on general well being and stress reduction. Stress reduction is essential for a healthy immune system.

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When we say that a singer has a good technique, the implication is that he knows how to sing correctly. Actually, a good singing technique involves several techniques: singing in the normal or “bell” quality; singing agilely; singing loudly and softly; singing in the low, middle, and high registers; breathing deeply; supporting the speaking voice as well as the singing voice; and controlling the breath.

In addition to developing a good singing technique, a singer needs to condition his vocal mechanism and keep it flexible. There is no substitute for intelligent vocalization to accomplish these ends.

The teacher should not allow a student to lose sight of his primary objective, which is to establish a good legato of normal or “bell” resonance quality. Lyric legato singing with emphasis on the vowel sounds is the building process, whereas dramatic, nonlegato singing, with emphasis on the consonants or emotional stops is the destructive one.

Good vocal condition is dependent on good physical condition. A singer should live a moderate, well-ordered life, avoiding excesses in eating, drinking, and smoking. Physical exercises in moderation, such as golf, tennis, swimming, and horseback riding should be helpful in maintaining good physical condition. Heavy exercising, such as weight lifting, ballet and acrobatic dancing, distance running, in fact, any exercises that call for heavy breathing or sudden closures of the vocal cords, are not conducive to good vocal condition.

Keeping the voice in good condition

A teacher of singing should teach each of his students how to know his own voice and how to keep it in good condition. This involves the student knowing his normal or “bell” quality; what and how much to vocalize; the song literature he should sing to fit his stage of development; how to solve his range problems, and a basic rule for diction to establish a good legato; what physical exercises to use, and what foods to avoid.

Students should be cautioned against yelling at any time.

In case of hoarseness or loss of voice, the best suggestion is to rest the voice. Do not use the voice at all.

Students should be warned against singing in drafts, and against over-fatigue from singing or practicing too long at one time.

Using eucalyptus oil or tincture of benzoin in boiling water, inhaling the steam through the mouth, should hasten recovery from hoarseness. Every singer should have for his own use an atomizer with an adjustable tip for intertracheal treatments. For this purpose, or for spraying the nose or throat, a preparation called chloretone inhalant is recommended.

For the intertracheal treatment, which is a matter of spraying the vocal cords, the nozzle of the atomizer is inserted to the back wall of the throat with the adjustable tip turned down. The bulb of the atomizer is then squeezed, with the vocal cords in approximation by saying or singing ay or ah. A gagging reflex takes place immediately when the oil spray touches the approximated cords. Enough medication is left, however, for curative purposes. Prolonged colds or vocal difficulties should be treated by a specialist.

A conclusion based on teaching singing in private lessons and in class lessons is that the playing of wind instruments is not conducive to good vocal production. This is particularly true of instrumental playing where a highly developed embouchure (lip tonus) is desirable. In addition, many teachers of wind instruments teach low abdominal breathing with no expansion of the rib-cage, and a relaxed throat condition. Neither of these fits in with intercostal high abdominal breathing or pharyngeal control.

It may also be said that singing is not conducive to a good instrumental playing condition. Therefore, an individual with an unusually promising voice who has also a decided aptitude for playing a wind instrument should make an early decision as to which field is the more important to him.

Now you know how to care for the voice and maintain it in peak condition.

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