Lesson video

Hello again, musicians.

It's me, Mrs. Steele, and I'm back to guide you through another music lesson today.

In today's lesson, we'll be exploring how singing affects our mood.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to understand how singing has a positive effect on the singers and the listener.

Here are the keywords we'll need for our learning today.

Choir: a group of people who sing together.

Community: a group of people connected by a common interest, shared experience, or location.

Rasa: a Sanskrit word meaning essence of a piece of music.

And vocal timbre: the quality of sound produced by the voice.

Let's begin by learning about making a community with a choir.

Joining a choir can be a brilliant thing for so many reasons.

I love singing in my choir.

We already know that singing can create a sense of community, whether that be in a religious setting or at a football game or somewhere else, and choirs can be a really powerful way of creating a community too.

There are many different choirs singing a huge range of music to suit almost everyone.

Do you sing in a choir? There are a growing number of community choirs too, from the Post Office choir to military choirs, dementia choirs, and more.

Here are two quite famous examples.

Gareth Malone, a choirmaster, had a TV series called "Boys Don't Sing" where he ended up taking a group of teenage boys from a school in Leicester that didn't have much singing going on at all to perform at the Royal Albert Hall.

What an achievement! And the Post Office choir, Hear My Voice, reach the "Britain's Got Talent" 2025 final with their song, "Falling Down." Choirs can create a community in so many different ways.

Singing in a faith setting such as a church or temple unites people in a common belief or faith, and choirs such as the Post Office choir or dementia choir can unite people who've experienced or are experiencing similar challenges in their lives.

And Gareth Malone's choirs, such as the one from the TV show "Boys Don't Sing," can bring people together who didn't even expect it was possible.

Singing in a choir can be a really powerful thing.

There are rock choirs, gospel choirs, show choirs, classical choirs, barbershop choirs, and so many more.

Here's a discussion point for you.

If you were to join a choir, what kind of music would you want to sing and who would you like your audience to be? Press pause to talk about that now together.

When we sing in a choir, our brain becomes an excellent multi-tasker.

Imagine singing in a choir and think of all the things your brain will be doing at the same time.

At the same time as singing, you'll be watching a conductor and interpreting what their gestures mean, you'll be listening to others to ensure we're singing in tune at the right volume and at the correct tempo, you'll be remembering the lyrics as well as the melody, and you'll be giving an emotional response to the song we are singing, whether that's happy or carefree or more reflective and calm.

Singing in a choir can be good for our bodies too.

We breathe more deeply, which improves our lung function and improves our oxygen intake, and we focus on good posture, which benefits our spine, as well as helping us to feel more confident and comfortable when we sing.

And when we sing, our brain releases chemicals such as endorphins, which can boost our mood and support our wellbeing.

And singing helps to improve our memory too, as we recall lyrics and tunes for many songs that we've learnt over time.

Make a list or a spider diagram of all the things our brain will be instructing our body to do when we sing as a choir.

Press pause to try that challenge now.

Hello again.

Did you think of any of these things? You might want to press pause now to compare your answers to mine.

Did you think of anything that I didn't? Your next challenge is to write a short, reflective piece of writing about the benefits of joining a choir.

There are many different ways that you could do this.

You could write a letter to someone suggesting why you think it would be good for them to join a choir, or to the benefits.

You could write a paragraph explaining why you want to join a choir or why you love already being in a choir.

Or you could create a leaflet explaining the physical benefits of singing.

Press pause to complete that challenge now.

How did you get on with that challenge? Here's a letter about singing from Andeep.

His says, "Dear Uncle Peter, I'm writing because I'm learning about the benefits of joining a choir.

I think you'll be interested to hear and hopefully you might join one! First of all, you can make lots of friends who want to sing the same music as you.

This helps people not to feel alone when they don't want to.

Also, when people sing together they feel more connected to each other and more relaxed.

Secondly, singing is really good for our bodies.

Deeper breathing improves our lung function, but also we stand with good posture too.

Did you know that our brain releases chemicals called endorphins when we sing? These are feel-good chemicals that boost our wellbeing and reduce stress.

Lastly, singing improves our memory because we have to remember the tunes and the lyrics.

I think that would help you a lot! See you soon, Andeep." What a persuasive letter.

Hopefully Uncle Peter will be joining a choir as we speak.

Now let's explore singing with different emotions.

In Hindustani classical music, there's the theory of rasa.

Rasa is the concept that the artist, the musician, can put an emotion into the piece of art, the music, that can then be received by the audience or the listener.

And this dates all the way back to the "Natya Shastra," which is an ancient Sanskrit text more than 2,000 years old.

We can apply this theory in a modern context using dynamics and vocal timbre to add emotion to our singing.

Our singing dynamics can range from soft, piano, to loud, forte, and we can use crescendos and decrescendos where it feels right, and we can sing with a more cheerful sound or a more somber sound in our voices too.

To achieve different vocal timbres, try the following challenges.

Press pause to complete them where you are.

In a choir, it's the conductor's job to think about the feel and the mood of a song.

They're thinking about how they want the audience to feel when they listen, and that can help us adjust our voices to suit the emotion.

Singing in a choir is different to singing in a sports arena or at a celebration event, because quite often a choir performs to an audience and shares their emotions with them.

Let's experiment with that now.

Choose a conductor to guide you through singing with different emotions.

First, find the note E.

That's three in "Three Blind Mice." Then sing this note in two ways.

Start off by using a bright, open sound.

Use a smile to keep the sound more forward in your face and sing the note forte, a bright smiley ah, like you're biting into a juicy apple.

Then try singing it with a somber, gentle sound.

Open your mouth slightly less this time and sing the note piano.

What different emotions can you create with these sounds? Press pause to try that challenge where you are.

Now let's use different note combinations from "Three Blind Mice." We'll add a G, see, and an E, run.

Choose a conductor again to help create the right emotion.

Think about dynamics and vocal timbre.

Start off with everybody singing a G, see, and now all sing an E, run.

This makes a note interval called a minor third, which can be used to express sadness or tenderness.

Try to express this feeling when you sing it.

Press pause to try singing a minor third.

Now try spitting into two groups facing the conductor.

Group one are going to sing see how they run, and group two are going to just sing see and hold that note.

Both groups begin at the same time.

Group one, hold your last note, run, which will be an E, and group two, hold your last note, see, which will be a G.

Press pause to try that challenge now.

Remember to face the conductor.

Next, we'll use the E, three, and the C, mice.

Choose a conductor again to help you to create the right emotion.

Remember to think about dynamics and vocal timbre.

Everyone sing an E, and now all sing a C.

This makes a note interval called a major third, which can be used to express a brighter, more joyful feeling.

Remember to sing it with a bright, smiley sound.

Press pause to try singing a major third.

Now let's try that in practice.

Split into two groups facing the conductor again.

Group one sing three blind mice, and group two sing three, and hold that note.

Again, both groups will begin at the same time.

Group one, hold your last note, mice, which will be a C, and group two, hold your first note, three.

Press pause to try that challenge now.

Let's try singing the following combinations using the correct dynamics and vocal timbre for each.

Try singing see and three, a G and an E.

Sing that piano with a sad, mournful tone to suit a calm, still setting.

Then try singing how and blind, so that will be an F and a D.

Sing that forte.

Try adding a decrescendo to see what effect you can create.

And then sing run and mice, an E and a C.

Start piano and then build to crescendo as if you're trying to create a joyful end to a piece.

Press pause to try those challenges where you are.

Here's your next challenge.

Choose a song that you know as a class, perhaps an assembly favorite, a song from a year group performance, a class song, something from your class playlist, or simply develop the exercise from the previous slides.

Carefully consider, what's the impact you want your song to have on the listener or audience? What emotion do you want them to feel as you sing? Decide which parts you'll sing and with what emotion.

It might change during the song.

To decide that, look carefully at the lyrics together.

Then you'll be ready to assemble yourselves as a choir and imagine you're performing to an audience.

Choose a conductor.

Their job is important.

It's to ensure your dynamics and vocal timbre suit the emotion that you're trying to present.

The conductor can use hand gestures to raise or lower the dynamics of your singing.

Press pause to try that musical challenge where you are, and have fun singing together.

I wonder what song you chose.

You might like to press pause now to reflect upon how you could capture the right emotion and vocal timbre in your voices.

We've come to the end of our lesson together today, all about how singing affects our mood.

But before we go, let's take a moment to reflect on everything we've been learning.

We know that choirs can build a community and unite people with common experiences or musical tastes.

We know that singing is good for our lung function, our brain function, our posture, and our wellbeing too.

And we know that we can alter our dynamics and vocal timbre to convey an emotion when we sing.

And finally, we know that musicians and songwriters often compose by putting their own emotion or emotions they want us to feel into the music.

Amazing work, everyone.

I'm looking forward to seeing you soon for another music lesson.

Bye!.