Singing

Singing with Southwark Music

Singing is at the heart of all that we do! We believe that singing, listening and moving to music is just as important as learning an instrument and this is reflected in every Southwark Music programme, project and event.

Our Curriculum Partnership Programme uses singing as the basis for every music lesson. The songs the children learn directly support their instrumental playing and we use the Kodaly method to develop their understanding of pitch and notation through singing. Kodaly was driven by his overriding belief that “music belongs to everybody”; that active participation in music-making develops a person on all levels and that the best approach is through the instrument accessible to all - the human voice.

Our Whole Class Ensemble programmes also encourage pupils to sing. Instrumental learners sing often in lessons, whether learning a song that they will later play on their instrument or to accompany themselves on the ukulele or keyboard. Singing is a fantastic way of introducing students to musical concepts such as pitch, harmony, dynamics and improvisation.

Our Saturday Centre has 4 choir sessions available to students and many of our partner organisations offer singing opportunities to young people in Southwark including those at secondary schools.

We have several vocal specialists on our staff and regularly run CPD events on vocal health, vocal warm up activities and singing support. A large number of our tutors also run singing assemblies and lunchtime and after school choirs as part of their time in schools. All of our tutors can draw on a song bank of over 130 songs in our teaching resources.

The benefits of singing have long been explored and research has shown that singing is good for lowering stress, boosting immunity, enhancing memory, improving mental health, and helping you cope with physical and emotional pain. Singing is particularly beneficial for improving breathing, posture and muscle tension.

So let’s keep singing!