How to Find a Local Choir That Suits Your Voice

Start with an honest look at what you want

Choirs are not interchangeable. A chamber choir polishing Renaissance motets for a cathedral evensong has almost nothing in common with a pub-based community choir learning pop arrangements by ear, even though both will welcome you warmly. Before you start hunting, spend five minutes working out what you are actually after.

• Repertoire: classical, pop, folk, gospel, musical theatre, world music, or a bit of everything?
• Learning style: do you read music comfortably, or would you rather learn by ear with a leader teaching each part?
• Commitment: a weekly rehearsal you can dip in and out of, or a termly cycle with fixed concert dates?
• Social side: are you there mainly to sing, mainly to meet people, or both in equal measure?
• Voice part: if you are unsure whether you are an alto or a mezzo, that is completely normal, and any decent choir will help you work it out.

Where to find choirs near you

Search engines will only get you so far, because many of the best local choirs have a tiny online presence maintained by one long-suffering volunteer.

• Noticeboards in libraries, community centres, church halls, village shops and leisure centres.
• Local newspapers and free listings magazines, particularly in the run-up to Christmas and Easter.
• Ask at your nearest music shop or instrument retailer — the staff usually know who rehearses where.
• Word of mouth: tell friends, colleagues and neighbours you are looking. Choir members are evangelists.
• Places of worship, which often host community choirs even when they do not run them.

It also helps to widen your radius. A twenty-minute drive or one stop further along the train line can double your options, and most choirs rehearse in the evening when the roads are quieter.

Visit a rehearsal before you commit

Almost every choir will let you sit in on a rehearsal free of charge, and you should take them up on it. Watching from the back of the room for one evening tells you more than any website can.

• Listen to the tone. Is the sound warm and blended, or harsh and shouty? Can you pick out the individual sections?
• Watch the conductor. Clear gestures, a sense of humour and genuine encouragement matter far more than a dazzling CV.
• Notice the atmosphere. Do members greet newcomers? Is there laughter between pieces?
• Try singing along quietly. See whether you can follow the part and whether the pitch sits comfortably in your range.

Ask to sit near the section you think you belong to, and do not worry about mistakes. Nobody is listening to you on a first visit; they are all too busy watching the conductor.

Ask about auditions, sight-reading and commitment

These are the three things that most often cause mismatched expectations, so ask about them directly rather than guessing.

Auditions. Many community choirs operate a no-audition policy — you simply turn up and sing. Others ask for a short, informal voice check, usually a scale, a range test and perhaps a line of a song, purely to place you in the right section. Formal auditions with prepared pieces are more common in chamber and cathedral-style choirs, where blend and balance matter enormously.

Music reading. Find out whether the choir sings from notation, learns by ear, or uses a mixture of the two. If you do not read music, say so straight away. Plenty of choirs provide rehearsal tracks and part-learning sessions, and you will pick up notation surprisingly fast once you are singing it every week.

Commitment. Ask how many rehearsals there are per term, how many concerts, and what happens if you miss a week because of work or illness. Ask about the practicalities too: termly subscriptions, the cost of hiring music, concert dress, and whether there is a waiting list for your voice part.

Trust the room, and give it three goes

One rehearsal is a snapshot, not a verdict. Give any choir you are considering at least three visits before deciding, because the first evening is always disorientating and the second is often worse — you notice the bits you cannot yet sing. By the third, you will know whether the sound, the people and the standard feel right for you.

Be prepared to try two choirs in parallel, or to sing with one group this term and another next term. Nothing is lost by moving on politely. The right choir is the one where you leave rehearsal slightly more energised than when you arrived, still humming something you did not know a fortnight ago. If that happens, you have found your place.