Oldham Tuneless Choir encourage people to embrace the joy of singing

With the cost-of-living crisis hitting the nation as we emerge from the Covid pandemic, Oldham’s Tuneless Choir want to remind the community of the mood-boosting power of singing with others.

The Choir, set up for those “lacking the ability, practice or confidence to sing in tune”, has provided an outlet for the ropiest singers of the town since launching in 2019.

There are over 30 Tuneless Choirs around the country, but the last couple of years have proved trickier than the challenge of getting all the right notes in the right order.

Gemma Cunliffe, manager of Oldham Tuneless Choir, said: “Group singing releases endorphins, which are known as “happy hormones”.

"Research has shown singing in a choir has even greater effects – it can reduce anxiety and depression, and increase life satisfaction.

"And of course choirs have been used to help people with dementia, Parkinson’s and COPD.

“It was my personal experience of singing, helping me through grief and depression, that led to me starting a tuneless choir in Oldham.

"It’s just incredible how doing something so simple can increase someone’s quality of life.

“I do think that many of us have forgotten how uplifting and energising it is to get out of the house and meet other people, especially if we can have fun together.

"Which is just what we do when we sing and laugh at ourselves doing so!

"There’s absolutely no pressure at Tuneless Choirs, we just sing where we feel comfortable, and there’s no stigma if that means you are way off the tune.

"Most of us can’t tell anyway.

“Choirs had an extremely bad press during the pandemic.

"It wasn’t until August 2020 that research showed that singing releases no more aerosols than speaking at a similar volume.

"We were finally given permission to meet, but no sooner had we started to make plans than we were shut down by the next phase of lockdowns.

"The choir are now very happy to be meeting in person again and are looking for new members.”

Nadine Cooper, who had the idea for the first Tuneless Choir after being told at school to stop singing because she was spoiling it for everyone else, said: “I’m delighted the choir in Oldham has weathered the storm and is continuing to run.

“It looks like we are heading into recession, so I think we’ll all need to find some simple pleasures in life.

"At only £6 per session if you sign up for a term in advance, including refreshments, Tuneless hopefully falls into that category for a good number of people.

"We’ve had people describe the effects as “priceless” and “much cheaper than therapy”, let alone any other night out.”

Jess Leavy took over the role of leader of Oldham Tuneless Choir in April and said: “We are hoping more tuneless folk will come along this autumn.

"We don’t split into vocal parts and there are no scary auditions to worry about.

"Anyone who just wants to blast through songs, singing like no one is listening, is welcome to join us.”

Oldham Tuneless Choir meet every other Wednesday from 7.15-8.45pm in the Performance Space at Oldham Library and Lifelong Learning Centre.

There is a free taster session on August 24 prior to the launch of the autumn term on September 7.

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