Frontiers | Singing Together, Yet Apart: The Experience of UK Choir Members and Facilitators During the Covid-19 Pandemic | Psychology	

At the end of the church service, the congregation all stood up from their seats and applauded the choir for their beautiful performance. 

After throwing bread crumbs on the ground for hours, she had attracted a congregation of hungry pigeons around her. 

Listening to motivational podcasts every morning while she got ready instilled confidence in her that she hadn’t had before—she now felt ready to take on her day ahead. 

His teacher was always telling him that he was doing a good job and that he should keep going, providing positive reinforcement that instilled confidence in him. 

Being a nanny can provide you with the transferable skills of responsibility and problem solving. 

In her new job as a scientist, she was able to use the transferable skills from her former chef job, such as attention to detail and equipment safety. 

In your own words, please briefly summarize the article.

When was the last time you sang? By yourself? In front of someone else? 

Have you ever sung in a choir? If so, what did you think of the experience? If not, would you consider joining one? 

Do you think that singing in a choir can provide you with transferable skills? If so, what kinds of skills? 

Do you think that choir can teach people how to be a part of a community? 

A lot of people get nervous when they are performing in front of large groups of people. Do you get nervous when performing (be it by way of public speaking, singing, or otherwise)? 

The author notes that with practice, one can become more confident when performing in large groups. Do you agree with this sentiment? Why or why not? 

If you have a question or questions that you'd like to discuss during your class, please write them down.

Playing your part with communal awareness

Singing in Choir

공동체 의식을 갖추게 된 소중한 경험

When I was five years old, I began singing in my church’s choir with other kids my age. At the time, I knew I really loved to sing, but since I was so young, I didn’t know much about it or what it would mean to me in the future. Now that I’m in college where I study music and singing, I look back on my 13 years in church choir with fondness and appreciation.  I would rehearse with my choir every Sunday evening, and around twice a month on Sunday mornings, we would sing at a church service. Even at times when I wasn’t exactly sure what my religious beliefs were, I felt emotionally connected to the music. There’s something so special about being in a large group of singers, usually around 30 or so people, and hearing them all harmonize together. Sometimes, I was given a solo to sing, which meant I would go up to the pew and sing the lead melody by myself. At first, this was very scary; I was so nervous that I might mess up in front of the entire congregation [1]! But over time, it became comfortable to me, and the church felt like a second home.  The choir made me a better, more passionate singer and musician, but more than that, it instilled confidence [2] in me and taught me how to be a part of a community. For my first couple of years in choir, I didn’t think I’d ever feel confident enough to sing a solo in front of everybody. Of course, I eventually realized that this wasn’t true, and I learned that the key to getting rid of my nerves was practice. The times I was most nervous were the times when I felt unprepared for the performance. When I had spent hours and hours singing with the group and by myself, though, I felt ready to go. And, even if I was still nervous after practicing a lot, I would tell myself, “I have practiced to the point where I am well-prepared, so I have no reason to worry. Anything that goes wrong will just be a mistake, and mistakes happen!”  Plus, I knew that even if I messed up, I had all my friends there singing along with me. Through choir, I came to understand the importance of what it means to be a part of a community working towards a common goal. When you’re all singing together, you have to take on the duties of both listening to others and to yourself. You want to make sure you are singing in tune so that the overall blend of sound is good, but you also don’t want to overpower other singers if you’re not supposed to be singing a solo. Choir is an example of how a successful group requires individual effort with communal awareness. You might not care if you forgot to memorize the lyrics to a song, but it will make the rest of the group sound bad. I was able to apply these transferable skills [3] of personal responsibility, attention to detail, and practice into so many different areas of life that have made me successful to this day.

저는 다섯 살 때부터 교회 성가대에서 또래 아이들과 함께 노래를 부르기 시작했습니다. 저는 그때 제가 노래 부르는 걸 정말 좋아한다는 걸 알았지만 너무 어려서 노래가 무엇인지 그리고 그것이 앞으로 나에게 어떤 의미를 가지게 될지 잘 몰랐습니다. 대학에서 음악과 노래를 공부하고 있는 지금, 저는 교회 성가대에서 보낸 13년을 사랑과 감사의 마음으로 돌아봅니다. 저는 매주 일요일 저녁에 성가대와 함께 연습을 하고 한 달에 두 번 정도 일요일 아침에 교회 예배때 노래를 불렀습니다. 당시 저는 저의 종교적 신념이 무엇인지 정확히 확신할 수 없었지만 음악과 감정적으로 연결되어 있음을 느꼈습니다. 약 30명 정도 되는 많은 단원들이 모여 함께 만드는 조화로운 음악을 듣는 것은 매우 특별했습니다. 가끔 저는 솔로로 노래를 하기도 했는데 그것은 제가 신도석 앞으로 나가서 혼자 선창을 하는 것이었습니다. 처음에는 매우 겁이 났습니다. 너무 긴장해서 교회 전체 신도들이 보는 앞에서 실수를 할 것만 같았습니다. 하지만 시간이 지나면서 점차 편안해졌고 교회는 저의 또다른 집처럼 느껴졌습니다. 성가대는 저를 더 훌륭하고 열정적인 가수이자 음악가로 만들어주었지만 그것에 앞서  저에게 자신감을 심어주고 공동체의 일원이 되는 방법을 가르쳐주었습니다. 성가대 활동을 하던 처음 몇 년 동안은 많은 사람들 앞에서 혼자 노래를 부를 수 있을 만큼 충분한 자신감이 없었습니다. 물론 나중에는 이것이 사실이 아님을 깨달았고 걱정을 극복하는 열쇠는 바로 연습이라는 것을 배웠습니다. 가장 떨렸던 때는 공연 준비가 안되어 있을 때였습니다. 몇 시간이고 성가대와 함께 그리고 혼자 노래를 하며 시간을 보내고 나면, 나갈 준비가 되었다고 느꼈습니다. 연습을 많이 한 후에도 긴장이 될 때는 저 자신에게 이렇게 말하고는 했습니다. “연습을 많이 해서 준비가 잘되었으니 걱정할 필요없어! 뭔가 잘못된다면 그건 실수일 뿐이고 실수는 누구든지 할 수 있어!” 게다가 제가 실수를 하더라도 거기에는 모든 친구들이 저와 함께 노래를 부르고 있다는 것을 알았습니다. 합창을 통해 저는 공동의 목표를 향해 함께 노력하는 공동체의 일원이 되는 것이 무엇을 의미하는지 이해하게 되었습니다. 함께 노래를 부를 때는 다른 사람의 소리는 물론 자신의 소리에 귀를 기울여야 합니다. 전체적인 소리가 조화롭게 들리도록 음이 틀리지 않아야 하고 또한 솔로가 아닌 경우에는 내 소리가 다른 사람들의 목소리를 압도해서 튀지 않도록 해야 합니다. 합창단은 집단이 성공하기 위해서는 전체를 의식하는 개인의 노력이 얼마나 필요한지 보여주는 좋은 예입니다. 노래 가사를 외우는 것을 잊고도 게의치 않을 수는 있겠지만 그것은 전체 합창단의 소리를 나쁘게 만들 수 있습니다. 저는 개인의 책임감, 세부 사항까지 꼼꼼히 신경쓰는 치밀함, 연습 등 다른 분야로 이전가능한 기술들을 삶의 다른 많은 영역에도 적용할 수 있었고 바로 그것이 오늘날 저를 성공으로 이끌었습니다.