World voice day 2021 and 9 online disability inclusive choirs
Let’s hear it on World Voice Day for the 9 online choirs keeping life upbeat for music lovers with brain injuries and other disabilities.
In some ways, the covid pandemic has eased access to inclusive activities for people with acquired brain injury (ABI) and other disabilities – including community choirs.
And that’s due to the countless numbers of organisations and services that have shifted online or expanded existing websites to counter lockdown constraints.
We conducted a search (‘a cappella’ and ‘vivace’ for World Voice Day on April 16) to sound out what’s on offer now in the UK’s online inclusive choir community.
It’s about adapted instruments, being absolutely person-centred, making extraordinary adjustments… 
Electric Umbrella
Big Yellow
Anyone with a learning disability is welcome to swell the sounds of the Big Yellow Choirs orchestrated by registered inclusive music charity Electric Umbrella.
But choir practice isn’t the only interactive activity you can tune into via their online portal [1]. Other notables include:
- Open mic and club nights.
- Singalongs, songwriting and experimental music sessions.
- Spotlights with invited musical guests/collaborators.
Based in South-West Hertfordshire, the charity has seen a boom in membership during the covid pandemic as more people turned to virtual communities to combat isolation in lockdown.
“Amazingly,” it reports, “[running online only] has broadened our membership far and wide and been a total lifeline for our community - both the people with learning disabilities relying on the vital connection we have brought and the parents/carers reliant on the respite our sessions have brought for them [1].”
Nordoff-Robbins
It’s half a century old but Nordoff-Robbins, the UK’s largest independent music therapy charity, has its finger on the pulse of providing support in music to anyone affected by life-limiting illness, isolation or disability.
And the covid pandemic proved no exception as the charity focussed its efforts online to co-ordinate free services and weekly events for people of all abilities and experience, including:
- One-to-one and shared music therapy sessions.
- Specialised music lessons.
- The Nordoff-Robbins open access online choir.
The charity works in partnership with over 270 organisations, has regional hubs across the country and, by 2018, had provided almost 45,000 music therapy sessions to nearly 12,000 vulnerable people [2].
Soundabout
Soundabout’s inclusive choirs provide a sounding board for ‘musical communities free of all barriers’, with a special spotlight on people with severe and profound learning disabilities.
The music therapy charity formed its first inclusive choir in Oxford in 2019, but now five new choirs have taken to its virtual stage from Bristol, Leicester, Peterborough, the West Midlands and Wiltshire.
Encouraging any music lover with learning disabilities living in those areas to join up, the Soundabout team assured: “There is no cost…as we want to ensure that everyone can take part in this project.” [3].
Headway
We cited Headway - the brain injury association’s Black Country Survivors Chorus back in January in a list of music known to have uplifted brain injury survivors and their families [4].
But Headway choral members in Cork, Ireland, are equally vocal in the virtual world, as their star turns to attest on YouTube to the celebrated strains of Paul McCartney [5] and The Carpenters [6].
Headway runs music sessions across the country to boost cognitive functioning, social skills and physical ability after brain injury.
“Whether it's singing or playing an instrument, music can play a positive role in recovery and rehabilitation,” the charity says [7].
Stroke Association
I’ve had lots of positive feedback from people who’ve attended our virtual choir, saying how grateful they are that they can socialise again in safety.
Carol Boydell, Sussex Stroke Support Virtual Choir
Even setting the scientific research aside [8], there’s a chorus of Stroke Association members singing the praises of inclusive music as a therapy that:
- Enhances speech and communication skills.
- Facilitates closer connections with others.
- Improves confidence.
Recognising those benefits, the Stroke Association (SA) co-coordinates several choirs around the country, such as The North West Community Stroke Choir [9], Strike a Chord Cymru [10] and the Sussex Stroke Support Virtual Choir.
Happily, however, the Sussex choir’s virtual presence has proven so popular, it’s now open to all SA songsters!
“No matter where you live,” the group says, “[SA members] can join our online choir through zoom. Our choir lady leads us in familiar songs and some new ones as well.”
Voices of Aphasia
Aphasia choirs, first developed in the Antipodes [11], have improved neurological problems with communication and language.
The Stroke Association’s answer to this is Voices of Aphasia, a choir comprised of aphasia sufferers and guided by speech and language therapists (SALTS).
And although choir practice in person has been cancelled due to covid, the SALTs have composed a series of virtual sessions – free for all! - to ensure the music plays on.
The sessions include warm-up exercises, songs with aphasia-friendly lyrics and virtual tea break discussion ideas [12] – or why not start your own aphasia choir with their free downloadable guide? [13]
Singing for the brain.
It brings people affected by dementia together to sing a variety of songs they know and love in a fun and friendly environment.
Alzheimer’s Society
The Alzheimer’s Society’s Singing for the Brain music sessions – now online – feature warm-ups and renditions of familiar and new songs.
Support is offered by ‘skilled, compassionate and experienced staff – and 100 per cent of participants say the sessions have improved their lives! [14]
For anyone unable to access the Zoom sessions, you can still have a go at stretching your vocal cords by using the charity’s Ring and Sing service over the phone.
Music for Dementia
“Music evokes emotion, and emotion can bring memory. Music brings back the feeling of life when nothing else can.” Dr Oliver Sacks, Music for Dementia
Music for Dementia, an initiative of the Utley Family Charitable Trust, uses music and music therapy to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia [15].
The aim – to make music available to everyone living with dementia - is motivated by lived experiences and research showing how music can alleviate some dementia symptoms, such as anxiety, agitation and apathy [16].
Along with its award-winning memory-stirring radio station, M4D Radio enables listeners to select a decade of tracks based around their birth year - the campaign group has also compiled The Musical Map, a directory of musical groups and experiences suitable for people living with dementia [17].
Include Choir
Inclusive communication charity, The Include Project, gave rise to the Include Choir for people with understanding and speaking difficulties - although it welcomes members of all abilities.
Billed as ‘somewhere that everyone is valued for their unique contribution’, the choir now meets every week online, using inclusive communication techniques such as Makaton signing when singing [18].
They also have their own YouTube channel to share their performances and spread the word about inclusive communication [19].
World Voice Day
A total of 39 countries are hosting events to mark this year’s World Voice Day and raise awareness of the role and impact of vocal communication [20].
The latest from talking heads
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