Neil Rule - Singing to Enjoy and Relax
'A friend of mine was an existing choir member and he’d kept asking me to come along, he thought it would be something I might enjoy. I’ve never sang in a choir before, I don’t read music and I’ve not been taught music, but I do enjoy singing - usually after a beer or six.
So, he convinced me to come along to the annual concert and I was blown away! The sound of a male voice choir in full flow is like nothing else – and the music repertoire was surprisingly varied, it wasn’t all church music but was a mixture including some local North East songs and some well known ones from musicals.
I turned up to the next practice evening and needless to say I was immediately hooked. I was welcomed from the start and although most choir members are older guys there are a few of us "young-uns” and the craic is always canny…..
For me being part of a choir is something completely different to anything I’ve done before. I run a manufacturing company and work in a fairly pressured environment so being in a crowd and one of a group is an incredible release for me and great for my mental health and wellbeing. I’ve found that singing in a choir has been an incredible release and really quite calming. It’s just a time to decompress, enjoy and relax.
Regardless of your musical ability I’d thoroughly recommend joining this choir to any guy.'