Choirs Aren’t Cool

...adapted from “Great Things He Hath Done” by V. Henrick
 
That seems to be the perception of quite a few people these days.  Choirs aren’t cool.  They’re old fashioned. 
Our Christian school just started a high school choir again this year.  At the first rehearsal, there were 13 girls and 3 boys.  At the second rehearsal, there were 13 girls.  Choirs are just not cool enough.
If you agree, I’m going to try to dissuade you from that notion.  If you’re one of the boys that didn’t join the choir, please read carefully.
So, here are 10 reasons why you shouldn’t believe that choirs are not cool.

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10.  Cool people sing in choirs.
Don’t believe me?  You think only nerds and goody-two-shoes sing in choirs?  Check this out.  Snoop Dogg was in a choir.  Brad Pitt, Barack Obama, Walter Payton.  I’m not saying all these people are cool.  After all, none of them sing in a choir anymore.  But then there’s David Archuleta, Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli and a host of famous singers who’ve all sung in or with a choir at some point in time and continue to do so.

9.  Choral music is used to soundtrack some of the biggest Hollywood flicks.
If choral music wasn’t cool or relevant, you know as well as I do that Hollywood wouldn’t use it.  Ever.  The most popular Disney movie ever, Frozen, is opened by a wonderful choral piece, followed by another.  Heck, there’s even a hit TV show centered around a cappela singing.  But it’s not cool.  Really?

8.  Yoga is cool.  So are choirs.
Controlled breathing techniques in yoga have been known to have long-term health benefits, especially impacting blood pressure.  Choirs practice controlled breathing all the time.  Studies suggest this could have the same effect.  In fact, when members of a choir sing together, their pulses synchronize within seconds of singing together.  Read more about this here: http://www.voanews.com/content/choirs-synchronize-heartbeats-along-with-voices/1699072.html  There is a unison within a choir that is not experienced in any other group.  Minds, voices and bodies become unified.  Bonds are built.

7.  Team sports are cool.  So are choirs.
Just like team sports introduce and reinforce interpersonal skills, motivation, determination, sportsmanship and so on, choirs do the same.  Begin working on Handel’s Messiah for the first time as a choral group and you’ll be guaranteed to hone your interpersonal skills within your section, your motivational skills, your determination and sportsmanship (when you completely miss that rest and you belt out an uncalled-for-solo!)  And as mentioned earlier, bonds are built in a choir, arguably much more than you would on any sports team.

6.  Choirs have been around for thousands of years.  If they weren’t cool, they would have been obsolete thousands of years ago. 
Perhaps you’re thinking, “Thousands of years.  Exactly, they’re old fashioned.”  If you are, please go outside to your vehicle, pull out your tire jack and remove the four round things your vehicle rides on.  Yes, the wheels.  They’re old fashioned.  Obsolete.

5. The human voice is cooler than drums, guitars, pianos, horns or any other instrument. 
Yes, it’s cooler than the organ too, for the “king of instruments” fans out there.   Bach, probably the most widely known musician in the world, still today, composed well over 300 choral works.  Like this article states, “Because the human voice was used for expression before the invention of instruments and because all melodic instruments learn from the human voice, it can be said that all music itself comes from vocal music.”  http://www.learntoplaymusic.com/blog/why-the-human-voice-can-be-considered-the-ultimate-melodic-instrument/  That leads us to our next reason.

4.  All music comes from choral music.  That makes it über cool.
Since the human voice was the only instrument we had at one point, choral music is naturally the grand daddy of all genres of music.  Think about it.  Where did country music come from? Jazz?  Rock and roll?  Techno?  Dance?  Hip hop? R & B?  All genres can be traced back to the beginning of the 19th century, where the spiritual songs of the Deep South blended with the popular choral music, which gave rise to blues, jazz, R & B, country, rock and roll and the list goes on.  Every genre of music on this planet evolved from choral music.  This is why you’ll see choirs being able to sing pieces from so many different genres.

3.  Singing in a choir is good for your mental state.
Teens generally think they’re OK.  Or at least, that’s what they tell you.  There’s no struggles.  No difficulty finding their way.  No girl that broke their heart.  No worry about fitting in.  But if you’re a teen, or if you’ve been a teen, you’ll know and remember what it was like to be a teen.  Even if you’re not a teen now, you know the mess this life can throw at you.  So, join a choir.  Why?  Because it will make you happier. It's proven. Scientific. Check out this article:
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2013/07/singing_in_a_choir_research_shows_it_increases_happiness.html

2.  Choir membership is on the rise. 
If choirs were not so cool, they wouldn’t exist.  But more than that, if choirs were not cool, more people wouldn’t be joining them.  Did you know that according to Chorus America, 32.5 million adults sing in choirs, up by almost 10 million over the past six years?  That’s nearly 1 in 10 Americans that sing in a choir.  Big deal, right?  Well, consider this:  studies show that basketball is most played sport in the US with 26.3 million participants.  So, the most popular sport in America is left in the dust by choral singing. Yeah…. you read it here first.
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1.  There are choirs in the coolest place in the universe.
“And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God.” (Revelation 19:1, KJV)  So, if you’re a Christian, you’ll know that joining a choir here is just a foretaste of the greatest choir ever.  Millions of people in heaven singing the Song of the Lamb, singing to the King!!!!
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In conclusion, if you think you’re too cool for a choir, think again.  Are you reading carefully?
Consider this:  people don’t remember who the King of England was during the early 16th century, but they’ll remember who Bach was.  My point?  The arts are important.  They’re lasting and timeless.  And choirs take center stage in the realm of musical arts.
So in short, choirs aren’t cool.  You’re right.  They are healthy.  They are happy.  They are inspirational.  They are relevant.  They’re important.  They are sacred.  And choirs are rich with history.
Choirs aren’t cool.  They’re awesome.
 

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