How to use singing to lift you out of a low mood

  • [The views expressed in this blog are from my personal experiences from almost 30 years of leading non-auditioned community choirs in the UK, as well as adult singing workshops. My focus is on teaching by ear using a repertoire of songs from traditions across the globe. Your experiences may differ from mine, so do feel free to leave a comment and let's begin a conversation! A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]

     

    [this post was written during the Covid pandemic series of lockdowns]


    We all have good days and bad days.

     

     

    Today I’m feeling particularly low and unmotivated. But I got out of it. Here’s how.

     

    It’s very easy to sing when you’re feeling positive. But when you’re having a bad day, it can be much harder.

     

    I’ve written before about how mood follows action and not the other way round (see When you don’t feel like singing, that’s the perfect time to do it – sing yourself happy! and How to move forward when you’re uninspired). However, that’s much easier said than done.

     

    When you’re feeling really low, the last thing you probably want to do is to sing.

     

    In which case you need to find a way to force it. Once you’re singing, your mood will improve. You just need to find a way to get started.

     

    I wrote recently about how to Create your own deadlines and bring some structure to your life and work. You can use the same technique to help you start singing when you don’t feel like it. Create something outside yourself that you have to report to.

     

    I signed up to learn a song with the amazing Abi Moore. She sent out part recordings last Friday, but I hadn’t got around to listening to them. There’s a live Zoom session tomorrow in order to air the song. Suddenly I have a deadline: I need to learn my part by tomorrow.

     

    Reluctantly I started one of her learning videos this morning, even though I really wasn’t feeling like it. But it only took a few minutes before I was totally absorbed in the challenge of learning my part by ear. I soon realised that I was actually enjoying, both the singing and the sense of achievement.

     

    Soon my mood lifted enough for me to start writing this blog post. Job done!

     

    When you’re feeling down and can’t get it together to even sing, set a singing situation up that involves having to report to somebody. That’s usually enough to get you started and before you know it you’ll be singing and your mood will improve.

     

     

     

     

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    Chris Rowbury

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