Excellence through Group Singing: Learning Process - Non-musical

The approach taken by the vocal leaders and other project workers in Youth Music Voices led to a selection of non-musical outcomes for the young people involved.

Friendship and peer support

Residential rehearsals necessitate group members to share ‘down time’ as well as rehearsal time: leading to strong friendships and peer support frameworks developing.

In Youth Music Voices, an online group allowed a geographically disparate group of young people to have a space where each young person was able to take part in discussion forums, group messaging, to share photos and details of forthcoming arrangements.

Self-efficacy

The participants of Youth Music Voices were forthcoming in sharing how much their self-efficacy had increased. Many said their confidence had increased and described the choir as "empowering". Young people reported how the choir fostered a safe environment and gave them space to be themselves and socialise "without fear".

Experiencing diversity

Having a broad and national recruitment procedure led to a diverse cohort, which some young people reported to “open their eyes to how many different kinds of people there are”.

Experiencing sameness

Taking part in a voluntary activity where the group is working towards the common goal of excellent performances led to young people reporting feeling like they belonged: “I feel out of place in school but everyone here feels the same.”

An understanding of leadership

Through the Youth Music Voices Leadership Scheme, two young people from each section (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) were selected to act as 'YMV Reps'. The eight reps were tasked with acting as intermediary between staff and singers, acting as exemplary members within their section and pastorally supporting other choir members as necessary.

While these were the most prominent outcomes for Youth Music Voices, in your project you might like to identify and work towards different non-musical outcomes.