I know what some of you are about to say: "You're opinion is biased. You're a music major. You've been in choir for ten years." While this is true, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. What I mean is even though I have done choir for years and try to get others to join it doesn't mean that I'm better or there's some sort of catch. The reason I tell people to join choir is because in the end there are a lot of laughs and memories made. Many only listen to the negatives such as choir being a lot of work, which it is but there are so many more positives to it.
1) There are different types of choirs
You don't have to be the greatest singer to join a choir, nor do you have to be in college. There are youth choirs within most schools and sometimes there are other youth choirs within churches as well as larger church choirs. There are area choirs such as the Ashland Area Chorus which can be any age from high school up as long as they live in Ashland County. There are woman's chorus and men's chorus if that's something you're interested in. There are chamber singers and acapella groups. There are even show choirs if you enjoy singing and dancing.
2) You meet new people
You can make a lot of new friends when you join a choir. You meet a lot of new faces, and if you just get to talking to someone it might just start to blossom into an amazing friendships. I built some amazing friendships just through choir throughout my high school years, and now I'm starting to make some more in my college choir. I'm not saying you'll like everyone, but there will be some people you couldn't imagine never being friends with.
3) The Directors are crazy
I absolutely love my choir directors. They are fun, they are funny, basically they are just straight up psychotic. They try to be funny on purpose, then there are those "oops" moments that they have (which is 80% of the time) that just cracks everyone up. They are there to help you grow vocally, but they are also going to make fun of you to the extent where you yourself will laugh. Oh, and they sometimes dance on stage and hopefully one of your friends catch them on tape for future references.
4) You have to have an arts credit anyways
Most high schools and college require you to have one or two arts/humanity credits, so why not choir? You get to perform in concerts, dress up, make your friends go an see you perform, and just blow everyone's socks off. Also, some of the songs are just amazing to sing as well as listen to.
5) Traveling
Some choirs travel and perform. This year the Ashland University Choir traveled to Germany and sang Bach in some of the old chapels including the chapel that he himself performed in. Now we don't go to Europe every year, but we do go to different places such as New York, Virginia, and other places. This is why a lot of people joined choir my junior year of high school so they can go to New York. I'm not saying this is the best reason to join choir, but it is one of the perks and it's really fun.
These are only some of the reasons I have to offer, and I'm not trying to convince you choir is for everyone. Everyone has a right to choose what they do. I choose to be a choir nerd, and maybe you could be one too if your into that. Just think about it.
