A black and white photo of a choir leader with both arms raised in front of a large group singing under a timber-framed roof.
Loud EnoughYour first Tuesday

Ninety people who can't read music, singing in four parts every Tuesday

A community choir in the scout hut on Mill Road. No auditions, no sheet music, no solos unless you ask. You learn your part by ear, from the person next to you.

Come and try a Tuesday

Four parts, and you'll find yours

On your first night we listen to you speak, not sing, and point you to a row. You can move whenever you like; about a third of us have.

Young singers holding black folders, singing in front of a gilded altar.

Sopranos

The tune, mostly. Thirty of them, and the loudest row by some way.

Older men in blue blazers and ties singing together, an organist behind them.

Basses

The floor everyone else stands on. Fourteen men and two women who got fed up of altos.

A red candle lantern in the foreground, blurred singers in red and white behind it.

Altos

The harmony, and the best seats: next to the tea urn.

A choir in red and navy robes on a hall stage, a conductor with his back to the camera.

Tenors

Always short. If you're not sure where you go, you're probably a tenor.

The Christmas concert

Saturday 13 December in St John's, at seven. Ninety voices, the brass band from the colliery, and mince pies in the aisle at the interval.

Tickets are £8, children free. Every penny goes to the food bank on Station Road.

Ring for tickets
A large choir in red and black on tiered risers above a small band, stage lights on a dark hall.

This term's songbook

Eight songs, learned by ear. There's a practice recording of every part; ask for the link on your first night.

  1. Lean on Me, in four partsgentle start
  2. The Parting Glassunaccompanied
  3. A Georgian drinking songthe tricky one
  4. Down to the River to Praycall and answer
  5. Something from the eightiesa secret until October
  6. Calon Lânin Welsh, slowly
  7. Hard Times Come Again No Morefor the concert
  8. In the Bleak Midwinterfor the concert
A sheet of music on a black stand, lit from the side against a dark background.

Your first Tuesday

Just turn up

Half past seven at the scout hut. Say you're new at the door; someone will walk you to a row and stand next to you.

The music stand is for show

We learn by ear, line by line. The stand in the photograph belongs to the one person who reads music, and she's the pianist.

£5 a week

Or £50 a term, or nothing if money's tight. Put what you can in the tin; nobody looks.

Tea at half time

Twenty minutes at quarter to nine. It's when most of the friendships happen.

Other ways in

Close up of an open songbook held by a singer in a red jumper.

Summer singalong

Four Tuesdays in August, open to anyone, no commitment.

A small choir in blue blazers singing in a chapel with a pipe organ and a balcony.

Singing for care homes

A group of twelve, on the first Friday afternoon of the month.

A choir in blue blazers seen from the gallery of a wood-panelled hall, people watching below.

Choir swaps

Twice a year we visit another choir, and they come to us.