Music Education Research

ISSN: 1461-3808 (Print) 1469-9893 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cmue20

The role of choral singing in the lives of amateur

choral singers in Iceland

Sigrun Lilja Einarsdottir & Helga Rut Gudmundsdottir

To cite this article: Sigrun Lilja Einarsdottir & Helga Rut Gudmundsdottir (2016) The role of choral
singing in the lives of amateur choral singers in Iceland, Music Education Research, 18:1, 39-56,
DOI: 10.1080/14613808.2015.1049258

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2015.1049258

Published online: 12 Aug 2015.

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 Music Education Research, 2016
Vol. 18, No. 1, 39–56, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2015.1049258

The role of choral singing in the lives of amateur choral singers in Iceland
Sigrun Lilja Einarsdottira* and Helga Rut Gudmundsdottirb
a
Department of Social Science, Bifröst University, Bifröst, 311 Borgarnes, Iceland; bSchool of
Education, University of Iceland, Skipholt 37, 105 Reykjavik, Iceland
(Received 18 July 2014; accepted 29 April 2015)
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The purpose of this study was to investigate what motivates people to sing in choirs
as a leisure activity. Subjects were retrieved from members of 10 amateur choirs of
various types in Iceland through a paper-based survey. Results indicated that
participants gain both personal and social benefits from singing in a choir.
Findings revealed differences between participants in terms of their perceptions
regarding social and personal aspects of choral singing according to gender, age,
level of education and music education. Personal enjoyment of singing and a
positive social atmosphere seem to be the strongest motivating factors for
voluntary participation in choirs.
Keywords: choir; choral singing; personal benefits of singing; social benefits of
singing; music and wellbeing

Background and purpose of study

The choral tradition in Iceland (an island in the North Atlantic Ocean with 320,000
inhabitants) is generally considered very lively. Historically, it was initially mostly
associated with the Lutheran State Church at the end of the nineteenth century and
choirs independent of the church were mostly male choirs (Björnsdóttir 2001). It is
believed that the choral tradition in Iceland is relatively strong, but there are no official
statistics that exist on the amount of active choirs in Iceland or number of active choir
members. Even small communities in the rural parts of Iceland have at least one
church choir, and several types of amateur choirs. Such community choirs serve a
highly important purpose as cultural institutions and as important agencies in the
lives of the choral singers (Faulkner and Davidson 2006).
In fact, singing plays an important role in the social life of Icelanders, as group
sing-a-longs are an integral part of social events such as family reunions, camping
and traditional festivals. Singing activities are also highly valued in schools and con-
sidered important for children’s education (Guðmundsdóttir 2008, 2013). However,
very little has been written about the Icelandic choral tradition in present literature.
This study surveyed choral singers in 10 Icelandic amateur choirs. The purpose of
this study was to search for answers as to what motivates Icelandic choral singers in
particular to spend their free time singing in choirs. Several background variables
were correlated with the survey answers, which provided interesting results on the
effects of gender, age, education and music education on their responses. Theoretical

*Corresponding author. Email: sigrunlilja@bifrost.is

© 2015 Taylor & Francis
 40 S.L. Einarsdottir and H.R. Gudmundsdottir

perspectives are derived from previous studies on the amateur choral ensemble within
music sociology, music psychology and music education.
The research question is the following: What motivates Icelandic choral singers to
participate in choral activities in their free time and what aspects are the most
important?

Review of literature
Introduction
Choral singing is probably the most outspread form of art performance, especially in
Western countries. It is an opportunity for ordinary people to participate in creating
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music without the requirements of formal music education (Walker 2005).

In a historical perspective, the choir as a phenomenon was relatively unknown
before the early Renaissance period, where the mixed voice, amateur choir has devel-
oped from the small church choirs (4–20 members) to the great oratorio choirs in the
nineteenth century. Choirs only grew larger after the baroque era (Garretson 1993;
Young 1962). Interestingly, women’s participation in choirs was not widespread
until in the nineteenth century (Calame, Collins, and Orion 1995).
It was not until in the classical era when choirs became a platform of leisure for
people in general, both men and women, that the number of choir members grew.
In the romantic era (1820–1900), there was an enormous growth in choral activities,
especially in Great Britain, Germany, Scandinavia and North America, whereas
mixed-voice choirs became an artistic, musical platform for many people, pro-
fessionals as well as amateurs. Some of these choirs consisted of 3–400 members in
the fast-growing towns and cities in these countries (Young 1962). Many big concert
halls were built in cities such as Berlin, Vienna, New York and Boston (Garretson
1993). These concert halls became venues for big concerts and other artistic activities,
especially for amateur choirs, where ordinary people could participate in a ‘respect-
able’ leisure, singing a repertoire which was acknowledged as religiously refining,
such as the oratorios and passions (Russell 1997).
The concept of choir can be defined as a group of people who sing together in
unison or harmony and is usually led by a designated conductor. The following defi-
nitions are suggested to describe a typical choir: (a) a fixed membership, (b) a distinc-
tion between preparation and the prospective musical event, (c) a clear choice of
repertoire, (d) a musical leader that is acknowledged, (e) members that are not soloists
and finally (f) sounds are produced in the harmony of voices, either with the choir as a
whole or divided in various sections (Ahlquist 2006).
An amateur choir has been defined as a group of skilled individuals with all kinds
of educational background (from secondary/high school to a higher university degree)
who do not earn their living by performing music. Usually, the only requirement for
singing in an amateur choir is singing ability and the regular participation in group
rehearsals and concerts (Diekhoff 1991).
Three main types of amateur musicians have been identified (Stebbins 1979):
Firstly, it is the pure amateur who has no intention of becoming a professional and
wants to continue his/her participation in amateur performances, i.e. thus, having
music as a leisure first and foremost. Secondly, it is the pre-professional amateur
whose intention is to become a professional singer and is undergoing a music
 Music Education Research 41

education and thirdly, it is the post-professional amateur; a former professional musi-

cian who does not have music as a main profession but wants to practise music as a
part of his/her leisure (Stebbins 1979).
These ideas suggest that people practise music on different grounds and with differ-
ent perspectives. When it comes to the Western choral tradition the boundaries
between professionalism and amateurism often become blurred. Choral singers
without higher education in music can be seen to form a kind of a ‘protest’ against
the Western music canon and the ‘privileges’ of certain elite performers when they
come together to sing in an organised group such as a choir. These people want
their voices to be heard, as ordinary people who become ‘visible’ instead of being
non-active consumers of music without a voice (Yerichuk 2006).
It has been claimed that choral singing is an international phenomenon, which
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mediates common emotions and encourages people to interact with other people of
different origin (Hallam 2005). Durrant (2005) demonstrated that music can also
have a positive impact on people’s national identity. He conducted a comparative
study on choir activities in Sweden and Finland in 2004–2005. The main aim of his
research was to study the conductor’s role and their influence on choir members’
self-identity. It became evident that singing in the native language on concert tours
abroad was essential for choral singers of both nations. Durrant claimed that
through choral singing, the individual could shape his/her own cultural, personal
and national identity (Durrant 2005).
Durrant’s results reflect a certain romanticism that is derived from the political
thought on the image of the nation-state and the discourse associated with the ‘auth-
entic’ world music and the concept of ‘place’ as an important aspect when it comes to
define musical practice as local or global (Biddle and Knigts 2007). This aspect is also
evident in a study on the origin of choral singing in Iceland (Björnsdóttir 2001). In
fact, it has been suggested that the development of choral singing in Iceland was
closely connected to the fight for independence in the late nineteenth century
Iceland and that choir singing had a political role and importance in the fight for
the independence of the Icelandic nation (Björnsdóttir 2001).

Personal and emotional aspects of choral singing

Organised group singing is reported as having positive effects on self-perceived well-
being particularly in terms of social and emotional benefits (Clift and Hancox 2001;
Durrant and Himonides 1998). These benefits are believed to be both immediate
(Kreutz et al. 2004) and long term (Bannan and Montgomery-Smith 2008). In
surveys of the general population, the majority of people (61–88%) report that they
enjoy singing (Chong 2010; Mizener 1993; Richards 1999; Turton and Durrant 2002).
People sing for their own enjoyment regardless of singing ability as singing enjoy-
ment does not seem to be predicted by singing skill (Mizener 1993). In Aristotle’s writ-
ings, he discussed four main functions of musical participation and reception: The first
function regards music as means of relaxation after the hard work and all the pain that
comes with hard labour.1 The second function is music as an employment of leisure
where people should focus on the achievement of highest spiritual activity instead
of pure pleasure and amusement. The third function comes into the moral and
ethical instructions, whereas music in the leisure time should not only give people plea-
sure and amusement, but to carry moral message and educate the listeners on how to
 42 S.L. Einarsdottir and H.R. Gudmundsdottir

love and\or dislike things in the right manner and direct people’s feelings into right
orders. The fourth and final function deals with music as a means to overcome negative
feelings such as pity, fear and anger (Aristotle 1984; see Stamou 2002).
A survey of over 500 children in third to sixth grades in the USA found that a vast
majority of children like to sing and that women are keener on singing than men. The
children’s interest in singing did not seem to be related to their singing skill as
measured on a singing test (Mizener 1993). In a similar study, conducted on randomly
selected British adults (20–40 years), more women than men reported that they
enjoyed singing at school than men (Turton and Durrant 2002). Furthermore, in
Clift and Hancox’s study (2001) 75% of participants agreed on emotional benefits
of choral singing and Durrant (2005) concluded that Finnish men, who were not
used to expressing their emotions in daily life could use choir singing as a platform
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for their emotional expressions. Findings of Faulkner and Davidson (2006) yielded
positive construction of self-identity of male choral singers through their participation
in choral activities.
Findings of these studies indicate certain gender difference in terms of singing.
Interestingly, women engage more often in singing activities than men do. In a large
study on over 200 choral singers in professional and amateur choirs, results showed
that women reported significantly more positive emotional states than men did
related to participating in a regular choral rehearsal. However, both genders reported
similar levels of negative emotions, but varied more in changes of positive emotional
states (Sandgren 2009). According to Clift and Hancox (2001), women were more
likely to benefit from singing than men, i.e. they reported more relaxation and
mental wellbeing.
Previous research has demonstrated that individuals who participate in choral
activities gain an increased wellbeing and a better health (Bailey and Davidson
2005; Balsnes 2012; Bell 2008; Clift and Hancox 2001; Clift et al. 2007; Durrant
2005; French and MacDonald 2011; Langston and Barrett 2008; Palmer 2008). As
an example, it is worth mentioning research by Beck et al. on professional singers
(2000) and research by Kreutz et al. (2004) on amateur singers. In both cases, the
effects of singing on health and wellbeing were studied and results indicated that
singing had a positive influence on the immune system and promoted better health
for the participating singers (Beck et al. 2000; Kreutz et al. 2004).
Research in the last two decades on the effects of singing for people with long-
term illnesses and people with dementia (see, for example, Batt-Rawden 2010;
Batt-Rawden, DeNora, and Ruud 2005; Ruud 2010; Ansdell 2005) has demonstrated
that singing has positive effects on patients’ health (see, for example, Hara 2011;
Bonde 2011). People with Alzheimer’s are able to participate in-group singing and
some longer-term benefits are perceived by their carers (Bannan and Montgomery-
Smith 2008).

Confidence, skills and performance anxiety in relation to choral singing

Just as there is strong evidence suggesting that participating in group singing can
positively affect people’s self-confidence (see, for example, Durrant and Himonides
1998) there is also some evidence to the contrary. According to Abril (2007), poor
singing skills seem to be causal for feelings of low self-esteem as poor singers experi-
ence rejection in social singing situations which in some cases results in singing
 Music Education Research 43

anxiety, a type of social anxiety. Singing anxiety only seemed to arise within a social
context, where participants seemed concerned with the possibility that others would
personally evaluate them. The self-presentational theory of social anxiety was sup-
ported by these cases. All participants in Abril’s study traced the roots of their
anxiety to negative experiences in a school music programme. Music teachers and
family members seemed to have the greatest influence in shaping their beliefs
about singing ability and singer identity. It seems clear from the cases described
herein that the emotional impact of these experience can have lasting effects on indi-
viduals (Abril 2007).
Although singing is generally believed to be enjoyable and beneficial, many people
seem to be scared at the thought of singing by themselves in front of others (Apfelstadt
1989). Results of Chong’s study (2010) on non-vocalists’ attitudes towards singing
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among 90 university students suggested that participants experience different benefits

from singing and 88% of participants reported that they enjoy singing. Those who
enjoy singing use it to meet diverse idiosyncratic needs, including emotional, social,
existential and spiritual needs. On the other hand, some participants are uncomforta-
ble about singing in front of other people (8.2%) and only liked singing when they are
alone and others do not enjoy singing at all (3.5%). Either they are very conscious of
other people’s judgments or have negative perceptions of their own voice (Chong
2010). Interestingly, members of a choir for people who ‘cannot sing’ reported
joining the choir for pleasure (90%) and self-confidence (60%) (Richards and
Durrant 2003).
Current conceptions have been criticised that only a narrow elite of people can
sing. This aspect is considered to be nothing more than a cultural myth, which
makes people (sometimes wrongfully) believe that they cannot sing and never will
be able to sing. Knight (2009) suggested that the root of the common assumption
on individual inabilities in singing might be traced to childhood experience; perhaps
in terms of negative discussions and perceptions towards music in their childhood
homes, perhaps due to the perceived lack of musical talent in the family. This discourse
might be characterised by cynical assumptions of their own musical disabilities, which
led to certain regret and denial (Knight 2009). For this reason, many individuals may
never discover their musical abilities. Amateur choirs can therefore be an ideal venue
for those who like music and want to try singing.
Bailey and Davidson (2005) studied two kinds of choirs; a choir for homeless men
and choirs for middle class people with various musical backgrounds. The results indi-
cated that there were no correlation between social status and the personal, emotional
and social gain of choir singing and performing and there was no difference between
the groups when it came to social ties and the importance of belonging to a group
(Bailey and Davidson 2005).

Spirituality and choral singing

Clift and Hancox (2001) did a study on 84 members of a university college choral
society in UK, which consisted of two rounds of surveys. Results indicated that
people benefitted socially, physically and emotionally from singing in a choir; that
singing is a good experience, increases people’s happiness and is good for the soul.
Just under a half of participants (49%) claimed in the previous survey that they
gained spiritual experience and benefits while singing and participants, who claimed
 44 S.L. Einarsdottir and H.R. Gudmundsdottir

they were religious, were more likely than non-religious members to report spiritual
benefits.
It must be taken into account that distinction should be made between the inter-
related concepts of spirituality and sacredness in order to differentiate between the reli-
gious and non-religious aspects of spirituality (Freeman 2002). Young people reported
more spiritual experience while singing and the research demonstrated that 87% of
participants considered choir singing to have a positive influence on their social
status, especially younger people who believed that their choir participation had a
positive impact on their social ties and relations. Other aspects, such as being more
positive, more control over the breathing and better concentration were also men-
tioned by participants (Clift and Hancox 2001).
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Social aspects of choral singing

The social aspect of choral singing may be just as important to the participants as the
musical activities (Durrant 2005; Faulkner and Davidson 2006). Through partici-
pation in a choir the choral singer acquires a particular social identity depending on
the musical repertoire (Björnsdóttir 2001; Durrant 2005) and the group identity
(Faulkner and Davidson 2006; Tarrant, North, and Hargreaves 2002).
A nationwide study on community choirs in the USA found that singing in a
choir gave people the opportunity to socialise with other people from a different
social background – people that they would normally not meet in other circum-
stances. Results indicated that choir members thought that choirs bridged social
gaps between different groups and social classes where different people could work
together towards a common goal – to sing together and perform beautiful music.
Therefore, the majority of participants who sing in choirs believe that participating
in choir activities has a positive effect and is also a part of their social duty – in
some sense, a contribution to the society. As a result, choirs seem to challenge the
dominating view of class difference and widen people’s social horizons (Chorus
America 2003).
In a way, some choirs may form a certain type of ‘choral identity’, which is focused
on the ways that choirs develop specific group identities (in terms of group dynamics
and artistic ambitions). These identities can be connected to the level of performance,
repertoire or even composer-orientation of the choir (Einarsdottir 2012).
Singing in a choir is a form of collectivism, where the interests of the group dom-
inate the interests of the individual. Thus, the choir member must adapt to the rules
and regulations of the group and the individuals work towards the same goal, i.e. to
gain a certain harmony and work together as one person (Triandis 2001). Therefore,
it is assumed that this harmony and collective action, which the choir produces, has
the potential to prevent all kinds of social conflicts. According to Anshel and
Kipper (1988) singing leads to an increased trust and cooperation between different
individuals with different interests. They concluded that singing in a choir could
greatly affect sympathy and cooperation that would be useful in all kinds of group
therapies (Anshel and Kipper 1988). Silber (2005), who conducted research on a
choir in female prison in Israel, concluded that singing in a choir had a positive
impact on the prisoners’ rehabilitation when it comes to belonging to a group of
equals, to take orders and guidance from a higher authority (the conductor) (Silber
2005).
 Music Education Research 45

Choral singing is a unique activity that allows amateur musicians to perform a

wide range of musical repertoire, to participate in performances, often at a high
level of musicianship, under the guidance of skilled musical directors. There are
social and health benefits associated with choral singing. However, what are the
most important reasons why individuals are motivated to choose choral singing as a
past time activity? This question has been dealt with in several studies, but we
wanted to explore it in the Icelandic context with the present study.

Method
Subjects
Subjects were recruited from 10 amateur choirs in Iceland. These choirs were adult
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choirs of various types, including community choirs, church choirs, an independent

mixed choir, a male choir, a female choir, a work related choir, a senior citizens
choir and a mixed semi-professional choir. Four choirs were located in the Reykjavik
capital city area and six in the rural area outside of Reykjavik. A total of 205 choral
singers participated in the survey, of whom 101 (49%) were from rural areas and 105
(51%) from the Reykjavik capital area.

Survey design, data collection and ethical considerations

A paper and pencil survey consisting of 34 items was distributed during a single coffee
break within a regular choral rehearsal for all 10 choirs. The design of the survey was
based on the choral experience of authors as to which questions were chosen and also
inspired by previous literature (particularly Durrant 2005; Clift and Hancox 2001;
Bailey and Davidson 2005; Faulkner and Davidson 2006; Chorus America 2003).
Authors are both experienced choral singers.
The survey was anonymous, no specific information could be identifiable and
traced to individuals and participation was voluntary. The paper copies results of
the survey were not shared with others and were destroyed after the analysis was fin-
ished, due to the Data Protection Act. No other ethical considerations were identified
in relation to this study.

Data analysis
Descriptive statistics cross tabulations and Kendall’s tau-c correlation tests were used
to analyse the data. Kendall’s tau-c is useful when dealing with a small data set with
large number of tied ranks, which means that if all of the scores are ranked (of which
many scores have similar rank) Kendall’s is very useful (see Field 2013, 131).

Findings
Background variables
Participants were 57% female and 43% male. The response rate within each choir was
in the range of 79–100%, and the average response rate for all choirs combined was
92%. Age distribution of participants is presented in Figure 1.
Regarding the education of the participants, 22% had completed no more than
compulsory education (10 years), 17% had completed vocational studies, 19%
 46 S.L. Einarsdottir and H.R. Gudmundsdottir

Figure 1. Age groups among participants compared to national statistics in 2010.

Source: National Statistics Iceland 2014.
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junior college education and 39% had a university degree. The remaining 3% of par-
ticipants did not respond to this question. These numbers are quite similar to the
National statistics on educational level in Iceland, the main difference being that a
higher proportion of university degrees was found among participants than in the
national statistics (Figure 2).
As for music education, 24% reported having no formal music education.
However, 69% reported having some formal education in music and thereof 24%
beyond fourth grade examination at a music school. The remaining 7% did not
respond to this question (Figure 3).
The participants had a long experience in singing in choirs. We found that 65% of
participants had sung in choirs for 10 years or longer and an additional 16% for a
period of 6–10 years. When asked whether they would consider choosing another
activity over choir singing, 81% responded negatively, while 12% responded positively
to that question.

Personal aspects of choral singing

The participating choral singers were asked to respond to situational statements
regarding their personal gain from singing in a choir. The statements referred to enjoy-
ment, life satisfaction, self-esteem, concert experiences, creativity and spirituality in

Figure 2. Educational level among participants compared to national statistics in 2010.

Source: National Statistics Iceland 2014.
 Music Education Research 47

Figure 3. Music education.

relation to their experience of singing in a choir. Their responses were in terms of how
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much they agreed or disagreed with the given statements. Table 1 presents the main
findings – perhaps not surprisingly, the statement Singing gives me a great pleasure eli-
cited the highest number of positive responses and overall majority of participants
either somewhat or strongly agreed to most of these statements, except for the state-
ment Singing in a choir is to me a religious experience. This statement prompted
fewer positive responses than any other statement in the survey and several neutral
or no responses at all. Respondents may have associated this statement further with
the religious aspect of spirituality, instead of the non-religious, which may explain
the low response rate for this statement (see further Freeman 2002).
Cross tabulations and Kendall’s tau-c correlation tests were run on the responses to
the statements and the independent variables (age, gender, education and music edu-
cation; Table 2).
Older participants generally agreed more on the statement ‘Singing in a choir gives
me a certain fulfilment in life’ and also on the statement ‘Singing in a choir is to me a
religious experience’ but other variables did not result in significant correlation in both
statements.
Regarding the statement ‘Singing in a choir positively affects my self-esteem’ inter-
estingly both participants with less general education and less music education agreed
more on this statement. However, both women and participants with higher level
general education agreed more on the statement ‘Singing in a choir is a venue for
my creativity’. Cross tabulations indicated that 79% of women ‘strongly or somewhat
agreed’ to the assumption ‘Singing in a choir is a venue for my creativity’ but 65% of
the men strongly or somewhat agreed (Figure 4).

Table 1. Main findings on personal aspects in choral singing.

Strongly agree Somewhat agree

Statements (%) (%)

Singing gives me a great pleasure 85 12

Singing in a choir gives me a certain fulfilment in life 57 37
Singing in concerts/services is a highly rewarding 39 40
experience
Singing in a choir positively effects my self-esteem 39 39
Singing in a choir is a venue for my creativity 29 38
Singing in a choir is to me a religious experience 8 18
 48 S.L. Einarsdottir and H.R. Gudmundsdottir

Table 2. Kendall’s tau-c correlations – Personal aspects of choral singing.

Statement Variables Kendall’s tau-c

Singing in a choir gives me a certain Age (Kendall’s tau-c, 197, α = 0.000)

fulfilment in life
Singing in a choir positively affects my
self-esteem
Singing in a choir is a venue for my
creativity
Singing in a choir is to me a religious
experience
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Education (Kendall’s tau-c,132, α = 0.028)
Music education (Kendall’s tau-c,129, α = 0.032)
Gender (Kendall’s tau-c, 26, α = 0.000)
Education (Kendall’s tau-c,132, α = 0.028)
Age (Kendall’s tau-c, 25, α = 0.000)

These results indicate the hypothesis that singing in a choir generally has a positive
influence on the self-esteem of people who have little general and/or music education.
However, choral singers with higher levels of education and women are more positive
towards the statement on singing in a choir as a venue for creativity, possible because
they perceive choral singing as an artistic process. Therefore, choral singers with uni-
versity degree or higher education may not seek to improve their confidence through
choral singing, but rather to seek some kind of channel for their need for creativity.

Social aspects of choral singing

The choral singers were also asked to respond to situational statements regarding
their social gain from singing in a choir. The statements referred to the importance
of the social aspect, the quality of the social life, the atmosphere and reputation of
the choir, whether participants joined their choir because they wanted to meet new
people and whether they received encouragement from their fellow choral member.
Participants were also asked to put four aspects of choral singing into order of
importance: Social life of the choir, the repertoire and interpersonal skills and
musical skills of the conductor. Their social interaction and activity with fellow
choral members outside rehearsals and concerts was also measured and how often
that occurred.
Table 3 summarises the general findings regarding social aspects of choral singing.
Evidently, 96% of participants agreed or strongly agreed on the importance of the

Figure 4. Singing in a choir is a venue for my creativity (gender cross tabulations).

 Music Education Research 49

Table 3. Main findings on social aspects in choral singing.

Very Somewhat
Questions important important

Of what importance do you consider the social life in

your choir? 70% 26%

Statement Strongly agree Somewhat agree

The atmosphere in my choir is good 67% 25%

The social life in my choir is good 46% 37%
The choir has a good reputation 43% 35%
I joined the choir because I wanted to meet new people 29% 37%
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My fellow choral members encourage me 23% 34%

social life in their choirs and 92% strongly or somewhat agreed that their choir has a
good atmosphere.
According to the results, the statement ‘My fellow choral members encourage me’
was ‘strongly agreed’ by 23% and ‘somewhat agreed’ by 34% – a little over half of par-
ticipants agree on this situation but it is important to bear in mind that 39% did not
express their opinion towards this statement.
Kendall’s tau-c correlations tests (Table 4) and cross tabulations were run on the
responses to the statements and the independent variables (age, gender, education
and music education).
In terms of the statement ‘I joined the choir in order to meet new people’ women
were generally more likely to agree with that statement than men. Furthermore,
younger people also agreed on that statement and cross tabulations indicated that
the age group 21–40 was the most positive of all the age groups towards this particular
statement.
Furthermore, younger participants, as well as participants with lower level of
general education and less music education tended to agree more with the statement
that ‘Singing in a choir is a part of my societal obligations.’ These results indicate
that young people seem to be more keen on the social aspects of choral singing, as
well as people with less general and/or music education.
Participants were asked if they socialised with their fellow choral members outside
rehearsals and concerts. A significant majority, or 75% answered ‘Yes’, 22% answered
‘No’ and only 3% did not respond. Crosstab calculations indicated that 75% of those

Table 4. Kendall’s tau-c correlations – Personal aspects of choral singing.

Statement Variables Kendall’s tau-c

I joined the choir in order to meet Gender (Kendall’s tau-c,17, α = 0.027)

new people Age (Kendall’s tau-c, 12, α = 0.044)
Age (Kendall’s tau-c, 26, α = 0.000)
Singing in a choir is a part of my
Education (Kendall’s tau-c, 28, α = 0.000)
societal obligations
Music education (Kendall’s tau-c, 13, α = 0.032)
 50 S.L. Einarsdottir and H.R. Gudmundsdottir

Table 5. Four aspects of choral singing in order of importance (1 = highest, 4 = lowest).

Four aspects of choral singing 1 (%) 2 (%) 3 (%) 4 (%) No response (%)

The social life of the choir 33 17 11 11 28

The repertoire 19 25 15 13 28
The musical skills of the conductor 11 15 23 23 28
The interpersonal skills of the conductor 9 15 24 24 28

who said yes considered the social life of the choir to be very important and 21% some-
what important.
In order to compare which of the aspects of choral singing participants consider
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most important, they were asked to put following four aspects in order of importance:

. The social life of the choir.

. The repertoire.
. The musical skills of the conductor.
. The interpersonal skills of the conductor.

According to results demonstrated in Table 5, the social life was chosen as the most
important aspect by 33% of those who responded – more than any other of the aspects
mentioned above. Seventeen per cent put the social life in second place, 11% in third
place and 11% in fourth place, but 28% did not respond this question (Table 5).
Choice of repertoire was considered the most important aspect by 19% of partici-
pants, but the interpersonal skills of the conductor were only considered the most
important by 9% and his/her musical skills by 11% (Table 5).
These results only indicate the prioritisation of participants – in a separate ques-
tion when only asking about the importance of the interpersonal skills of the conduc-
tor, 59% considered them very important and 32% somewhat important. A question
about the importance of the musical skills of the conductor yielded similar results;
59% considered them very important and 35% somewhat important. Findings indicate
that a vast majority considers the social life of the choir to be the most important part,
even more important than the repertoire and the skills of the conductor.

Discussion
The main conclusion to be drawn from this research is that the reason why choral
singers participate voluntarily in choirs is first and foremost rooted in their profound
enjoyment of singing as a group activity. This can be seen from the participants’ high
agreement with statements of personal enjoyment of singing as well as from their per-
severance as choral singers, with a large majority with more than a decade of experi-
ence of singing in choirs. In contrast, it seems quite obvious that the choral singers in
this study were not particularly motivated by elements of social duty as they largely
rejected the notion that their voluntary time as choral singers substituted an act of
obligation. On the other hand, it must be taken into account that survey question-
naires have certain limits in terms of responses and possibly limit respondents’ possi-
bilities to express their perspectives on the subject. However, this survey offered an
 Music Education Research 51

open question where respondents could add their concerns and thoughts that the
survey itself did not cover.
In accordance with Aristotle’s four aspects of music participation, respondents
seem to experience their participation as a means of leisure, relaxation and fulfilment
and a relief from negative feelings (Stamou 2002). It can therefore be assumed that
these aspects are the key motivation for their individual reasons for choral partici-
pation. Whereas the majority of participants had some kind of music education, the
correlation between music education, as well as general education, and various
aspects of the research was noteworthy.
In some of the situational statements, there was a significant correlation with lower
levels of general education as well as music education. These results indicate that even
the majority of participants had some kind of music education, the less education they
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had, the more they seemed to benefit from the choral experience, both regarding per-
sonal and social aspects, especially when it comes to affect participant’s self-esteem.
Thus, the role of more educated members may differ from the less educated
members. They may have a more demanding role as leaders (Zadig 2011). According
to Durrant and Himonides (1998) and Faulkner and Davidson (2006), Beck et al.
(2000) and Kreutz et al. (2004) music participation enhances self-esteem and identity,
which reflects in the participants’ perspectives regarding choral performance as a
rewarding experience. The only instance where participants with more general edu-
cation agreed more was the statement of singing as a venue for creativity, which indi-
cates that the need for creativity is not the key factor when it comes to choral singing
among those with less education and women were more in favour of this statement.
Furthermore, more educated participants do not seem to perceive choral singing as
a platform for their increased confidence, nor as a part of their societal obligations,
but rather as a channel for their need of artistic creativity. This refers to Knight’s
(2009) ideas of the nature of the elite performer and could be linked to the individual’s
social conditioning, childhood and musical upbringing.
The statement about singing as a religious/spiritual experience could be interpreted
in many ways. Perhaps, using the concept ‘religious’ leads to a certain bias, whereas the
concept can be interpreted in so many ways and is also linked to religion as an insti-
tution (see Freeman 2002). Therefore, it is possible that people were reluctant to agree
on this statement – especially men, and it is possible that people understand the
meaning of religious as inseparable from a church and ecclesiastic practice. It is poss-
ible that spirituality is not experienced strongly by Icelandic choral singers or to a
lesser extent than other feelings during choral singing. If spirituality is not experienced
it is likely that choristers are not overtly seeking spiritual experiences through choral
singing. An alternative explanation is that the concept of spirituality is understood dif-
ferently in different cultures and that the Icelandic word for spirituality may have too
religious connotations for less religious or atheist individuals to be comfortable with
the usage of that word. This refers to the results of Clift and Hancox (2001) and
Freeman (2002), who discovered the increasing need of spirituality among young
people and in contrast with Chorus America where the results indicate that the
majority of participating choral singers claimed singing to be a religious/spiritual
experience.
In terms of social aspects it is evident that people regarded it to be very important
and were in general happy about the social life and the reputation of the choir. It is
evident that social bonding within the participant choirs is significant when looking
 52 S.L. Einarsdottir and H.R. Gudmundsdottir

at the results on how much participants socialise with their fellow choral members.
These results reflect the findings of Bailey and Davidson (2005) and the social need
of belonging to a group (Russell 1997) where social status is not an issue (Chorus
America 2003). However, as members were mostly reluctant to address the statement
of receiving encouragement from fellow choral members, it indicates that this kind of
encouragement is not a defining factor. However, further research is needed regarding
these aspects, in order to fully conclude on the impact of peer-encouragement within
the amateur choral ensemble.

Implications and further research

It is obvious that vast majority of participants sing in a choir because they enjoy the
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experience and agree on most of the situational statements in the survey. These results
indicate that the experience of choral singing brings certain life fulfilment and joy to
choral singers and that they benefit from their participation, both when it comes to
personal and social aspects and wellbeing. The human need for belonging to a
group with other people who have similar goals and interests is evident and issues
such as social status, income, political views and other defining aspects seem to
become irrelevant. These results demonstrate that participating in choral activities
can have a positive impact on people’s lives, especially those who have both the interest
and ability to sing in a choir. Researchers such as Bailey and Davidson (2005), who
studied a choir for homeless men; Silber (2005) who did a research on women’s
choir in an Israeli prison and Kreutz et al. (2004) who identified positive influence
of choral singing on immune competence and emotional affect; demonstrate choral
singing as a method of rehabilitation, venue for increased mental and physical well-
being and social conditioning and improvement.
However, these results do not address any aspects of problems such as conflicts,
mobbing or administrative issues when it comes to the choral committee or issues
linked to the musical director. It would be interesting to carry out research on issues
regarding the choir as an organisation and the choral conductor as a leader or a
manager, where these aspects would be investigated further.
As indicated in the literature section, no holistic research exists regarding the land-
scape of the Icelandic choral tradition. Thus, this paper suggests a study where the
number of choirs and choir members are reported and demonstrated. That kind of
summary would present important information regarding musical life among the Ice-
landic general public and also cast a light on the importance of the ‘hidden’ musical
activities, especially in the rural parts of Iceland. In general, singing is believed to
be quite widespread in Iceland as a part of various social events and gatherings
(such as outdoor festivals, family reunions, parties, Christmas gatherings, the 13th
day of Christmas and other smaller events), a study related to Finnegan’s work
(2007) on musical activities in Milton Keynes, England. Investigating these events
in terms of mapping and studying how the singing takes place is a neglected territory
of investigation in terms of the music life in Iceland.
In terms of implications for music education, it is interesting to note that there is no
difference between the enjoyment of choral singing among those with or without
music education. This is in accordance with previous research demonstrating that
enjoyment of musical participation through singing transcends social, cultural and
educational boundaries (Bailey and Davidson 2005). Furthermore, it is noteworthy
 Music Education Research 53

in the present study that the group with little or no music education rated themselves as
having enhanced self-esteem through choral singing while the more educated did not.
This demonstrates that not only can individuals with no music education fully enjoy
choral singing activities; moreover, choral singing is likely to benefit their self-
esteem as previous studies have suggested (Durrant 2005; Faulkner and Davidson
2006). In the light of such results, a second look at the implementation of choral
singing through school curricula is warranted.

Acknowledgements
We thank all respondents in 10 participant choirs for their part in this research. Furthermore, we
thank also the conductors of participant choirs for their support and interest and Sigrún Sif
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Jóelsdóttir, research analyst at the Educational Research Institute at the University of

Iceland, for her help and expertise in analysing the data.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Note
1. Manual labour was frowned upon and only suitable for slaves.

Notes on contributors
Sigrun Lilja Einarsdottir is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Social Science, Bifröst
University, Iceland. Sigrun holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from University of Exeter (supervisor:
Professor Tia DeNora), M.A. in Cultural Management (Bifröst University), PGCE in Education
(University of Akureyri, Iceland) and B.A. in Comparative Literature (University of Iceland). In
2012, Sigrun defended her Ph.D. thesis J.S. Bach in Everyday Life: The Choral Identity of Amateur
‘Art Music’ Bach Choir and the Concept of ‘Choral Capital’ at University of Exeter.

Helga Rut Gudmundsdottir is an Assistant Professor of music education at the School of

Education, University of Iceland. She graduated with a Ph.D. in music education from
McGill University, Faculty of Music in 2003 and an M.A. in music education from the same
institution in 1997. She graduated as a music teacher in 1992 from the Iceland University of
Education in Reykjavik, Iceland. Helga is a member of the steering committee of the AIRS
international research project on singing, and leader of its sub-theme ‘Singing and education’.
Helga is the founder and president of the Iceland Centre for Music Research.

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