The attached guide will help you begin reading sheet music in a choir.

In written music, all the symbols contain information about what to sing and how to sing it. There is a lot of information on the page - over time all of this will be useful but don’t worry if it takes time to get the hang of it.

One of the great things about being in a choir is that you’ll be grouped with other people sing-ing the same thing as you. Listening to them in rehearsals will really help. In time, you’ll get to know how the notes on the page connect to the sounds you hear and the feeling of singing them.

The guide was developed by Derek Harrison in association with Making Music.

Derek Harrison amongst other things has been the musical director of Hertford Choral Society for many years, and is also a professional organist. He has written a 24 page booklet titled 'Welcome to Choral Singing'  which is sub-titled 'How to survive and make progress in choirs that use sheet music and vocal scores'. It is a very useful read, and is available to buy from Mike Cocke at rehearsals for £5 a copy.