Sing-along, also called community singing or group singing, is an event of

singing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

together at gatherings or parties, less formally than

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

singing. One can use a

songbook A song book is a book containing lyrics for songs. Song books may be simple composition books or spiral-bound notebooks. Music publishers also produced printed editions for group singing. Such volumes were used in the United States by piano manu ...

. Common genres are folk songs, patriotic songs, kids' songs, spirituals, campfire songs, nonsense songs, humorous songs,

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

s and drinking songs. Children around the world usually sing together. Sing-along can be based on unison singing, or on singing in

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

(different parts).

Among animals

Group vocalizing is known in several animal species. For example, a

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

pride Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

and a pack of

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

are known to vocalize together (supposedly to defend their territory), although some scholars do not characterize their vocalizations as "

Gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical rainforest from eastern Bangladesh to Northeast India ...

s sing in family groups (couples sing together, sometimes with their offspring). Various species of birds also sing in duets and choruses, particularly in the tropics.

In human pre-history

Singing in groups is one of the universal features of human musical cultures, and group singing has been often suggested as the primary form of the early human musical activity. It has been suggested that human group singing was primarily promoting the cohesiveness within human groups, and was possibly used to defend human groups from predators and competitors.

Joseph Jordania Joseph Jordania (Georgian იოსებ ჟორდანია, born February 12, 1954 and also known under the misspelling of Joseph Zhordania) is an Australian–Georgian ethnomusicologist and evolutionary musicologist and professor. He is ...

. 2006. Who Asked the First Question? Origins of Human Choral Singing, Intelligence, Language and Speech. Logos

Forms of group singing

In human societies, group singing can be limited to certain

sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, oft ...

es, ages, and social groups. Group singing can be also different in the actual sound, for example, singing in unison or

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

s, accompanied or a capella or singing in

(in different parts, like canon). Informal group singing can be accompanied by body movements, stomping, or clapping. Organized, regularly scheduled sing-along sessions are held in both cities and rural areas, often referred to as "song circles" and sometimes organized by formal groups or organizations. Sometimes individual musicians will share their own songs with the group, but more often an individual will request a song that the whole group will sing together.

References

{{Reflist Singing

Among animals

In human pre-history

Forms of group singing

See also

References