Rocking half term with Rock Choir Rock Stars workshops!

“But I can’t sing!” Those were the words of the oldest (9) when she was offered a place on one of Rock Choir’s Rock Stars singing workshops this half term.

And at the risk of sounding like a mean mummy, the fact she thinks she can’t sing is precisely why I signed her up!

If you haven’t come across Rock Choir before it’s the world’s largest contemporary choir with a host of awards under its belt, including not one but three Guinness World Records.

The choir usually rehearse in more than 250 towns across the UK, but owing to the small matter of a global pandemic it has had to switch to online Zoom meetings during lockdown.

A lockdown silver lining is that the virtual meetings means location is no longer an issue, and the choir is open to anyone anywhere in the UK with an internet connection.

Rocking half term with Rock Choir Rock Stars workshops!

We were very kindly gifted a place on Rock Choir’s Rock Stars half term workshops for Bluebell in exchange for helping to bang the drum (pun intended!) about their lockdown classes.

What exactly is it?

Designed for kids aged 6-11 and 12-16, Rock Choir Rock Stars is a series of online singing workshops in which kids learn how to sing and perform a particular song.

We were invited to try out the February half term workshops, which took place over three days and focused on learning the song True Colours from the Trolls movie, as sung by Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick.

No auditions and no musical knowledge is needed, and the choir is all about having fun while singing and making new friends.

Eighty children from across the UK took part in our sessions, which lasted 50 minutes each and involved a fun warm up before learning the words to our song.

What do the workshops involve?

We were sent everything needed for the workshops to read and print off in advance, including the lyrics to the song and how to make the most of the online experience.

The Zoom meeting room was opened 10 minutes before each workshop was due to start to give the choir leaders the chance to let everyone in, and for the kids to ‘meet’ each other and share a wave.

The workshops started with a warm up – not just for the vocal cords but the whole body too, so plenty of space is needed around your computer or tablet!

Then it came to learning the words to the song, and because we were all at home owing to lockdown the whole family couldn’t help but get involved too!

As well as the words to True Colours, the children were taught vocal technique and how to breathe while singing their parts, and there was plenty of opportunity to practise the lines again and again.

At the end of the series of workshops the kids are encouraged to record the harmonies they’ve learnt, send them in to Rock Choir and they’re edited together to create a full choir video. Here’s ours and I just love how it turned out (if you look closely you’ll spot Bluebell on the top right-hand side of the screen – if I’m honest it made me a bit weepy!)

How much does it cost?

The workshops cost £25 and sibling discounts are available.

Our verdict

Bluebell has been singing True Colous ever since we finished the workshops – and she’s jolly good at it too!

She really took onboard the vocal techniques she was taught and as a result she has grown in confidence when it comes to singing. If she were a regular Rock Choir member I’ve no doubt she would soon stop claiming she can’t sing!

I was also really impressed with the choir leaders – they’re obviously passionate about what they do and did a sterling job running the workshops online in what must be very difficult circumstances when they’re used to seeing the children face to face. Thank you Rock Choir for brightening up what would otherwise have been a rather dull and uneventful half term!

If you fancy getting involved too Rock Choir has all sorts of virtual events planned while we remain in lockdown, including a weekend festival of online activity for Comic Relief. (Tickets are available now – for more information click here).

Have you ever been involved with a Rock Choir before? Would you consider it? I’d love to hear about your experience!

We were gifted a place on the Rock Choir Rock Stars half term workshops in exchange for this post. As always all opinions are my own and based on our own honest experience.