Maidenhead family carry out live singing sessions on Facebook

A family in Maidenhead are spreading a bit of cheer by carrying out live singing sessions on Facebook.

Musician Helen Styles, with the help of her daughters Katie, 12 and Beth, 10, started conducting daily singing sessions live on her Facebook page Singing Strings Workshop shortly after lockdown was announced. 

Helen is the director of Singing Strings Workshop, which would usually be a weekend workshop for Suzuki violin and viola pupils.

Their first live video, featuring a penguin song, complete with toy penguins has now been viewed more than 2,300 times.

Further live sessions have featured Singin’ in the Rain, complete with tap dancing, Let’s All Go Down the Strand, the jellyfish song, Stars Wars with fancy dress and Somewhere over the rainbow, which musicians are ‘being encouraged to play’ every Thursday.

Helen said: “We are trying to do basically a new song every week day. We do them at weekends as well.

“A new song every week day and then at the weekends we’re going over some of the songs we’ve already learnt and each one is like a mini mini choir rehearsal so you have stretching warm ups, various silly warm up songs and then yeah we learn the song, sing it a few times.”

Helen also conducts three choirs including the Maidenhead-based Tuesday Singers, Twyford Singers and Laudamus Chamber Choir, added that members of her choirs have also been joining in on the sessions as well as individuals from as far as Mumbai and Melbourne.

She said: “Before I did music as my career I worked as a vet and these are all professions where your trying to help people and I think music can do something good for people’s mental well-being."

To view the sessions visit: https://www.facebook.com/Singing-Strings-Workshop-341690242899764/