The Big Big Sing project set out to provide a way for people to have fun, feel good and be more active through singing. An initiative of Glasgow UNESCO City of Music, it is a music participation project on a grand scale. The Big Big Sing invited people from all over the United Kingdom to gather in their local communities – from London to Lerwick to Belfast – and celebrate the Commonwealth through a special songbook (free to download and use), local flashmobs and by serenading the Queen’s Baton Relays as it made its way across the country.

Culture Republic worked with Glasgow UNESCO City of Music to evaluate Scottish Big Big Sing days. What we learned was overwhelmingly positive. Participants told us:

The energy and joy was amazing… Perhaps you could promote it as a legal ‘high’?

 

More of those and NHS will save a lot of money.

 

I had no idea what I was letting myself in for as my friend had organised a ticket and told me to turn up! I thought it was a concert to watch —-then I was informed that I was part of the sing!!! What a great afternoon!

The research team carried out surveys with participants to find out who was getting involved and to test whether the project was meeting its goals. The survey results showed that women love to sing – the vast majority of respondents were women. The project reached a broad range of people from a wide geographic and socio-economic background. Many participants were age 55 or over and already singing with a local choir. Many learned about the Big Big Sing through their local choirs.

Singing makes people feel good – by a huge margin respondents said that they sing because “it makes me feel good” and “it makes me happy”. When we gave them a list of adjectives to describe how they were feeling immediately after a performance the words most singers picked were: “happy” “energised” “motivated” and “inspired”.

If the Big Big Sing’s big idea was to have a positive impact on participants’ well being the results from our research are certainly cause for optimism. When people reported why they got involved they said it was about socialising, learning and health benefits – in addition to the type of music of course! Arts participation projects who want to learn from the Big Big Sing can take note: barriers to participation included the travel required (the greater distance and cost the greater barrier) and anxiety around auditions.

The Culture Republic team are currently working on the legacy of the Big Big Sing and are going to carry out follow up research with participants to find out if they are still feeling the benefit six months down the road.