Sing in exultation! Christmas singing for a feel-good factor.

Christmas is the best time of year to be a musician. There is nothing quite like singing carols, belting out requisite harmony and providing sprinklings of instrumental music to bring on those festive feelings.

Christmas events of the last few weeks have brought their joyful moments of reminding one another what fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight and encouragements to with th’angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem. Of course, there have also been a few reach-for-the-tissue moments, usually precisely when the children sing Away in a Manger or Little Donkey.
But this year, I have also been struck by the call of O come, all ye faithful to sing in exultation. Exultation, defined as a feeling of triumphant elation or jubilation; rejoicing, does indeed sound like a wonderful way with which to sing. Many friends tell me how they love to sing and how Christmas carols are amongst their favourite repertoire. They may fill us with joy, or perhaps cause us to shed a tear, but most of all they enable us to just take a very big breath and let it all sing out. Triumphantly. With jubilation and rejoicing. A brief moment for one to just, vocally, let it go.

Some friends tell me that they love to sing but can’t. I like to think that after a few weeks at our Little Notes sessions, these friends can’t stop singing because they have grown to love it so very much and it has become vital to their family life. I do suspect that any of us who sometimes feel we can’t sing could take a lesson from the angels this Christmas, to join with their choirs and sing in exultation. To take that big, deep breath and to enjoy that feeling of triumphant elation. It is just too good a joyful opportunity to miss.

You can find a few more reasons why it’s just so good to make music on our music matters page.