A Karaoke Lover’s Guide to Picking Up the Mic

Welcome to You Might Like, our weekly recommendations column. In this issue, the recs come from Emma Haslett, our managing editor. She has been known to belt it out at her local karaoke bar on more than a few occasions.

My school was sports-focused but I was a "picked last" kid; by the time I was 14, I was 5’11 and simply too gangly to have the sort of limb control required to be successful at any physical activity. Instead, I gravitated towards music. I joined the choir, which  allowed me to duck out of P.E. lessons and blend into a crowd of others while singing my heart out.

Since then, singing has always been in my life in some form, from alcohol-fueled group karaoke sessions in my 20s to hushed lullabies with my children in my 30s. In the past few years, I've become more interested in the social and health benefits: Group singing can control your heart rate and blood pressure; it also releases endorphins and boosts immune function. Historians believe it may have played a role in the development of social dynamics and ritual – you only need to watch this video of the Fijian Olympic team to see the way it can rouse a group of people in a way few other rituals can. 

Interested? Here are my suggestions to help you get behind the mic – whether it's on your own, or with a group.

I got back into singing after having kids by attending these group singing sessions, which are so good at reducing stress, they're prescribed by the NHS for anyone experiencing post-natal depression. They're aimed at all new mums, but most are open to anyone who identifies as a mother. A typical session involves sitting in a circle and learning songs by call-and-response, building harmonies as your children play around you. There are groups all over the UK, and a few in Europe, the US, Canada and Australia. If you can't find a group near you, you can sign up to sing at home.

Singing shouldn't be about how you sound, it should be about how it makes you feel and yet, there's no denying that it can be intimidating to sing in front of strangers. Step forward, Lucky Voice, a London-based chain of private karaoke rooms where you and your friends – or just you by yourself – can let your hair down and sing your heart out without feeling judged. There are equivalent chains in cities all over the world.

The health benefits of participating in the arts should be obvious: After all, as Fancourt points out in this book about how the arts can literally save lives, there has to be a reason kids spend so much time singing and dancing and making art. One particular study she describes shows the profound way singing can reduce cortisol: She and her team measured the stress hormones of a group of singers before and after a rehearsal and a concert – and found that, when their stress levels were elevated due to pre-concert jitters, singing had an even more relaxing effect than during the rehearsal. This book is a fascinating way to understand the wider context of why singing and other art forms can be so good for you.

If you're not a particularly confident singer, The Beatles, with their massive back-catalogue and familiar tunes, are an obvious one to start with. But while it might be tempting to go for a belter like Hey Jude or Yesterday, allow me to make the case for the less obvious Come Together. It has an accessible register, some fun moments of harmony (if that's what you're in the market for), and the sort of louche, breathy delivery which, almost 60 years after it was released, still makes it sound devastatingly cool. I think it might be the ultimate karaoke song.

Listen, singing Christmas carols with 5,000 strangers all decked out in goofy festive sweaters might not be everyone's cup of tea – but it's popular enough that standard tickets for nine of this year's 15 dates are already nearly completely sold out. This season, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Choral Society will accompany the audience as they belt out "a joyful mix of traditional carols and modern festive favourites." How often can you say you've sung along with a full philharmonic orchestra? And there's nowhere more Christmassy to do that than in the plush velvet Italianate surroundings of the Royal Albert Hall.

Any other karaoke stars out there? We want to hear from you. What songs are on your ultimate karaoke playlist? Get in touch and let us know: send us an email [email protected] and we may include it in the next You Might Like! We'll be back with more recommendations next Friday.