Singing is an Easy Way to Create Beauty in Your Home

There are some I know who claim they cannot sing. I think what most people mean when they say that is that they don’t sing well. Perhaps that is true. But once, when I was young, I heard a priest tell a group of boys: “You know, God made birds, and God made frogs, and He wants to hear both of them.” In other words, it doesn’t matter whether your voice is pure and strong or thin and shaky or raspy and tuneless: God still loves to hear you use it! To sing is a beautiful thing, even if the singer is inexperienced or the song is simple. I’m here to tell you that no matter what your voice sounds like, you should make an effort to sing. Singing is an easy way to create beauty in your home!

Why is it Important to Sing in your Home?

There are a lot of reasons why we should sing, especially at home:

• Scripture tells us to sing: “Sing a new song to the Lord” (Psalm 96:1). We should sing to praise our Maker!
• Singing brings people together. It builds community, deepens relationships, and increases our affections for each other.
• Children love to hear others sing and to sing themselves. It is a wonderful activity for parents to enjoy with their kids!
• Singing is an easy way to make your home more beautiful—and it’s free! Even the poorest home can be graced with song.

What Singing in Your Home Can Look Like

Let me give you a couple of examples. When I was growing up, we had no dish washing machine. My mom used to say that she had four dishwashers: me and my three siblings. We weren’t too eager about the task, but it was our job and we got it done (eventually). It also meant that we spent a lot of time together. At some point we discovered that dishes aren’t half so boring if you sing to pass the time. So we sang, a lot. Everything from sea shanties to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”.

Over the years, we heard the following comment many times from family and visitors alike: “It is so nice to hear you all singing together!” We had no intention of impressing people: we just wanted to enjoy ourselves. But we often found that singing brought peace and joy to our home, even during the most mundane tasks.

Recently, my mother-in-law came to visit us for a week or so. One of our sons had a diaper explosion, so she held his hands for me while I did business with the nether region. Of course, no little boy likes to be restricted. To soothe him, my mother-in-law started singing “The Wheels on the Bus”. It’s a very simple song, and she would tell you herself that she is no talented musician, but that didn’t matter. Our son quickly stopped crying and listened quietly to his grandmother until the diaper change was over. We have since made this something of a ritual: whenever we change his diaper, we sing “Wheels on the Bus”, and he loves it!

What to Sing in Your Home

Basically, anything you want! As long as it has good lyrics and is uplifting in some way (fun, inspiring, nostalgic, etc.), it is worth singing in your home.

I highly recommend singing hymns in the home. You can find a hymn for almost any occasion. Aside from religious feast days (Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, etc.), hymns can be sung to express sorrow, wonder, joy, desire, gratitude, and especially praise. So there are lots of opportunities to sing them!

There are many good secular songs as well. Sea shanties have rousing rhythms that are great for setting an upbeat pace and getting a job done. Folk songs are wonderful in the evenings around a fire. I personally have a special affection for songs that describe the beauties of nature. I have written many of my own, which you can find on our Etsy store.

How to Learn Songs to Sing in Your Home

You can go about this whichever way works best for you. Everybody has some particular method of learning that is most effective for them.

Some people are very visual. They might hear a song a hundred times and still not know the lyrics by heart. But if you show them the words printed on a page or the sheet music for the melody, then they can learn it and remember it.

Other people are auditory. These don’t find written lyrics helpful, but they can listen to a recording or a live performance of a piece and then reproduce it. It is the hearing that makes it memorable for them.

Still others are kinesthetic. They need to associate a song with physical action. Such people might have to play a tune on the piano, sing a song while walking, or even dance in order to memorize!

Some want to sing the whole song through to learn it. Others want to learn one line by heart before moving on to the next line. Some need to learn in a group. Others want to learn alone. Every method is legitimate. Just find the one that is the best fit for you, and use that!

Singing Does Not Have to be Complicated

As I have described, even simple songs are very worthwhile. If you feel daunted by more challenging tunes, feel free to stick to easier ones. These are good to sing with children, too, who also happen to be wonderfully uncritical. If you are a little off-key, most kids won’t care.

There are a lot of fun nursery rhymes that you can sing to music, such as “Three Blind Mice,” “Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall,” or “The Farmer in the Dell”. Hymns can be both simple and uplifting, like “Immaculate Mary” or “Christ the Lord is Ris’n Today”. Many songs are old favorites that you might already know by heart—Christmas songs especially!

Invite Others to Sing With You

While singing can be an individual experience, its greatest value lies in its capacity to bring people together. The same song can be sung by many, either in unison or in parts that harmonize. Almost every song becomes more beautiful when sung by a group. So invite people to sing with you!

This often can happen quite naturally. We have encountered it many times with family and friends. Someone strikes a few notes on the piano, someone else starts singing the melody, and pretty soon a whole choir gathers in the living room.

One great way to sing in a group is with musical rounds. Rounds are songs that are meant to be sung by two or more people, who sing the same melody at different times to form chords. The resulting effect is very pretty, and they are a lot of fun. To get a sense of what this sounds like, listen to the recording below!

A Final Note

Whether you are an experienced singer or brand new to this, I challenge you to make your home more beautiful through song. Go find something new, a tune you’ve never tried or a song you’ve never heard before. If you’re not sure where to start, try the ones below. They are rounds which I wrote as tributes to the beauty of God’s creation. Have fun with them, and then share the joy with others!