'Thank you for this weekly hour of joy!'

29th April 2021

STAMMA Music, our series of weekly singing workshops, is now reaching the halfway point. Laura, our facilitator from Chiltern Music Therapy, has done a wonderful job in keeping our group of all abilities, ages and fluencies engaged and entertained. It's impossible to leave these sessions without a smile on your face!

Many people find that their stammer affects them less when they sing, compared to when they speak. While we’re uncertain why singing has this effect, it's a question that pops up frequently in the stammering community.

The University of Iowa have been doing research into this, and have come to the conclusion that it's all down to different areas of the brain. When we speak, we use the left side of our brains, while when we create and experience music, we use our right. START — The Stuttering Treatment and Research Trust — believe the reason is more mechanical, simply that our mouths and vocal cords behave differently when we sing.

Whatever the reason, music can be a tremendous help to both those who stammer and those who don't, promoting emotional wellbeing and helping to achieve speech goals. So when Chiltern Music Therapy approached us to collaborate on a series of workshops for people who stammer, we bit their hand off.

Thanks STAMMA Music for finding my voice, and my smile, through singing.

Very few of our attendees have any singing experience, or can play a musical instrument. Vocal warm-ups, singing games and group exercises all take place with microphones off — so don’t worry, the only person who can hear your voice is you!

Each week, our singers share a song that has been playing on repeat in their heads. Everything, from Golden Earring's Radar Love to The Beach Boys classic, Wouldn't It Be Nice. You can listen to some of the songs our singers have chosen so far on Spotify.

Update June 2021: Sorry, STAMMA Music has ended for now, but we hope to start it up again soon. Become a member for free and we'll keep you updated.

Funding from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund, has helped us offer these sessions free of charge. Thank you to the Government for making this possible.

See our Events section for more STAMMA Social events.