Can’t carry a tune? This Vancouver Island newcomer is launching choirs for the joyful but tone deaf

Sharon Marnell was sitting in a public jacuzzi, remedying two frozen shoulders, when she started singing.

When another person arrived, she commented on Marnell’s singing voice.

“She said, ‘You sing nicely. You couldn’t join our choir,’” Marnell said.

The woman went on to explain that she was part of what’s called a tuneless choir — for people who aren’t good singers.

Intrigued, Marnell inquired. Having a musical and experienced teaching background, Marnell went on to start her own tuneless choir, and then led a second and a third, all in her home country of England.

“We went from a couple people singing in the hall to 110 people performing at a music festival,” she said.

Now, having moved to Canada in 2024, Marnell is launching a pair of tuneless choirs on Vancouver Island.

The first tuneless choir was launched in January 2016 in West Bridgford, England, thanks to a woman by the name of Nadine Cooper.

“She was desperate to sing, she loved to sing,” Marnell said.

Cooper tracked down the local choir leader, Bernie Bracha, and asked her to help start a choir for people who couldn’t hold a tune.

As long as some people are hitting the right note, it sounds good, Marnell said. Sort of like when people singalong at a concert.

Today, there are more than 30 tuneless choirs operating in England. They’re so big that a weekend retreat is planned for February 2026 to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of tuneless choirs — complete with group sing-alongs and karaoke.

During her time with the tuneless choirs, Marnell said she witnessed how “powerful and transformative” singing can be, even if you’re bad at it.

“Many of the members avoided singing for decades because someone told them they were tone deaf,” she said. “But joining in with tuneless, that didn't matter. They sang their hearts out, they laughed endlessly, they formed real friendships. It was life changing.”

And that’s why she’s launching the choirs, with one in Langford and another in Sidney.

“If you love music, if you sing in the shower, if you've been told you sound terrible, you're exactly who we want,” she said. “You don't need any musical ability at all.”

Marnell said they won’t learn music or be assigned certain parts. Instead, they’ll choose songs people generally know, radio hits and showtunes, so they can just go forth and belt out the lyrics.

“We sing, we dance, we love loads of energy,” she said.

The goal of tuneless choirs is simply joy, confidence and connection. There are no auditions and, perhaps obviously, no experience required.

The first gathering for the Sidney choir will be on the evening of Jan. 7 at the Peace Lutheran Church Hall, while the Langford tuneless choir will launch the evening of Jan. 8 at the Redeemer Lutheran Church Hall. The cost to attend is $15.