Are you (or do you know of) a choir looking to expand their repertoire of songs?
Well, you’ve come to the right place!
Whether you’re running your own choir or are simply looking to join a choir for the first time, having the right set of songs is vital to developing the overall ability & wellbeing of a choir.
As a result, it’s important to choose songs that are not only well-suited to the ability of the choir, but that are also heaps of fun to sing.
In this article, our gang of writers-slash-chorists have put together a one-stop list of 70+ perfect songs for choirs, from warm-up songs to pop anthems.
Table of Contents
Warm-Up Songs For Choirs
1. Pizza Man
This classic camp song is a fun warm-up for choirs that exercises the vocal cords and practices simple cadence. The best part is that there are so many versions and you can make up your own lyrics for a bit of fun!
2. Billy the Kid
Not to be confused with Billy Joel’s ballad, this jazzy little tune is a fun warm up song with lots of repetition and range to showcase various vocal qualities.
3. Sing Alleluia
This song is merely a repetition of the Alleluia but is sung at medium range in a three-part round. If you want to cover a range of pitches, this song is perfect to work out the entire vocal range.
4. 12345 (Do-Rey-Mi Warm-Up)
This is a great song to help your choir warm up and tune to each other as you hit each note. Instead of singing Do-Rey-Mi, you sing 1-2-3.
5. Boom Chicka Boom (Camp Song)
Another great call and response camp song, the lyrics are simple and allows the choir to exercise volume, speed, and pitch. You can also have fun with it and sing in silly voices.
6. Bach Aire (Johann Sebastian Bach)
This two part warm up divided into high and low voices is sung in scat syllables. It provides both harmony and counterpart for a classic voice exercise.
7. My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean (English Folk Song)
This classic English folk song is a great warm up for any choir. The ballad provides a great vocal range to explore and a wonderful way to stretch out and exercise the vocal cords.
8. Do Your Dooty
This nonsense song is just a warm up ditty with no real words but provides a fun jazzy way to stretch those vocal cords and get ready for practice.
9. May We Follow You
This warm up song helps exercise your choir’s individual and collective voices on a descending scale, hitting a different note with each syllable.
10. Jubilate Deo (Michael Praetorius)
Sung in a three part round, this classic Latin composition is perfect for tuning your choir up to thirds, starting off high and then falling to a lower range.
Easy Choir Songs For Beginners
11. Fly Me To The Moon (Frank Sinatra)
This classic crooning song is sure to get your choir’s toes tapping and is easy to adapt to a wide range of voices due to its smooth sound and upbeat lyrics.
12. Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers)
The repetition of range and pitch in this tune makes this song easy for choirs to tackle and the verses are simple so there are no complicated lyrics to remember.
13. Fields of Gold (Sting)
This song is simple to sing and is great for both female and male voices to adjust to any pitch. It stays within the same octave so as not to make things too complex.
14. Let It Be (The Beatles)
A very straightforward song, this is great for beginner choirs because of its repetition and can even be creatively turned into a multi-part round to change things up.
15. Can’t Help Falling in Love (Elvis Presley)
This slow song is a great way to practice voice control without complicated verses. The chorus and verses are very repetitive while the bridge offers a little variation.
16. Imagine (John Lennon)
This song is very lyrical and simplistic – an easy beginner song for any choir. It can be arranged for a wide vocal range or stick with the simple tune.
17. You Ain’t Nothing But A Hound Dog (Elvis Presley)
This song is only composed of three notes and can easily accommodate a more complicated arrangement or stay simple for beginners. Your choir won’t be able to help tapping their toes to this beat!
18. Make You Feel My Love (Bob Dylan)
The verses and melody of this song are easy to learn even if the lyrics can be a bit tricky. Overall, it is a unique starter song for any choir, albeit a bit somber.
19. Torn (Natalie Imbruglia)
A great song for an all female choir, but it can also work for co-ed choirs too. There are some easy high notes to hit for those just starting out.
20. Bye Bye Love (The Everly Brothers)
This minimalist melody is perfect to adapt to a two part harmony showcasing both altos and sopranos as its original intent was for a duet.
Pop Songs For Choirs
21. Mamma Mia (ABBA)
This fun song, popularized by the hit musical of the same name, is great for your choir to sing and covers a wide range of vocal talent and qualities.
22. High Hopes (Panic! At the Disco)
This catchy modern tune is one your choir is sure to already know and really exercises a high range of pitch. It has some fast paced parts and can be arranged for a fun harmonizing exercise.
23. I Gotta Feeling (Black Eyed Peas)
This is a great, fast paced pop song that will get your choir’s spirits up and really encourage cohesion among the many voices to bring them together.
24. Build Me Up Buttercup (The Foundations)
This simple pop song has great repetition and is super catchy. It encourages a jazzy upbeat rhythm great for adapting to any choir and emphasizing the talent of individual and collective voices.
25. I’m Still Standing (Elton John)
The British king of pop has some great tunes for choirs but this one just might take the cake with its harmony and beat that seem to be made for multiple voices.
26. This Love (Maroon 5)
This pop song can showcase a wide range of vocal talent and encourages your choir to work together while still encouraging individual voice expression.
27. Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)
Another classic pop tune, this favorite is a great song for choirs to learn so as to captivate their audience with its harmony. It can be harmonized or uniquely arranged to put a new spin on an old classic.
28. Lean On Me (Bill Withers)
This song not only sends a great encouraging message, but it also lends a soulful melody for your choir’s repertoire. This pop song is good for lower ranges.
29. Some Nights (Fun)
This song can be a great opportunity to delve into a cappella with your choir and hits a wide variety of notes, perfect for every unique voice in your choir.
30. Can’t Stop the Feeling (Justin Timberlake)
Your choir will be swaying with the music to this fun, easy to sing pop song that can be sung cohesively or with stand-out solo parts if you prefer that arrangement.
Upbeat & Feel-Good Songs For Choirs
31. Defying Gravity (from Wicked)
Everyone is familiar with this famous Broadway tune and it allows your choir to showcase it endurance and control of pitch.
32. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (from Spamalot)
This very tongue-in-cheek British musical offers a fun upbeat tune for your choir sing which allows for a very repetitive and steady melody to perform.
33. Don’t Rain on My Parade (from Funny Girl)
This classic musical number allows your choir to display a fun feel good song that promotes a harmony of a variety of different voices.
34. You Can’t Stop the Beat (from Hairspray)
This multi-part song is a fun number which supports a wide range of vocal pitch and will have your choir dancing to the music as they sing.
35. Born to Hand Jive (from Grease)
This fast paced upbeat musical number can be accompanied by the popular dance it inspired. Your choir will be challenged to exercise their singing speed with this one.
36. Hakuna Matata (from The Lion King)
A fan favorite, this song has an easy melody with a wide range of pitch and can support harmonizing from the different range of voices in your choir.
37. Honey, Honey (from Mamma Mia)
This fun little ditty from the popularized musical based on ABBA’s hit songs can be an interesting experiment for your choir to adapt as a call and response tune.
38. Oh What a Beautiful Morning (from Oklahoma!)
This tune has a very strong yet simple melody to sing to and can be adapted into a fun harmonizing number for a different spin.
39. And All That Jazz (from Chicago)
This song starts off slow then gets faster for a good upbeat tune your choir will enjoy singing. It can also be split into multiple parts which can display the range of talent in your singers.
40. This Is Me (from The Greatest Showman)
This feel good tune is all about celebrating individuality while coming together as a cohesive unit – a perfect banner song for any choir.
Powerful Choir Songs
41. Gloria in Excelsis Deo (Antonio Vivaldi)
This powerful classic choral number is meant to mirror the song the angelic choirs sang at the birth of Christ and can really showcase your choir’s talent.
42. Stars (Eriks Esenvalds)
This inspiring choral song is great for your chorus to show off its powerful voice and captivate its audience.
43. St. Matthew Passion (Johann Sebastian Bach)
Inspired by the Gospel story of Jesus’ journey on the road to crucifixion, this moving piece holds powerful emotions of heartbreak your choir is sure to capture perfectly.
44. Zadok the Priest (George Frideric Handel)
This strong and stirring choral number is perfect for any harmonizing choir and swells powerfully in its mission to tell a moving story.
45. Good Night, Dear Heart (Dan Forrest)
A beautifully moving piece, this choir song is sure to captivate the hearts of your choir’s audience as they sing harmonically to the soothing melody.
46. Stabat Mater (Giovanni Battista Pergolesi)
A classic winner in sacred choral music, this Italian composed piece is beautifully moving and with your choir singing a stirring performance, everyone will be left breathless.
47. Miserere Mei Deus (Allegri)
This absolutely moving song is a powerful contribution to your choir’s repertoire. With its somber notes and flowing harmony, it is the perfect piece for your choir to perform.
48. Stetit Angelus (Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina)
This powerful composition is a great piece to teach your choir and showcases all kinds of talent from your group of singers.
49. Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah (George Frideric Handel)
Easily one of the most popular and powerful choral numbers, the Hallelujah Chorus is most often performed at Christmas, but it actually accentuates the Easter portion of the Messiah.
50. Lacrimosa (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
A stirring choral piece, this composition is full of powerful emotion that your choir will capture perfectly and move your audience to tears.
Best Songs For Community Choirs
51. Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay (Otis Redding)
This popular tune is great for community choirs because it is easy to sing to and change up if you want to try a harmonizing round.
52. Crossing the Bar (Rani Arbo)
This beautiful song of coming together is the poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson put to music. Your community choir will perform it beautifully as their voices work in unison.
53. Blame It on the Boogie (Jackson 5)
Get you community choir toe tapping to this groovy beat as they recreate a classic pop song from the King of Pop’s original quintet.
54. A Long Time Ago (Traditional Sea Shanty)
Sea shanties are fun harmonizing pieces for your community choir to sing, with plenty of swells and falls in pitch to showcase a variety of talent.
55. There But For Fortune (Phil Ochs)
This inspiring anthem is great for a community choir to work as a unit and exercise their vocal cords in a range of pitches to a simple melody.
56. Best Day of My Life (American Authors)
A great uplifting song, this number will help your community choir work together to perform a popular modern song that emphasizes the positive in life.
57. A Million Dreams (from The Greatest Showman)
This beautifully optimistic song was made popular in the musical featuring Hugh Jackman and can be a fitting ballad for your community choir to perform.
58. I’m Gonna Lift My Sister Up (Faya Ora Rose Toure)
A great ballad about teamwork, your community choir can work together to support and enhance each other’s individual voices as a collective unit.
59. The Parting Glass (Traditional Scottish Song)
This beautiful song traditionally sung at a gathering of comrades is a great anthem for your community choir to sing as most people know its lyrics and tune.
60. A Thousand Years (Christina Perri)
A change of pace, this love song is a touching ballad which has the ability to showcase the variety of talent your community has to offer.
Best Songs For School Choirs
61. The Greatest Show (from The Greatest Showman)
Your school choir can perform the greatest show by singing this upbeat and dance worthy song from the popular musical, The Greatest Showman.
62. Price Tag (Jessie J)
A perfect song for harmonizing and equipped with a great message about not focusing on the material things in life, this ditty is great for school choirs and has an age appropriate version so you do not have to worry about any language.
63. O Magnum Magisterium (Morten Lauridsen)
A great song for a cappella school choirs, this piece emphasizes harmonizing and showcasing different kinds of voices in a beautifully moving way.
64. I’m Yours (Jason Mraz)
This fun tune has a lot of ups and downs in its range of notes and can allow your school choir to tackle different parts in small groups and then come together for the chorus itself.
65. Perfect (Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé)
This song provides a fun opportunity to split your school choir into two groups (boy and girls, altos and sopranos, etc.) and sing the two different parts as a choral duet.
66. Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen)
This complex and uniquely harmonizing song has a part for everyone to show off their talent while still emphasizing cohesion as a group – a fun tune for any school choir for sure!
67. Cups (Anna Kendrick)
This fun little number can be sung a cappella or accompanied by a instrument of plastic cups played on a table. Your school choir is sure to have a blast with this tune.
68. Somewhere Over the Rainbow (from The Wizard of Oz)
From the original version sung by Judy Garland to Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s arrangement, this inspiring song is perfect for school choirs to perform.
69. Baba Yetu (from Civilization IV)
A different kind of song, this number is from a popular video game but makes a great upbeat choral number for any school choir.
70. White Winter Hymnal (Fleet Foxes)
A fun nonsensical song, this piece can be sung in a multi-part round or harmonized for to a various range of pitches and is sure to be a popular choice for your school choir.
Closing Thoughts
We hope this list has provided you with plenty of options when it comes to choosing songs for your choir! If you enjoyed this article, why not check out our list of pop songs for altos next?
PRO TIP: Be sure to check out our list of essential gear for singers to ensure your choir is fully-equipped for singing success!