I WAS wearing the dunce’s cap again. Why? Well on Tuesday I went to a choir. Now my singing is not bad, but it was no help to me in this choir.

And that was because this was the Good Vibrations Choir run by Deaf Direct. They are a group of people, both hearing and Deaf, who come together to learn how to SIGN songs. And if you have ever seen it then you will know that it is beautiful. As luck would have it they were learning a new song – from the film Moana – so we were all starting from scratch.

We went through the verses and chorus, and I knew a lot of the signs: island; why; sun and suchlike. But then it was the case of putting them altogether with the music.

And that was a different matter. I can honestly say that my hands were all over the place. Lord only knows what I was signing much of the time. But Donna the choir leader was patient and it was a lot of fun. This is another way in which Deaf Direct support deaf people and bridges the divide between deaf and hearing worlds.

And how fantastic that the whole community can be part of a choir which doesn’t exclude anyone because of their ability to hear the music.

I am sure that at times we have all felt what it was like to be left out and know that it is not pleasant. But in this choir, you can be sure of a warm welcome whatever.

Good Vibrations are performing at the St Peter’s Festival in July and so to end the evening they practised the song The World in Union.

Fortunately, I could just sit back and watch the performance. And it was beautiful. To see a group of people expressively signing a moving song was an amazing sight.

Using sign language in harmony expressed the song perfectly and gave me a new way of experiencing and feeling what it was about.

And with it being performed by a hearing and deaf performers, it completely matched the meaning of the song: The World as One.