Music at a funeral service is often one of the first things to be discussed, as music has a great effect on people’s emotions.

Choosing music for a funeral can seem a daunting task, as you can have almost any type of music you wish at a funeral. Don’t feel pressured by this thought. Take time to consider if the deceased had favourite songs, hymns or instrumental music they loved. These pieces of music would add a greater meaning to the service, rather than just the first thing that come to mind.

At Singers for Funerals, we often sing for Catholic funerals, including both simple and full mass services. Indeed, soprano Toni is the soloist of choice for several Catholic churches in Hampshire, and in particular the Southampton/Portsmouth areas.

So far this year we've sung over 100 individual songs and hymns for funerals, burials and memorials services.

​As you would expect, this total includes some of the most popular items, including:

When you’re organising a funeral, there isn’t always a lot of time to investigate lots of options for the service. So, you (and many families like you) may not even realise you can have live music at a funerals service. And that applies to the songs you and your loved one enjoyed, not just the hymns.

So, why would you choose to have live music? Here’s five reasons that families have told us.

One of the skills you learn at music college as a student of singing is to suit your voice to the music, and that includes volume. Singing a song with piano is obviously different to singing an aria with orchestra, for example. However, it;'s only experience that teaches you the art of self-regulating and adjusting your voice to different spaces as well. And it's not always about the size of the space either.

Throughout the years we've been singing for funerals, no pattern for bookings has emerged. However, over the last months, one has emerged - bookings for the middle Friday of the month.

​Whilst all our singers enjoy singing hymns at funerals services, we are also increasingly conscious of a trend we call "internet verses overload"! 

This is a new favourite of ours, a great funeral poem set to wonderful music. We knew of the poem, but the musical setting only came to our notice last year.

Over the last four years, we've started to notice the trends in music played at funerals, with Adele exiting stage left to be replaced by Lilly Allen and others, but some classic pop versions last way beyond their moment in the charts. 

Where do you start when choosing hymns for a funeral service? There are so many hymns to choose from. Having sung at many Anglican funerals we've first hand experience of the various choices people have. Often it's a close run thing with the popularity of hymns as we all have our favourites.