It’s a lesson that even the delivery driver currently struggling to manhandle a new double divan through the front door of Jim’s home accidentally discovers when he bursts into three-part harmony.

“Ah-ah-ah . . . ah-ah-ah . . . Aaaaghh . . .”

In the kitchen of Jim’s house, Abbie is holding one of her ‘Free Your Voice’ singing workshops for scaredy-cat singers.

Her motto is: sing yourself happy, but it could equally be ‘sing louder than your self-

consciousness can shout’. She is about to stage a series of such workshops which are not so much about whether people can sing and more about getting them to abandon their self-

consciousness and unleashing their real selves.

It means the outer Jim is about to unleash the inner Jim. The 43-year-old, who like millions of other people has sung in the bath but never before in public, looks decidedly nervous and admits as much.

“I’m terrified,” he says. “It’s not so much that people are going to mock me – if they said I was awful I could deal with that – it’s more that people are going to hear me and cringe.”

But Abbie gently encourages her group of students, which now also includes our enthusiastic delivery driver, to warm up and suddenly all three are humming a trio of simple notes in unison, over and over again.

Initially clinging to the kitchen worktop for support, Jim is away, and after just a few minutes of warbling along with Abbie and the delivery driver you can physically see him growing in confidence.

The nervous grimace is replaced with a beaming smile. He even lets go of the kitchen worktop. How do you solve a problem like Jim? Answer: by singing with other people.

Singing, Abbie says, has amazing powers. It can help release chemicals in the brain called endorphines which lift our spirits and give us a natural high.

Says Abbie: “It’s about unleashing something. We are all stressed out all day and singing is a release, it unblocks something.

“It’s about getting rid of self-consciousness, because that ruins everything.”

She adds: “I can’t sing” is something I hear all the time. People don’t realise, however, it’s not the fact that they can’t – we all can. It’s that they are afraid of being judged by others or worse still, by themselves.

“They are often people who sing in the shower or in the car along to their favourite CD, but wouldn’t dream of inflicting that onto anyone else.”

Of course, these days singing in public is currently a hugely popular pastime. As well as karaoke pub nights, The Sound of Music talent contest How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? attracted huge television ratings and The X Factor continues to thrive on the fight or flight response from its contestants.

But as Abbie is keen to stress, there will be no sniping or Simon Cowelling at her introductory free-your-voice workshop.

“Pop Idol or The X Factor are not about singing from the heart, they’re about wanting to be loved,” she says.

“I’ve learned how to have a really nice singing voice but a few years ago I realised that’s not real,” says Abbie, a professional singer for 20 years who has played with members of Steeleye Span and also provides vocals for a number of BBC television shows, including Big Bear Week.

“I just go with the mood now. The voice might be cracked sometimes but it’s emotional, it’s an expression of how I feel.”

Those people who might feel that attending one of Abbie’s singing sessions would do them good but who might be frightened at the prospect should fear not – they won’t be alone.

“We are encouraging people not to hide their voices and join together to sing in a group because when you sing in a group you get a fantastic feeling.

“It’s about helping people to overcome their fears of self- criticism in a group situation.”

Over the years Abbie has seen people really come out of themselves through singing. Some have even broken down in tears, such has been the emotional release.

“People have turned up saying ‘I’m so terrified, I used to be able to sing years ago but I can’t now because I’m so frightened,” she says.

“They have completely lost their confidence and they have since gone on to perform quite regularly in public.”

And there is another benefit to belting out a tune in public too: it can add a couple of inches to your height.

Says Abbie: “People become taller and more proud and move like they are saying ‘here I am, this is me and I don’t care’.”

• The Free Your Voice workshop is staged at The Mereside Community Centre, Shrewsbury, tomorrow (Friday) from 6.30pm to 9.30pm. The session costs £15 (£8 concessions) and is run with Abbie and Shropshire singer-songwriter Anna Gillions. Contact 07903 425099 to book or e-mail info@abbielathe.co.uk

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