Musicologist, jazz musician and choir leader Taberner is best known in Canberra as the "spookmeister" for the wildly eclectic and joyous Spooky Men's Chorale, which sang their unique brand of acapella to standing-room only crowds at last year's National Folk Festival.

He has led the 15-strong theatrical collective of black-clad, mostly bearded and merry chaps on voyages to festivals and shows all around the world since 2001, recording seven CDs along the way.

After so much performance, basso profundo and general enjoyment while "waving his arms" out front for the much-loved "Spookies", the arrival of the coronavirus and enforced social isolation has been a jarring and somewhat sobering experience.

And so began his own form of online musical therapy: the Massive Singlet.

"It's just weird this situation, isn't it?" Taberner said.

"One minute we're all together, singing along, and the next we're all apart."

But not, it seems, for long.

Taberner decided that he would take his choir-leading skills online and has formed the tongue-in-cheek Massive Singlet, in which anyone is invited to join in via the Zoom app and harmonise.

However, be warned: it's a semi-serious effort, not just a random, rowdy chorus.

Before the singlet begins, there's a chat about what will be sung and how, and there are interesting vocal and physical warm-ups involved, of which those who have sung in a choir before will be familiar.

Participants will need to choose what harmony they wish to sing (soprano, tenor or otherwise) and be coached by Taberner on where each contribution fits.

He wants people to enjoy the moment, but also understand that there's a certain discipline involved in the delivery to obtain a great outcome.

"Singing is so good for us, it gives us a such a general feeling of well-being and goodness," he said.

"Part of that is an internal thing; it makes us breathe deeply, it connects you to your emotional life.

"The second thing is it reinforces the social aspect of being human that is highlighted when we're all so apart.

"Some people send me emails saying: 'thanks so much for the singlet; it's the most time I spend with other people during the week'.

"So even though it's virtual, the benefits of seeing and empathising with other people still apply; it's a human need."

His aim, he says "is to make it [the singlet] as kinda fun and as funky as possible".

"It's a challenge for me to go it in a virtual environment because you don't get the normal feedback loop you would do if you were in a room with people. After 27 years of teaching people to sing in a chorus, I've now had to learn new ways of doing it.

"There's quite a bit of preparation involved; we try to choose songs which are a bit anthemic and work well in harmony so when we get to the chorus, the big fat bits we call it, they [the singers] can hear it all because of the way we've set up the sound for them.

"Harmonies are really special things. In the end, you're trying to create something that's bigger than a singalong, because it's got all the harmonies.

"It's not quite a choir, but it's not far off it."

When The Canberra Times joined the singlet this week, over 400 people from around the world were online from locations as farflung as the UK, New Zealand, and all over Australia.

Participants were from broad demographic range but mostly middle and older age group, singing from their loungerooms, their home offices and kitchens, in singles and pairs, and some strumming along on their own instruments.

Everyone was fully dressed, which is always an encouraging sign.

One chap sang along with a couple of hand puppets, one lady had her dog on her lap, and another had a strange teapot arrangement on her head.

Lyrics are provided on screen.

The old James Taylor standard "Shower The People With Love" was the chosen song for the evening. Taberner started off on a ukelele, then switched to a double bass part way through.

Two of Taberner's friends and fellow musicians, both in the same room but socially distancing, helped vocally guide the participants, and another managed the web administration.

His approach to coordinating such a large group online is always good-humoured, upbeat, patient and unflappable.

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He conducts separate singlets for both adults and children and requests a modest donation, for those who wish to provide it, to pay themselves and cover running costs. What's left over goes to charity. There's also dancing at the end.

The kids' sessions, he said, have proved quite challenging.

"Grown-ups are an easier audience than kids because kids are famously distractable and exciteable so if you can keep them on-side then it's an amazing result," he said.

"But if you get boring for just a moment, you're in big trouble."