 The temperance movement , which had been absorbed into the moralistic system of the Nonconformist chapels , caused a shift in social attitudes in the mid- to late @-@ 19th- and early @-@ 20th century Rhondda . Alcohol was looked down upon and so were the increasingly violent sports such as rugby , so young men looked for different and more acceptable pastimes . Voice choirs were a natural progression from chapel society , and brass bands would eventually gain acceptance by the movement . 
