The Health Benefits of Singing

For many hundreds of years, the word “choir” was inseparable from the churches in which most of us first heard one. People didn’t speak of being in “a choir”, but in “the choir” and it was taken for granted that it was in the local, usually Christian, church. But that’s all changed: in community centres and schools, in local halls and sports clubs and, yes, in suburban churches, the rafters ring to the sound of people getting together to raise their voices in song.

The website of the New Zealand Choral Federation lists more than 60 choirs in the greater Auckland region alone. Only four are affiliated with churches and a few more than that are professional ensembles. But for most modern choristers – whether they gravitate to barbershop, gospel, world music or good old rock’n’roll, getting together and singing is about so much more than music.

Repeated studies, such as this 2015 research by two experimental psychologists at Oxford University, have shown how group singing quickly forges social bonds, broadening social networks beyond the alienating world of X and Instagram.

Doubtless boosted by the phenomenal success of X Factor and other talent shows, group singing is strongly linked with improved physical and mental health as well. Singing has been shown to improve breathing, posture and muscle tension. It lowers cortisol, the stress hormone, boosting the immune system. It has also been shown to lessen chronic pain (perhaps due to the release of neurochemicals such as the endorphins felt after intense exercise).

Above and beyond these physical rewards, regular choir members report cognitive stimulation, a boost to memory function and improvements in their sense of happiness and wellbeing. Research backs this up: people feel more positive after actively singing than they do after passively listening to music or even chatting about positive life events. It also increases our sense of social closeness with others and offers opportunities to expand our social group.

We know that our ancestors used music as part of ritual and social activity, but for far too long we left in to the talented few, protesting that “I can’t sing”. Now, the ballooning number of community choirs attests to the old truth that if you can talk, you can sing. (One famous Finnish choir yells all the way).

Returning to the origins of communal musical behaviour offers a chance to push back against loneliness and social isolation that is a chief malaise of our age. We seem to be returning to an interest in connecting with one another through singing, be it bossa nova, blues or the Beatles. And if you’re into the timeless charm of making barbershop harmonies, we’d love to hear from you.