Choirs + Singing

TEDx Talk: How singing together changes the brain – Tania de Jong AM
With One Voice program evaluation – Swinburne University
With One Voice Participant Survey Summary 2016

The neuroscience of singing is proven to make us happier, healthier, smarter and more creative. Around the world, research is mounting that demonstrates the benefits of community singing. One such study by the UK’s esteemed University of Oxford, The ice-breaker effect: singing mediates fast social bonding, is of particularly interest. Here are some highlights:

1. “our results indicate that compared with individuals participating in craft or creative writing classes, singers experience a greater increase in both self-reported closeness to their group and positive affect”
2. “the distinguishing feature of singing was that it bonded groups more quickly than the other activities”
3. “building close personal ties with individuals relies more on frequently repeated one-on-one (or small group) interactions in which individuals have the opportunity to talk and observe each other at close quarters to build up an idea of a potential social partner’s trustworthiness and usefulness as a coalition partner. We argue that, in the singing classes, shared musical activity initially facilitated group bonding by bypassing the need to get to know everyone in the class individually, creating general feelings of positivity towards everyone present. Further closeness in the singing classes may have arisen as new relationships were built with individual classmates during the tea-break conversations or between classes”
4. “the non-singing classes provided more opportunity than the singing classes for talking to each other, but lacked a powerful means of bonding a whole class simultaneously”
5. “although protracted interaction is likely to be necessary in order for intimate personal relationships to develop within a group, singing may be able to kick start this process in humans: singing breaks the ice so that individuals feel closer to the group as a whole even if they do not yet know anything about the individual members”

Here are some further articles and resources

• The psychophysiology of music-based interventions and the experience of pain – Arnold et al, Frontiers in Psychology, 2024
• Links Between the Neurobiology of Oxytocin and Human Musicality – Alan R Harvey, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2020
• 15 Incredible Ways Music Affects Our Lives And Our Brains – Andrew Grant, Record Player Pros
• Can singing make you happier – Trust Me I’m A Doctor – BBC
• Joining a choir helped me combat anxiety and find a meditative state of pure joy – The Guardian 2020
• Music Takes 13 Minutes to ‘Release Sadness’ and 9 to Make You Happy – Good News Network, 2020
• Want to Train Your Brain? Forget Apps, Learn a Musical Instrument – Pocket May 2019
• Stop obsessing over talent – everyone can sing – The Conversation March 2018
• Finding their voice: Singing and teaching with refugees in Australia, Skye Playsted, October 2018
• Choir singing improves health, happiness – and is the perfect icebreaker, The Conversation, April 2018
• Emerging Hopkins center harmonizing music and medicine, Baltimore Sun, April 2018
• Studying Music as the Prescription, Johns Hopkins University Magazine, April  2018
• Music and Medicine: Finding Harmony, Johns Hopkins University, April 2018
• Singing with your baby can help ease postnatal depression, Essential Baby, 2018
• The wellness benefits of finding your voice through singing, The Age, November, 2017
• Why choirs are the new after work drinks – ArtsHub, Andrea Simpson, November, 2017
• Neuroscientists Discover People Who Like To ‘Sing’ Maybe Smarter and More Creative, posted by Peace Quarters, October 18, 2017
• Choir singers ‘synchronise their heartbeats’, posted by BBC News.
• Analysis of Effects of Singing on Cognitive and Emotional Factors in Assisted Living Residents with and without Alzheimer’s Disease –  Linda Maguire, George Mason University
• Opera Singer Turned Neuroscientist Uses Music as Medicine for Dementia, Autism, and More – By Conan Milner, Epoch Times
• Singer pitches in to bring joy for everyone, Stonnington Leader, Melbourne
• Music’s Capacity to “Change the World” Explored in Griffith Uni Lecture, Music Australia
• Community choirs growing as members reap health benefits, ABC News
• Science says music is good for you – and Eric Whiteacre has proved it, Classic FM
• Understanding why group singing helps in dementia, Medical News Today
• fects of Oropharyngeal Exercises on Patients with Moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome, ATS Journals
• Singing for Snorers, singingforsnorers.com
• Choir: cheaper than hospital and just as essential – ArtsHub
• One Track Mind: how music sped up our primitive brains, powered our evolution and fights depression and anxiety – Be Magazine
• The benefits of music for the brain – Sarah Wilson, School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne
• Infographic: Sing Your Way To Health & Happiness – Katarina’s Singing Room
• The ice-breaker effect: singing mediates fast social bonding – University of Oxford
• The Brain in Singing and Language – Valerie L. Trollinger, General Music Today
• Singing ‘rewires’ damaged brain – BBC News
• Music on the brain: Researchers explore the biology of music – William J. Cromie, Harvard Gazette
• Making Singing for Health Happen – Sidney de Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health
• Stanford Scientists Detect Seizures Through Brain “Singing” – Brain Injury Law Centre
• The Therapeutic Effects of Singing in Neurological Disorders – US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health
• The heroes inside: building communities in community choirs – The Vocality Programme
• Does music have healing powers? Studies show music is a potent treatment for mental health – Psychology Today
• Music and neural plasticity – Merrett D, Wilson SJ. (2012).  In: Rickard NS & McFerran K, Eds. Lifelong Engagement with Music: Benefits for Mental Health and Well-being. New York: Nova Science Publishers, pp.119-159.
• Singing changes your brain – Time
• The Impact of Singing in Caring for a Person With Dementia – Music and Medicine Sage Journal
• Dementia and music – Age UK
• Singing and people with dementia – Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health
• Benefits of group singing for community mental health and wellbeing – VicHealth
• How art and music therapy help people recover from tragedy and trauma, The Australian
• With One Voice choir research paper, Susan Maury
• Singing helps when learning languages, Classic FM
• Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection,  by John T. Cacioppo &  William Patrick
• Music structure determines heart rate variability of singers, Frontiers Psychology Journal, 9 July 2013
• Choir boys’ and girls’ distinctive voices studied, BBC News
• Choir singers ‘synchronise their heartbeats’, BBC World Service
• Singing as part of a choir has the same calming health benefits as yoga, study finds, National Post
• Singing in a choir is good for the heart, New Scientist
• Music Training and Neuroplasticity, Searching for the Mind
• Why Music Makes Our Brain Sing, New York Times
• Music ‘releases mood-enhancing chemical in the brain’, BBC News
• Effects of choir singing or listening on secretory immunoglobulin A, cortisol, and emotional state, Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 2004
• Choral singing and psychological wellbeing, Clift et al 2007
• Even A Few Years Of Music Training Benefits The Brain, Christie Wilcox, Scientific American
• The Therapeutic Effects of Singing In Neurological Disorders, Music Perception Volume 27, Issue 4, pp.287-295
• Singing ‘rewires’ damaged brain, BBC
• Psychological aspects of singing development in children, Dr. Graham F. Welch, Institute of Education, London
• Ageing Community and choral singing – Southcott and Joseph 2010
• Singing and Brain Function, John Scott School of Voice
• Employee wellbeing and choir singing – Purcell and Kagan 2008
•  ‘Young sound wins chorus of approval‘ – The Age, Sarah-Jane Collins
• The significance of choral singing for sustaining psychological wellbeing
• Choral singing and psychological wellbeing: Quantitative and qualitative findings
• Effects of group singing and performance for marginalized and middle-class singers – Bailey and Davidson
• Study finds those who attend choir rehearsal report less anxiety – PsyPost

Canterbury Christ Church University- Sidney de Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health Research Project Outcomes:

• Singing and Health: Summary of a Systematic Mapping and Review of Non-Clinical Research –  Clift, Hancox, Staricoff and Whitmore
• The Silver Song Club Project: Summary of a Formative Evaluation –  Bungay and Skingley

Case study
The Office of the Protective Commissioner and the Office of the Public Guardian is staffed by 330 people who look after the financial and personal affairs of people who are unable to make decisions on their own behalf. Both organisations face significant challenges including;

• Restructures in both
• Increasing demand for service
• Moving offices across the whole organisation
• Consequent loss of skilled staff
• Engagement of new staff
• Complex work often involving families in conflict

At the end of 2007 the Commissioner invited staff to form a festive season choir and 20 staff formed the inaugural choir including people with trained voices, others who had sung in the school choir and people who believed they were tone deaf! With the support of a professional singing teacher the choir first sang for and end-of-year afternoon tea and the performance was a resounding success. The choir decided that they wanted to continue to sing as a group and later we extended membership to all business centres of Attorney Generals Department located atParramatta. While not designed to be a performance choir they will have performed a further four times by the holiday break – all within the broader Department.

“From my perspective, the choir has provided an invaluable platform for cross and intra-organisational understanding, is a great team building activity and has also been beneficial to singers with all levels of experience. People who previously communicated via e-mail have met each other on a different playing field and the positive effect has translated back to their daily work.

Staff who have not joined the choir remain great supporters and frequently ask members about the choir and when we are performing next. It has become a marker point in the week for all members. It takes only an hour, but that hour is a respite from our demanding and stressful jobs when we immerse ourselves in an activity that is different, energising, a team endeavour, mentally stimulating and just downright fun.” Imelda Dodds, Protective Commissioner and Public Guardian