Why Should You Join A Choir?
Most of the posts so far have been mainly centred on why you
should join Yorkshire Youth Choir; we have skipped the essential first
question. Why should you join any choir?
From an outsider’s perspective it may seem that there are
very few benefits to being in a choir. Sure you might make some friends and it
would be a bit of relief from work or school, but in actual fact there are many
scientific reasons why a choir should become an important part of your weekly
routine.
Not only does singing in a choir teach you transferable
skills such as: team work, self-discipline, emotional and analytical intelligence
and creativity which will enhance your CV but there has been research carried
out which shows strong correlation between choral singing and good health.
“Group singing has
been scientifically proven to lower stress, relieve anxiety and elevate endorphins”[1]
The research shows increased release of the hormone
oxytocin, this enhances feelings of trust and bonding, perhaps offering some
explanation for the intense friendships we have described in previous posts.
Singers are ‘bathed in dopamine’[2]
which has been associated with feelings of pleasure and alertness as their
levels of cortisol (a chemical indicating stress levels) reduces. With the
levels of serotonin rapidly increasing very quickly it is becoming clear
just why singing is such an addictive activity.
I’m sure you are beginning to question some obvious
limitations, why can’t I just sing on my own? Or if it is the togetherness
which is important can’t I just join a team sport? Whilst it is true that the
previous options would have a positive impact surveys have revealed that those
who sang with a choir stood out as experiencing the greatest benefit.[3]
“Studies have
found that people who listened to music before surgery were more relaxed and
needed less anaesthesia, and afterward they got by with smaller amounts of pain
medication.”[4]
“Experts claimed
that joining a choir could improve symptoms of Parkinson’s, depression and lung
disease”.[5]
“It has also had a
dramatic effect on an individual’s heart rate variability – the change of
intervals between each beat – which is linked to a reduced risk of cardiac
disease”[6]
As well as providing general feelings of well-being and
happiness, being a member of a choir could also offer some serious health benefits,
although research is still being done in this area and it is currently unclear
as to what extent these benefits can be felt.
“A yearlong study
on people with mental health problems, carried out by the Sidney De Haan
Research Centre for Arts and Health, Canterbury, has also shown some 60 percent
of participants had less mental distress when rested a year after joining (a
choir), with some people no longer fulfilling diagnostic criteria for clinical
depression”[7]
The improvements to mental health amongst participants
appears to be the most consistent result presented across the research I have
seen, with some even going so far as to suggest that singing in a choir should
be on prescription! From my experience I can vouch that it is very difficult to
sing and not feel relaxed, joyous and stress free. Your mind focuses so much on
what you are doing; you get lost in the music and are carried away by an
explosive and emotive wave.
It seems logical to assume that this benefit is exclusive to
happy songs, common sense suggests that singing songs about death and pain
would not go far to alleviate symptoms of depression. Yet choirs sing so many
songs with death and suffering at their core that it would be reasonable to
expect that in reality, joining a choir will not present many of the previously
mentioned benefits. However;
“Ohio State music
professor David Huron believes singing may generate prolactin, which is
released in nursing women, and in tears of sorrow. Prolactin has a
tranquilizing, consoling effect, and this is why sad music makes us feel better”[8]
His research not only shows why we may enjoy singing sad
music but also illustrates how; in fact, it could be good for us. Furthermore
researchers have discovered that singing these songs in choirs may not be just beneficial
mentally but also physically, for example: singing Mozart's Requiem showed an
increase in s-IgA, an immunoglobulin that enhances our immune defence.[9]
But what if your choral abilities are not amazing? A big
reason for people not joining choirs is purely the fact that they think that
they can’t sing or read sheet music. Fortunately investigations have been done
which revealed that a group of singers will experience the same benefits even
if the quality of the vocal instrument is of ‘mediocre quality’[10]
If this is still not enough to convince you that choir is
the place to be then maybe this will.
“when people
participate in a choir their heart beats become synchronised, and their pulses
increase and decrease in union”[11]
It suddenly becomes absolutely clear why such close friendships
and unbreakable bonds are formed amongst choirs. Being in total alignment with
a room full of people is a sentiment that sounds so beautiful and incomparable
to anything else you will ever experience.
If you have read something you like the sound of and are now
interested in joining Yorkshire Youth Choir the next set of auditions take
place in February 2016 at Northern Ballet in Leeds. Please visit our website for
more information about auditions, concerts or how donate money to keep young
people experiencing all the benefits of singing in a choir.
[1] www.ideas.time.com/2013/08/16/singing-changes-your-brain/
August 16th 2013 Stacey Horn
[2]http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2013/07/singing_in_a_choir_research_shows_it_increases_happiness.html
Stacey Horn July 25th 2013
[3] www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/10490656/choir-singing-boosts-your-mental-health
Haley Dixon 4th December 2013
[5] www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/10490656/choir-singing-boosts-your-mental-health
Haley Dixon 4th December 2013
[6] www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2358589/choir-singing-good-yoga-helps-syncronise-heart-beats-others.html
Nick McDermott 9th July 2013
[7] www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/10490656/choir-singing-boosts-your-mental-health
Haley Dixon 4th December 2013
[8]http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2013/07/singing_in_a_choir_research_shows_it_increases_happiness.html
Stacey Horn July 25th 2013
[9]http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2013/07/singing_in_a_choir_research_shows_it_increases_happiness.html
Stacey Horn July 25th 2013
[10]http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2013/07/singing_in_a_choir_research_shows_it_increases_happiness.html
Stacey Horn July 25th 2013
[11] www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2358589/choir-singing-good-yoga-helps-syncronise-heart-beats-others.html
Nick McDermott 9th July 2013
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