The science behind singing- why are choirs so popular?
Two million people sing in choirs across the UK, according to a 2017 survey by Voice Now, that’s more than those playing amateur football weekly, and in recent years there has been a rise in academic papers trying to understand just why this is the case.
One of these academics is Dr Adam Lonsdale, a senior lecturer in Psychology at Oxford Brookes University, who specialises in the social psychology of music and has published two articles on the psychological benefits of choral singing, a 2016 paper in partnership with his student Nick Stewart, and a 2019 paper with student Evelyn Day.
In their 2016 paper, Dr Lonsdale and Nick compared the psychological wellbeing of choral singers, team sports players and solo singers, and suggested that the reason people enjoy choirs is to do with the group activity, finding that the former two reported significantly higher psychological wellbeing than solo singers.
If group activity results in improved wellbeing, their paper also suggested that choirs may be uniquely beneficial as singers reported finding their choirs more coherent and meaningful social groups than sports players found their teams.
Dr Lonsdale explained: “We looked at something called entitativity, whether you see a group as a real group. For example, if you were waiting for a bus, you are in physical proximity to other people, but you don’t think that’s a group, that’s called an aggregate of people. So we asked those in team sports and choirs ‘Do you feel part of the group?’ and Nick found that choir members regarded themselves as more so, and he speculated that it’s the synchrony of doing something with others, singing in time, reading in time, that created a greater sense of group cohesion.”
With the paper concluding that people liked singing in choirs more for the group cohesion, than the singing, I pressed why this may be.
Dr Lonsdale answered: “It’s because we’ve dissolved what used to be those natural support networks, when everyone lived by family, and relied on neighbours. As individuals, we’ve never been more autonomous, but we’ve got rid of all those ties, those family commitments, community commitments, and we need to replace them with an artificial community, this is where joining a choir comes in”.
Yet if this paper suggested choirs are uniquely beneficial for wellbeing, this was debunked by his 2020 paper with Evelyn Day, which extended the study to include choral singers, solo singers, musicians in groups, solo musicians, team sports players and solo sportspeople.
Dr Lonsdale explained: “We teased apart doing things as a group, as opposed to doing the same activities on your own, and then we teased apart the musical from the non-musical, and the singing from being in a band, but we found no difference in wellbeing between all six groups.”
Instead, the paper suggested that it was the opportunity to improve a skill which made choirs so popular, a trait all the activities shared.
“We found that regardless of your activity, it was your feeling of competence, which was the most reliable predictor of how happy you were so the take home message was do anything, it doesn’t matter if it’s with people or not, if its musical or not, as long as you feel that improvement, then you’ll feel good about yourself. To me, that dispelled this magic, this idea that choirs are uniquely amazing.”
Someone who does find choirs unique, is Jane Ward, a 62-year-old music teacher from Cheltenham, who has sung in or conducted numerous community choirs and school choirs over the years.
When I asked why choirs are so popular, Jane acknowledged that the “social element” factor was not unique, but explained what others were.
“What’s so special about singing in a choir is that it’s a physical experience, but it’s also producing something which you can’t produce on your own. And then if you layer upon that the sense of being in the middle of voices reverberating in harmony, that’s a physically exciting phenomenon, it’s euphoric.”
Jane ultimately believes choirs are popular because of the affects they have on your body.
“I’m not a medical expert, but when you sing in a choir, you get an endorphin rush from it, and that’s partly from the breathing and the control that your body has, because you are learning to breathe properly, but it’s something bigger than that, it’s being surrounded by this amazing burst of wellbeing where you hear harmony all around you, and you’re part of it. It’s a very difficult thing to describe, but people find that once they’ve done it themselves, it’s somehow addictive.”
She adds: “The physiological benefits of singing are just amazing. The endorphins that you release, the way it helps with your breathing, your posture, your entire wellbeing, and absolutely everything in terms of mental acuity. It’s just incalculable, the benefits of singing, but the benefits of singing together are something very special.”
Although Jane is a self-proclaimed non expert, scientists have proven the physiological benefits of singing, including that it releases endorphins, and oxytocin, which stimulates feelings of trust and bonding whilst eliminating anxiety and depression.
Scientists have also found that singing strengthens the immune system, lowers cortisol levels, which reduces stress, and delivers more blood oxygen to your brain, in turn improving concentration and alertness.
As a singer, Jane experiences these benefits first-hand, but says they are particularly noticeable to her as she has chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition she finds hardest in the mornings, which is when her women’s choir, Word of Mouth, rehearse.
“When my lady’s choir meet, I have to be there bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but it’s not forced because I get caught up in this physiological change that singing gives you, so even if I was half asleep, by the end of the rehearsal, I’m feeling refreshed, invigorated, ready for whatever lies ahead. It’s like a workout for the body and the brain, but I’m speaking as somebody who experiences it, so I wouldn’t be able to tell you the science behind it.”
Whilst reiterating her humble excuses, Jane ends our conversation with an observation which aptly sums up why choirs are so popular.
“The thing about science and singing is that you’ll always get people who are interested in it, and that’s brilliant, but the most important factor is just to experience it, because it is totally immersive. Singing is the most beneficial thing, physiologically, sociologically, and for your mental health, so if it can tick those three boxes, it’s got a lot going for it hasn’t it?”
