So today I didn't even need to search out or think up any ideas. Below is an article that was sent to me by a member of my church choir. Enjoy!
Your Brain and Singing: Why Singing in a Choir Makes You
Happier
By Jaime Babbitt
Any of us who have sung in choirs know all too well the joy
it brings not just the audiences, but also the choir members themselves. And
why wouldn’t it? When we raise our voices with lots of other gorgeous voices in
a big, beautiful space, it feels like we’re altering molecules. The power, the
mojo that this (relatively) small time commitment offers…how is it possible?
Well, according to various scientific reports, we are altering molecules…inside
our brains, with different changes occurring whether listening to music,
singing, or singing with others.
In Stacy Horn’s wonderful book, Imperfect Harmony: Finding
Happiness While Singing with Others, we get a first-hand account of how music
uplifts and empowers, with various scientific evidence cited. Horn has been
singing with The Choral Society of Grace Church (in New York City’s Greenwich
Village) since 1982; she evocatively describes her own experience while
explaining how science is finally catching up with what vocalists have known
since the dawn of time: singing heals.
Choirs are known for singing about somber topics, including
death. Requiem masses by Mozart, Haydn, Verdi and Berlioz are extremely popular
selections for choirs worldwide. Yet, even though the content isn’t necessarily
joyful or soothing, endorphins — hormones produced by the central nervous
system — release and interact with opiate receptors in the brain, diminishing
pain and triggering an almost analgesic feeling in the body. Our brains get an
endorphin “rush”, which apparently feels a lot like taking morphine. Singing
(both listening to it and doing it) can also release dopamine, a chemical that
works to help regulate the brain’s pleasure and reward centers. Music has also
been found to release serotonin, a neurotransmitter found mostly in the
digestive tract that helps regulate our moods, social behaviors and appetite;
other studies have shown that cortisol levels can be lower when listening to
music and singing. In addition, Dr. David Huron, a music professor at OSU,
postulates that singing may increase prolactin production; prolactin is found
both in tears and in nursing mammals, and it helps regulate the immune system.
Other forms of happiness await us via singing as we age.
Neuroscientists have shown that musical memories engage broader neural pathways
than other types of memories – that’s why hearing an old song can flood one
with very specific emotions and visual cues. When dementia and Alzheimer’s
patients are encouraged to sing along songs from their youth, they sometimes
respond with wide-eyed wonder and exhilaration, and sing out in a way that
surprises not only those around them, but themselves as well; it’s a beautiful
phenomenon to witness. Additionally, doctors are now finding that singers have
more circuit connections between the right and left sides of their brains than
non-singers. Memorizing words (left brain function) and music (right brain
function) could keep those nerve cells and synapses in excellent working order.
Dr. Gene D. Cohen of George Washington University kept track
of a senior singers’ chorale in Arlington, Virginia. The singers’ average age
was 80 (65 the youngest, 96 the eldest). Findings showed that the singers
suffered depression less frequently, made fewer doctor’s visits each year,
needed less medication, and increased their other activities. I can attest that
some of my greatest memories are of forming and leading a choir at an assisted
living facility and seeing with my own eyes how the songs from my elders’ era
affected them; they laughed, cried and told stories about first hearing that
song performed.
But, as Horn will agree, the most remarkable phenomenon that
a choir vocalist experiences are the many “take your breath away” moments that
come as a result of being one of many voices coming together in harmony. I’m
sure many of you reading this have had your own version of these types of
experiences: goosebumps on your arms, hair standing up on the back of your
neck, bursting into tears (that would be me), and more. A 2004 study by Dr.
Gunter Kreutz showed that singing in a choir–as opposed to simply listening to
choral music–increases SIgA production (antibodies in saliva that help immune
function) and other positive physical responses.
The even better news is that while we always strive to be
the best choristers we can be, our voices don’t have to be “professional
strength” to derive these myriad health benefits. Horn cites a 2005 study that
showed that singing even at an amateur level was beneficial to people’s
emotional, physical, and cognitive well-being. Before moving back to New York,
I joined Nashville in Harmony, a talented and love-filled group of largely
non-professional singers in Nashville, Tennessee. Being one of 150 voices
banding together for the common good has brought me exhilaration I’d not felt
in all my years of singing…and that’s a lot of years. Back when we recorded to
tape.
So please, sing. Sing a song. Sing out loud. Sing out
strong. (See what I did there? C’mon, who remembers Sesame Street? The
Carpenters? Sigh.)
Special thanks to Greg Schuerman for sending me this
article!
A choir is made up of many voices, including yours and
mine. If, one by one all go silent then all that will be left are the soloists.
Don't let a loud few determine the nature of the sound. It makes for poor
harmony and diminishes the song.
- Vera Nazarian -
