Physical Benefits of Choral Singing

Immune System Benefits:

Singing strengthens the immune system, according to research by scientists at the University of Frankfurt in Germany, published in the latest edition of the US Journal of Behavioral Medicine. The scientists tested the blood of people who sang in a professional choir in the city, before and after a 60-minute rehearsal of Mozart’s Requiem. They found that concentrations of immunoglobulin A – proteins in the immune system which function as antibodies – and hydrocortisone, an anti-stress hormone, increased significantly during the rehearsal. A week later, when they asked members of the choir to listen to a recording of the Requiem without singing, they found the composition of their blood did not change significantly. The researchers, who included Hans Guenther Bastian from the Institute of Musical Education at Frankfurt University, concluded singing not only strengthened the immune system but also notably improved the performer’s mood.

“In particular, singing leads to increases in positive affect and S-IgA, while negative affect is reduced. Listening to choral music leads to an increase in negative affect, and decreases in levels of cortisol. These results suggest that choir singing positively influences both emotional affect and immune competence. The observation that subjective and physiological responses differed between listening and singing conditions invites further investigation of task factors.”

  • Gunter Kreutz et al. Effects of choir singing or listening on secretory immunoglobulin A, cortisol, and emotional state; Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 2004.

“Choral singing can play a role in sustaining a healthy immune system, by reducing the stress hormone cortisol and boosting the Immunoglobulin A antibody.”

  • R. J. Beck et al. Choral Singing, Performance Perception, and Immune System Changes in Salivary; Immunoglobulin A and Cortisol; Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Fall, 2000

This study demonstrates associations between singing and reduced negative and increased positive effect, reduced cortisol, oxytocin and beta-endorphin and increased levels of cytokines. This is the first study to demonstrate the widespread immune effects of singing, in particular its effects on cytokines. Notably, the choice of biomarkers within this study included several that play important roles in cancer.

  • Daisy Fancourt, et al. Singing modulates mood, stress, cortisol, cytokine and neuropeptide activity in cancer patients and carers; in E Cancer Medical Science, 2016

Lung Health and Long Covid Therapy

We often take our lungs for granted, but most of us rarely use them to their full capacity. The way singing requires you to breathe makes you do just that, increasing your lung capacity as well as engaging the muscles around the ribcage. Singing has been used to help rehabilitate people recovering from lung conditions and to benefit people suffering from long Covid.

“Music has also been shown to enhance physical health through improvements to breathing capacity, muscle tension and posture and the reduction of respiratory symptoms.”

- Rosie Stacy; Katie Brittain; Sandra Kerr. Singing for health: an exploration of the issues; Health Education, 2002

Heart Rate Activity

Choir singing is known to promote wellbeing. One reason for this may be that singing demands a slower than normal respiration, which may in turn affect heart activity. Coupling of heart rate variability (HRV) to respiration is called Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). This coupling has a subjective as well as a biologically soothing effect, and it is beneficial for cardiovascular function. 

  • Björn Vickhoff et al. Music structure determines heart rate variability of singers;  Frontiers in Psychology., 08 July 2013

Vagas Nerve Stimulation (breathing, digestion, heat rate, stress management)

Singing stimulates the vagus nerve. Connected to the vocal cords and the back of the throat, the vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in the body, connecting the brain to various organs. A key part of the parasympathetic nervous system, the vagus nerve influences breathing, digestion and heart rate among other things. A 2010 study showed that the more you increase your vagal tone the more your physical and mental health improve and the faster you can relax after stress.

Mind-Body Benefits of Choral Singing

Mood Affecting Neurotransmitters and Hormones: 

There’s an increasing amount of evidence that singing releases endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine – the neurotransmitters and hormones that support a positive mood. Scientists believe that’s one of the reasons why people report being on a high during choir sessions and continue to feel positive, uplifted, and motivated afterwards.

Blood Oxygenation: 

Singing is considered an aerobic activity as it introduces more oxygen into the blood leading to better circulation and mood.

Memory and Dementia Care:

Singing can help improve mental alertness, memory and concentration as it involves focusing on multiple things at once, engaging many areas of the brain in the process. Music is also increasingly becoming a feature of dementia care, in part because it has proved a powerful tool in sparking memories often long after other forms of communication have diminished. 

- Opera North: https://www.operanorth.co.uk/news/10-reasons-singing-is-good-for-you/

“Making music in a group is a tremendously demanding task for the human brain that engages virtually all cognitive processes that we know about, including perception, action, cognition, social cognition, emotion, learning and memory. This richness makes music an ideal tool to investigate the workings of the human brain.”

  • Stefan Koelsch a, Walter A. Siebel. Towards a neural basis of music perception; Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Dec 2005

Social-Emotional Benefits of Choral Singing

Singing strengthens individual and cultural identity – Singing programs have found success in increasing feelings of competence, self-esteem, and confidence in singers. Engaging in song creates a platform for self-expression in individual people and provides insight into social and cultural group membership. 

Singing improves quality of life – Group singing has been shown to contribute to psychological wellbeing and personal development. Many studies over the decades have documented singing-related improvements in quality of life.

Singing fosters social connectedness and belonging – Group singing has been shown to rapidly build social connections and generate a collective identity. Simply put, individuals who sing/breathe/move together, feel together. In fact, some theorists claim that one evolutionary purpose of group singing is social bonding.

Singing increases prosocial behavior and cooperation – A growing body of research demonstrates that singing together leads to more prosocial behavior such as helping, sharing, and cooperating. This prosocial effect is found even in infancy!

Singing empowers marginalized communities and stigmatized individuals – Extensive scholarship has explored the ways in which stigmatized individuals experience positive outcomes such as community and/or empowerment through choral singing. Studies also show that group singing is an effective means of raising consciousness on important social issues faced by under-represented populations.