Why Sing in a Choir?

A choir [kwair] is defined as a musical ensemble of singers, a body of singers who perform together as a group. Choirs have been performing together since the 2nd century B.C., and they are still popular today.  Why?  What makes choirs an ensemble in which singers want to be involved.


The website GothamRockChoir.com says this about choirs: 
 
"In the United States, choral singing is the most popular of all arts-related participatory activities.  Across the country,  28.5 million people regularly sing in one of 250,000 chorus groups. It’s a group activity that seems to stand the test of time better than others, and there may be a very good reason why:  Singing has some (positive) effects that other participatory activities don’t."  

POSITIVE EFFECTS OF SINGING IN A CHOIR

Singing has many positive effects on a person, both physical and mental. Here are just a few of them.

1) Singing improves your mood.  When you're singing, you tend to forget about the negative things going on in your life.

2) Singing can keep you well.  Scientists have proven that singing improves your immune system.  If you don't want to catch that cold that everyone around you has, start singing!

3) Singing makes you happy.  In a survey, choral singers rated their satisfaction with life higher than the general public, even when they had substantially bigger problems.

4) Singing decreases anxiety and depression.  Singing helps us escape the moment and sends us to a place of peace and happiness.  Music can touch us in ways that nothing else can.

5) Singing is very effective as a stress reliever and improves sleep.  Because you are enjoying what you are doing while you sing, your stress level decreases, thus making it easier to sleep at night.

6) Singing plays a central role in your psychological health.  Singing can have some of the same effects as exercise, like the release of endorphins, which give the singer an overall "lifted" feeling and are associated with stress reduction.  It is also an aerobic activity, meaning it gets more oxygen into the blood for better circulation, which tends to promote a good mood.

7) Singing improves your posture.  According to Graham Welch, director for advanced music education at London's Roehampton Institute, "When you break into song, your chest expands and your back and shoulders straighten, thus improving your posture." (Source:  Barbership.org)

8) Singing can make you feel and sound younger.  Mr. Welch also believes that, "Singing exercises the vocal cords and keeps them youthful, even in old age.  The less age-battered your voice sounds, the more you will feel, and seem, younger."

9) Singing in a choir improves your concentration.  As you learn new music, your concentration level is high.  Once you learn the music, you still have to concentrate to make sure that you are singing the song correctly and to make sure that you are doing all of the things the conductor asked you to do.

10) Singing in a choir is good for your heart.  In a study done in Sweden, it was found that choral singing increased the amount by which an individual's heart rate varied.  This is a health benefit, because low variability is known to be related to high blood pressure. 

The GothamRockChoir.com website poses this question about singing in a choir:

       The question remains, though — why choral singing specifically? Concentra-
       tion and deep breathing can happen in a recording studio, or in the privacy
       of your own home.  It’s because some of the most important ties between
       singing and happiness are social ones. The support system of being part of
       a group, and the commitment to that group that gets people out of the house
       and into the choir every week — these are benefits that are specific to group
       singing. And they seem to be a big component of why choral singers tend to
       be happier than the rest of us. The feelings of belonging to a group, of being
       needed by the other members of that group go a long way toward combating
       the loneliness that often comes along with being human in modern times.

On the Barbershop.org website, Patty Mills was quoted as saying, "Singing fortifies health, widens culture, refines the intelligence, enriches the imagination, makes for happiness and endows life with an added zest."   If you sing in the shower or sing along with the radio, consider taking this raw vocal skill to new heights.  Music -- the "universal language" not only stirs our deepest emotions, but active participation can increase energy and vigor to see us through even the most stress-filled life commitments.  In addition to physical benefits, here are some life-affirming benefits of singing:
1) Singing increases poise, self-esteem and presentation skills.

2) Singing broadens expressive communication.

3) Singing adds a rich, more pleasant quality to speech.

4) Singing animates the body, mind and spirit.

5) Singing stimulates insight into prose and poetry and piques interests in the inner meaning of words.

6) Singing is an ageless enjoyment -- you are never to young or too old.


The moral of the story?  GET OUT THERE AND SING!