‘A mega-mechanism for bonding’: why singing together does us good
For the Columbia Road carol service in Bethnal Green, east London, the power of TikTok proved too great. After footage of December's first sing-along session went viral, thousands of people showed up in joy, forcing organizers to scrap the events over fears for public safety.
The Victorian charm of the cobbled street has always attracted crowds, but the carol service has become an extraordinary seasonal hit. The success reflects the country's renewed enthusiasm for group singing, a trend that follows the rise of TV choir director Gareth Malone and the increasing popularity of rock choir and pop choir.
What attracts people to singing and what benefits it brings has been the subject of research for centuries. But it is only in recent decades that evidence has been accumulating on how and why singing improves health and well-being. “This is a very emerging topic,” says Daisy Fancourt, professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London. “And in recent years there has been a real clarification of the mechanisms.”
Singing has brought people together and encouraged social bonds since the species' early history. Over the course of human evolution, the activation of endorphins, which create a sense of contentment and peace with the world, has emerged as an important means of connecting large communities. It turns out that singing is an incredibly powerful trigger.
“Singing is one of the mega mechanisms we use for bonding,” says Robin Dunbar, professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford. “Singing in the shower gives you a bit of a boost, but when you do it together, there's something about the synchrony of singing that gives you a huge boost of endorphins.”
In a Study from 2015Dunbar and his colleagues found that strangers who sang together for an hour emerged from the sessions with an unusually close bond. “It was like they had known each other since grade school,” he said. “And that doesn't normally happen when you spend an hour in the company of strangers.” Singing, the researchers concluded, was the ultimate icebreaker.
But what makes singing so effective? Dunbar believes that the prolonged exhalation associated with singing taxes the lungs and chest wall, triggering the release of endorphins. The effect is enhanced in choirs and at events such as Christmas concerts, by the feeling of vocal synchrony. “The effect is very scalable,” says Dunbar. “The larger the group, the better it works, and that doesn't happen with any other connection process we use.”
Evolution has also ensured that singing in mixed groups can exert its magical effect. It so happens that male and female voices are on average a full octave apart, meaning that men and women can sing in sync despite having different pitches.
The benefits of singing for mental health are unquestionable. Fancourt, who studies the health benefits of singing and other arts, says singing supports emotional regulation, helping us cope with life's challenges. It distracts us from problems, gives us an outlet to express our frustrations and helps us build self-esteem. “That sense of identity supports you in your daily life,” says Fancourt. “When things go bad at work, you rely on other parts of life to support you. If things go well in other domains, that supports the way you deal with it.”
The combination of all positive qualities has a substantial impact on well-being. People who spend more time singing experience less depression and higher levels of well-being and life satisfaction than others.
Singing therapies also appear promising, at least under certain circumstances. Although patients with dementia can lose life memories, this happens often remember the music of their youth, meaning that singing can become a means of connection, a crucial bridge to a lost family member. Group singing sessions have also been shown to improve movement in Parkinson's disease. To sing can stimulate cognitive skills just the evidence for this is mixed and more research is needed.
There are physical benefits too, research suggests. Research has shown that singing lowers blood pressure, heart rate and stress hormones, and early research shows promise in lung health and shortness of breath caused by conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and long Covid.
With Columbia Road's Christmas carols suspended for the time being, the thousands eager to attend the services will have to find their solution some other way. “It was so clear we had to stop it,” Heather Atkinson, the vicar of St Peter's Bethnal Green, told the BBC. “So let's see if we can find a way to revive it in a safer form.”