"The
only thing better than singing is more singing,"
Ella Fitzgerald once said. Perhaps such a statement is
to be expected from a world-famous artist with an era-defining
voice, but she wasn't the only one to wax lyrical on the
benefits of a good vocal performance.
"He
who sings frightens away his ills," Cervantes mused.
Even John Harvey Kellogg - Mr Cornflakes himself - had
this to add in 1931: "Singing promotes health, breathing,
circulation and digestion."
ISinging might
be fun, might be joyful and uplifting, might inspire poetry
and paeans. But could it actually be good for you? Oh
yes. It seems that Kellogg was on to something.
In the UK, singing is also in fashion at the moment. BBC
TV has a new hit on Saturday evenings with the new talent
show, Last Choir Standing, while last month the Sing The
Nation project organized a program of group singing events
around the UK that culminated in a nationwide singalong
on Aug 24 to mark the Olympic handover from Beijing to
London.
There is an increasing interest in the physical, psychological
and emotional benefits of singing. In December of this
year, the charity Heart Research UK will run a Sing for
Your Heart week to raise money and also to highlight the
health benefits of singing.
And this month, the Sidney De Haan Research Center for
Arts and Health at Canterbury Christ Church University
will host a conference to explore the role of music and
singing in health, social care and community development.
The research available on singing identifies some key
physical benefits. It exercises major muscle groups in
the upper body. It is an aerobic activity that improves
the efficiency of your cardiovascular system and encourages
you to take more oxygen into your body, leading to increased
alertness.
Aerobic activity is linked to stress reduction, longevity
and better overall health. Improved airflow in the upper
respiratory tract is likely to lessen the opportunity
for bacteria to flourish there, countering the symptoms
of colds and flu. Singing also aids the development of
motor control and coordination, and recent studies have
shown that it improves neurological functioning.
But the benefits of singing extend beyond the fizzing
of synapses and the whizzing of oxygenated blood cells.
"There is an increasing appreciation that the way
people feel about themselves is going to have an impact
on healthcare budgets," says Hancox.
There is nothing like singing for generating that feel-good
factor. "It's almost indescribable," says singer
and singing coach Helen Astrid. "It's an incredible
endorphin rush. You feel like you've got a spring in your
step. You feel like you're being totally true to yourself.
It is like making love in a way. You're using your whole
body, everything is involved."
But as well as the sheer pleasure of opening your mouth
and belting out a tune, there's also evidence to show
that singing can have a tangible impact on your sense
of wellbeing in a variety of ways.
Professor Graham Welch, chairman of music education and
head of the school of arts and humanities at the Institute
of Education, University of London, says: "There
is currently a lot of interest in wellbeing and social
inclusion and an increasing interest in how music in various
forms can support a sense of being part of society and
increase your self-esteem. A great deal of research is
being done into music and medicine and how music can ameliorate
pain."
Indeed, research published in the Journal of Music Therapy
in 2004 suggested that group singing helped people to
cope better with chronic pain.
Colette Hiller, director of Sing The Nation, is convinced
that singing with other people can help individuals connect
to each other, and to their environment. "Think of
a football stadium with everyone singing," she says.
"There's an excitement, you feel part of it, singing
bonds people. There's a goosebumpy feeling of connection."
She cites some research in Italy that demonstrated a link
between the vigor of local choirs and the level of civic
engagement.
Nikki Slade, who runs chanting and voice-work classes
for everyone from bankers to addicts at The Priory rehab
centers, believes that the benefits of singing are linked
to the primacy and power of the human voice - and our
basic instinct to use it. "People are naturally free
and expressive," she says, "but it's something
that has been lost on a day-to-day basis."
Madeleine Lee, a singer/songwriter, singing coach and
practitioner of "holistic song therapy" (which
uses voice work to help individuals confront insecurities
and explore their creativity), says she has worked with
clients in their 80s, helping them to finally realize
a lifelong urge to sing.
She says: "There is no such thing as not being able
to sing. It's the most natural thing, but you can be so
conscious of it.
One of Lee's clients, Jo Finnigan, agrees that singing
happily can have powerful implications for the rest of
your life. "I could already sing," she says,
"but Madeleine helped me not try so hard, to be able
to sing effortlessly and openly. It felt much more a part
of me and that carried into my life. I felt more confident
about being myself."
But it's not only in the realm of holistic medicine and
alternative healing that the basic power of singing is
acknowledged.
"The point about singing is that it is something
we all did when we were born, regardless of color, creed
or anything else," says Hancox. "All the billions
of us on the planet sang and for the first nine months
of our lives relied on the manipulation of our voice's
pitch to meet our basic and fundamental needs."
Advocates of singing lament its diminishing role in our
lives: from the days when we sang round the piano in the
pub and to pass the working day, to soothe babies and
to mark moments of celebration and sorrow. Singing is
sacred and everyday, ritualistic and spontaneous. It makes
us better, and makes us feel better. And we should all
be doing more of it.
MORE
INFORMATION
This article first appeared
in the China Daily News. Their website can be found at
www.chinadaily.com
Music without words means leaving behind the mind. And leaving behind the mind is meditation.
Meditation returns you to the source. And the source of all is sound. — Kabir
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"The
only thing better than singing is more singing,"
Ella Fitzgerald once said. Perhaps such a statement is
to be expected from a world-famous artist with an era-defining
voice, but she wasn't the only one to wax lyrical on the
benefits of a good vocal performance.