
What is the mysterious magic that draws together humans from all walks of life to
join with complete strangers and indulge the apparently aimless activity of singing
a few familiar songs together?
Jackie and I had discussed putting on lour own sing-a-long event several times,
yet we had yet to translate the idea into action. Then Colorado (USA) musician
Scott Johnson provided the catalyst with his annual World Singing Day event.
So, Jackie and I decided to try an experiment, to see if we could discover just what
it is about the traditional British sing-a-long that pulls people together time after
time? We chose a lovely, cosy function room in a suburban pub as our testing
ground. There, with no frills, fanfare or trimmings we simply set up our equipment,
gave out word sheets and set about encouraging our attendees to join us in
singing traditional rounds and familiar pop and rock songs as well as the official
WSD song which was Scott's own lovely arrangement of “We Are the
World/Imagine”.
During our intervals we made a point of chatting to as many of our guests as
possible to find out what had brought them to our modest little event. Those brief
conversations laid bare the fact that however technologically advanced we
become as a society, our basic human needs remain steadfastly the same.
Through those small exchanges we gained very similar insight to that garnered
by scientific studies. (See links below)
It appears that Jackie and I are not the only ones to ponder the question of why
taking part in social music making has an almost magical effect on human well-
being. Many scientists have been studying the matter in considerable depth.
The scientists conclusions suggest that collective singing might have helped
strengthen bonds between individuals in small, tribal groups. Being scientists
they'd studied the chemical and hormonal effects of group singing and found that it
releases chemicals like oxytocin and beta-endorphin, which help with feelings of
closeness. Their studies show that doing things together, especially in sync,
makes people feel more connected. This is the magic fairy dust that, in my humble
opinion no amount of sophisticated technology can replicate. There's something
almost spiritual about singing the same notes and words in a small space that
banishes barriers like shyness or unfamiliarity and helps people form social bonds
in a remarkable short space of time. We need that physical proximity to others, we
need to “feel the vibes” as it were.
The most obvious next level connection, for me, is having a shared cultural
reference point. The songs we picked for our sing-a-long experiment created
instant sense familiarity amongst our singers. Most of them knew most of the
words to most of the songs. So a sense of belonging had developed by the end of
the first verse of the first song.
We deliberately designed two social breaks into our event, which allowed people
to begin conversations around their singing background and which songs
provoked particular emotionally charged memories for them. We didn;t need to
encourage these exchanges. They happened naturally.
In a slight departure from the traditional sing-a-long format , we pushed things a
little further, musically speaking, by including rounds. These produce
instantaneous simply harmony without the need for choral skills or musical
knowledge. It has always fascinated me how thrilling adults find it when they first
hear themselves producing harmonious sounds. I feel as if I've opened the door to
a magic kingdom for them. We introduced another variation by splitting some
songs into “higher” and “lower” lines and dividing our audience into “Tanya's side”
and “Jackie's side”. Without realising it, our beta- testers had formed an
instantaneous choir.
Then something else magical happened. During the second break and at the end
of the session, people who would normally run a mile when invited to join a choir
began to ask for details of our choir rehearsals and new member events. Our
simple, informal offering had swept away the doubts, lack of confidence and
limiting beliefs that stop so many people from attending a formal choir rehearsal
for the first time. The notion of “not being good enough” had simply melted away. A
completely unexpected result which, from now on, I will call “experiential
marketing”. It sounds so much more intellectual than “try before you buy”.
Our small sample of singers who turned up in ones and twos, illustrated how
singing familiar material together, for around an hour, can rapidly create a sense
of belonging, lift mood, improve mental well-being and transport people, at least
temporarily, away from life's problems and challenges. The pub sing-a-long is a
truly awesome thing. It's loss would, in my opinion, be a cultural catastrophe.
We will be holding another sing-a-long event in the New Year. So If you'd like to
come along and join in the social singing fun, sign up to our mailing list here: http://eepurl.com/iMcCXA - we'll let you know all about our future singalong events.
Here are a couple of links to formal scientific research into the benefits of
communal singing :

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