Why Singing is Important Especially During the Holiday Season
Photo by David Beale on Unsplash
Have you ever wondered why people like to carol during the holiday season? Why singing Christmas songs is a family tradition for so many American families? Or why does your church always ask you to sing together as a part of your Christmas Eve service?
The answer is probably simpler than you'd think. It's because it brings joy to you when you sing, especially when you sing with others. We are not saying this just because we are music therapists, but because science suggests it as well. It brightens your day by lifting your spirit, but do you know what it does to your brain? Well, let me unfold the magic of singing to you on a science level.
Before we know anything about modern choir or singing in church, human beings have already started the ritual of singings back to tens of thousands of years ago. Our ancestors, regardless of culture, language, or origin, have all used music or singing as a tool for community building. It's almost like it was built into our evolutionary history.
Although back then, singing and performing were mainly done by the "professionals", or the "talents", you can't deny the effect of closeness and joy for anyone who decides to open their mouths to sing, professionally or not. Neurologists have done researches to suggest that when people sing together, their brains release a hormone called oxytocin, which is commonly known as the "love hormone", and makes people feel closer to each other emotionally. Not only does the closeness happen between people who sing together, researches also suggested that the act of listening when singing in groups makes participants' brain responses to synchronize with one another. That's why it still makes you feel closer to the people around you regardless of your singing skills. It's not the excellent music we are looking for, but the closeness that music can bring us.
Other than making people feel closer together, music is probably the best anti-depressant you can get over the holiday season. No extra sugar or alcohol needed, singing will do the tricks! Neurologists suggested that our brains release dopamine and serotonin during singing activities (meaning both listening to it and doing it) with people you love. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in our brains that regulates the pleasure and reward centers, and serotonin is found mostly in the digestive tract that helps regulate our moods, social behaviors, and appetite. According to Daniel Levitin, a psychology professor at McGill University and author of This is Your Brain on Music, said that around 20 percent of Canadians are currently taking some sort of SSRI or anti-depressant drugs to maintain their mood balance caused by lack of serotonin. It's incredible to know that singing with others, especially the ones you love, can lift your mood and fill your holiday prescription of that anti-depressant you've been taking.
If you are spending your holiday with any elderlies in the family, make sure you include them as well when you do the family singing tradition. Neurologists have shown that memories involved music can engage broader neural pathways than other types of memories. Listening to an old song can bring back so much of one's memories with vivid details of emotions or visual cues. Music therapists have spent years implementing music therapy services in nursing homes and elderly facilities, using music and singing to evoke the lost memory of many dementia and Alzheimer's patients. It's always a surprise for the families to see dementia or Alzheimer's patients who can't even remember their own sons' and daughters' names but can sing an old song without missing a single lyric. Singing stimulates multiple areas in our brains across both left and right hemispheres, which keeps more neuron cells in excellent working order.
I can't think of a better gift you can give to your family and friends this holiday season other than music. The most wonderful things sometimes are the simplest things that we fail to notice. So remember to sit down next to the ones you love, sing a little song together. Include the kids and elderlies in the family. It doesn't matter if you sing on pitch or in the most accurate rhythm, what matters is the closeness and joy that singing brings us.
I wish you a wonderful holiday full of music, warmth, and joy!
Resources:
https://www.choraldirectormag.com/articles/vocal-pro/your-brain-and-singing-why-singing-in-a-choir-makes-you-happier/
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/blogs/the-science-behind-why-choir-singing-is-good-for-you-1.4594292?fbclid=IwAR181J6umzSkdMnXRUbwVjQ-pIj0jvZmNwPvJudfj-ITK-EGbqKDkONu928
Here are some original songs that I wrote for your and your family for the holidays. Hope you enjoy singing them with your family and friends.
This is a song celebrating the holiday season. This song reflects all the fun traditional elements of the holiday such as candy canes, caroling, hanging stockings, sharing gifts and celebrating the sacred birth. You can help your child add all their favorite elements of the holiday season to the instrumental track . The song download includes an instrumental track so you can choose the specific holidays traditions you like to add to this holiday song.
This song is a classic Christmas melody with bells and xylophone. Have fun sharing, adding and personalizing all the traditional elements you can think of for of the holidays season.
This purchase includes:
- Song with vocals
- Song without vocals - Instrumental
- Lyrics and chords
All for only $2.99!
Get in the spirit of the season and celebrate all the things that Christmas is to you and your child. This song is written to help children sing and celebrate all the things that they love to do during the Christmas holidays. This song has a beautiful melody, moderate tempo, and festively accompanied with Christmas bells. You can also add your own lyrics to personalize what Christmas means to you in the instrumental track.
This download includes:
- Song with vocals
- Song without vocals - Instrumental
- Lyrics and chords
- Sheet music
All for only $1.99
Happy Holidays!
From a parent, "thanks it was a hit at our house!...Music Therapy was the vehicle that got my daughter talking again."