| Health, Happiness and Harmony |
| If you ever have the desire to break out into song – in the shower, in the car, maybe at your neighbor’s infamous karaoke night – you should embrace it whole heartedly. It can enhance your well-being, reduce your feelings of pain and even prolong your life.1 Though it may seem a simple and natural act, singing can provide numerous health and wellness benefit to those who sing on a regular basis. The body of evidence continues to validate claims that choral singing is beneficial to both physical and mental health. Clinical studies and surveys continue to support the belief that music, and specifically choral singing, is beneficial in keeping people healthier, happier, and better able to deal with disease and aging. The results of new studies are bringing greater specificity to the claims of enhanced health and instigating new collaborative efforts – by universities, government agencies, music therapists, and arts advocates – to find out even more.2 Not any old singing will provide significant health benefits. To get the benefits to mind and body, one has to practice diaphragmatic breathing. If you’ve ever been in a choir, you’ve probably been told that the proper way to sing is from your belly. Diaphragmatic breathing is the basis of good breath control that allows the singer to sing longer phrases without having to break the flow of tones and to retain pitch through the phrase. It is a basic concept used in choral singing and is taught and practiced on a regular basis as part of rehearsing and performing with the Big Chicken Chorus. Using your diaphragm to sing is also a good way to promote a healthy lymphatic system, which in turn promotes a healthy immune system. “If you want to start singing for health and have some fun with it, I highly recommend that you learn how to sing in harmony with another person or group of people”.3 Singing in harmony is what the Big Chicken Chorus is all about. And boy do we have fun doing it. As Dr. Ben Kim suggests as an easy way to learn to sing harmony, most of our members learn all the songs in our repertoire by listening to and singing along with recordings of highly trained and experienced vocalists singing the melody or harmony you want to learn to sing. The Big Chicken Chorus has recordings of nearly all the songs in our repertoire, by voice part, recorded by top vocalists, for use in learning our repertoire. No training required and you don’t need to know how to read music. So, the health benefits can begin with your first visit to one of our rehearsals. No need to feel shy, you can practice your breathing and singing in the private confines of your car or when you’re home alone. At rehearsal, you’ll find a supportive and encouraging environment where you can hone your skills with weekly instruction. Before you know it, you’ll be a contributing member of the Big Chicken Chorus. 1 - How Singing Improves Your Health – www.SixWise.com 2 – The Singing-Health Connection, John Sparks – Chorus America 3 – Why Singing Is Good for Your Health, Dr. Ben Kim – drbenkim.com |
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