Last year, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. My life was fine—wonderful, even—and yet mercurial feelings of anxiety, disconnect, and vague dread nagged me. Aside from the occasional car ride or shower, I didn’t sing much.
But on a whim, I joined a secular community choir without knowing how to read music or having any real expectation beyond wanting to try singing under the guise of anonymity. Billed as “drinkers with a singing problem,” and more importantly, not requiring auditions, Choir League practice began with a happy hour before rolling into light-hearted rehearsals. As I softly sang the words of an old Appalachian hymn, “Am I born to die?” with over 100 other voices, standing amid a sea of people with diverse beliefs and backgrounds, I felt something unexpected and new to me—but that people have experienced for millennia.
People have been singing together since the beginning. Early humans employed coordinated rhythmic chants for hunting and socializing. Oral storytelling was often delivered through song, whether via Greek chorus, work songs, or sea shanties.
But this age-old tradition of communal singing saw a steep decline over the last century as the advent of radio, television, and recordings encouraged a passive, often individual consumption of music. Aside from religious settings or concerts, many Americans only experience group singing briefly and sporadically. Maybe while singing “Happy Birthday.” And yet, at this fraught moment when everyone is politically polarized, lonely, disillusioned, and cringe-averse, choirs are attracting a new generation of singers.
Viral videos abound of one-day choirs where throngs of strangers huddle in warehouses as they gleefully sing Natasha Bedingfield or Tracy Chapman. People with dementia are finding joy singing together as their musical memory outlasts their ability to speak. Unhoused folks in San Diego have formed a chorus and created community.
Why the choir camaraderie? One reason: singing together is a low-cost, inclusive activity. Plus, recent studies show that singing with others helps bolster social cohesion, as well as providing numerous physical benefits, from lowering blood pressure and cortisol levels to bolstering lung health.
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