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Short Stuff: Does singing make you happy? · Stuff You Should Know

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to the short stuff. Josh here, Chuck here,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Jerry here, Dave here. In spirit it's shorts stuff. Sorry,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: it's shorts stuff. Yeah.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna start this one by telling a quick little
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: story of last year. I got in my Instagram feed
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: for a little while these choirs, these choral singing groups
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: that were you know, it's kind of a thing now
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: where it's not like, oh, you know, we go to
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: the church and it's an official choir, but like, hey,
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: my friend has a warehouse space and we can put
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: a piano in it and just put out a call
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: to see, like people want to show up and sing together.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Like humanist choirs.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Is that what it's called.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: That's what I'm calling it.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Oh okay, yeah, oh just because yeah, humanist episode, I
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: got Youah, yeah, exactly that. And you know they're doing
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: like a cool Radiohead song or something like that, like
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: or whatever, you know, Christmas music around the holiday. And
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: I was like, you know what, man, I sang in
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: a choir growing up in my church, and Emily and
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: I both sing, she sang in show choir, and like
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: we both got a lot out of those experiences. And
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: I haven't done it since I was a teenager and
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: I was like, man, we got a piano, and I
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: bet you we could get a group together to come
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: around and do this kind of thing. And I was
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: I still might do it this year, but I never
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: got around to it. But it was something that was
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: really kind of on my list.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: So are you going to do it? Though?
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: You think, well, I really want to do it, Okay,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: we'll do it. Yeah, I do want to cause I think,
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: you know, I would be the facilitator, but I would
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: get someone who's like, somebody's got to lead the show
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: because I can't do that. But I'll sing and I'll
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: put you know, I'll provide the space and the piano.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: Okay, there you go. I think that's a good start.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: I think it would be fun, like a neighborhood deal
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: and long way of sort of getting around to this
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: idea that they've kind of learned that singing is good
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: for you, and specifically singing together like inn a choir.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, that's a a big thing. And Chuck, if
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: you did get a choral group together, you guys would
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: be the two hundred and fifty thousand and first chorus
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: group in the United States, because that's how many are
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: in there. Yeah, something like almost twenty nine million people
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: regularly sing in a choral group and in the United States,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: and it's the most popular of all arts related participatory activities. Yeah,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: It's more popular than cross country painting and charades leagues combined.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: Interestingly, I saw a study the other day where they
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: found one participatory activity helps stave off dementia more than
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: any other and it was dance.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Oh I believe that.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because the movement and the all the benefits of
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: doing a participatory activity, plus the benefits of the exercise
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: and everything, but something about dance that and it was
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: like kind of off the charts, and like how good
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: it was for you to do as like as you age.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Sure, gitch troubles come on, get happy, all right.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: So let's talk about singing though, because like if you
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: get together with a choir, obviously everyone there is probably
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: going because they like to sing and they're probably pretty
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: good at singing. But you can just go to your
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: local karaoke bar as evidence that, Like people love to
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: sing who can't sing at all sometimes and they will
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: do that in front of people and people will like
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: still watch that and be interested.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: For sure. Yeah, people will watch other people who can't
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: sing sing, Yeah, and then people who can't sing will
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: sing in front of other people and feel good about it.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: Like karaoke is a great example of like the fact
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: that this exists. There's something about singing, including singing and
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: other in front of other people that actually does give
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: you a positive vibe. Yes, so you said something though,
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: I mean like you can sing at home in the shower,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: you can sing at home on the couch, you can
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: sing at home in the kitchen, sing in the car
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: for sure, sing in the car, you could sing in
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: the laundry room, right, like you could sing basically anywhere
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: by yourself. And yes, there are benefits, as we'll see.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: But because there's something about singing in a group, as
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: we'll kind of unpack, it's just it provides greater benefits.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: But if you do sing in your laundry room, you're
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: still going to get some benefits from it. But if
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: you've got a group of people who sing with you
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: in your laundry room, you would be doing really good
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: for sure.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: Good time for a break, Yeah, all right, we're going
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: to talk about what those benefits are because they seem
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: kind of mysterious. Right after this.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: If you want to know then you're in luck. Just
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: listen to SUFFUSI stuffuse no.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: All right, So, like you mentioned before the break, all
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: types of singing is good for you. We found it
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: releases endorphins, which is always great. If you're singing in
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: front of people, it's gonna you know, build your confidence.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: Like I've seen some not very good singers at karaoke
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: just like still kind of kill it and walk out
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: of there, like clearly, like kind of brimming with confidence. Sure,
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: which is going to have like a great effect on
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: your life and well being for sure.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: But like I said, singing with a group, choral singing
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: has the most dramatic effects, And there's actually some studies
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: that have shown this. Apparently in Australia in two thousand
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: and eight, a study looked at choral singers and said, hey,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: how satisfied are you with your life? And they said
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: really satisfied, so satisfied that if you compared us to
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: the average person from the general public, we're more satisfied
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: with our life. They're like, well, wait a minute, what
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: if we control for all these differences and the only
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: difference is these people sing and the rest of the
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: people don't. Well does that still hold true? Yes, it will,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: that's right.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: It was Australia, they said, yes, and not now.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: And I mean Australians are generally happy on a whole
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: compared to other other groups.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: No, I totally agree.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: That was so like Australian choral singers through the roof happy,
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: they can't stop smiling. Yeah.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: In fact, I'm gonna start saying that. I'm gonna say, man,
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: they were as happy as an Australian choral singer.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: That's a great one. That's great.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: In nineteen ninety eight, there was another study that found
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: after nursing home residents were you know, active in a
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: singing program for a month, there were big time decreases
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: in both anxiety and depression levels. And a study in
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: England six hundred British choral singers found that singing plays
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: a central role in their psychological health. Like people get
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: a lot out.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: Of it, right, And that would have included Ireland and Wales.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: That's right. Actually that didn't look too deeply into that one.
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: But yeah, if it said British then for sure.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: So some of the physical effects though, like it actually does.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: Like we've been talking mostly about well being we'll talk
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: a little more about that. But physically speaking, singing has
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: a great effect on your body. It's essentially an aerobic exercise.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: Because of the way you're breathing, you're getting more oxygen
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: in your blood. That improves your circulation. Good circulation makes
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: you happy. I've seen that it's prescribed. Singing is prescribed
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: to people who are going through lung rehab for some
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: sort of lung issue. And there's also like a you
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: need to breathe deeply, so you're spending like an hour
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: or so, like a week breathing deeply. That's essentially one
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: of the main parts of meditation and relaxation techniques is
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: deep you know, controlled breathing and singing. An acquir requires
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: you to do that.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. I remember talking, Oh, when was it,
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: I guess it was sometime light last year when or
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: I guess early last year, when I was very upset
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: a lot about politics, not like I am now, which
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: is like just super stoked all the time, right, But
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: I remember talking about sing therapy, and that's what I
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: did for a little while. I would like put on
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: my piano as a little player piano, so I would
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: put that on and I would sing as hard as
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: I could sing, and it really really felt good. It
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: made a big difference in how I felt.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: What were you singing whatever?
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: A lot of billy joel?
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Oh that's great.
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: No, Like I was singing whatever. Whatever You could really
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: belt out, you know.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: Okay, I think that's wonderful that you did that for yourself. Man, Yeah,
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: it was.
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: It was fun.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: So one of the things that you could have also done,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: since you probably know every word to every Billy Joel song,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: you could have learned some new songs, right sure. And
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: had you done that, you would have been working your brain,
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: which is another benefit of singing, especially in a group.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: You have to learn new stuff every week.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. And if you're learning things, and if
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: you're concentrating, like all right, I got to work out
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: my alto part on this thing. I'm a tenner. Actually
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: work on your tenor part. And then when you get
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: together with your little choir or big choir and you're like,
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: all right, I got to remember my part here where
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: I come in. Like, that's what you're thinking of, that's
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: what's on your mind. You're not thinking of the stress
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: at work or the stress at home, or the stress
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: in your life. Or your health stress, Like it's your
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: chance to park that stuff and really dwell on something
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: else for a while.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Right, And then we finally arrive at one of the
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: big reasons why, probably the biggest reason why singing an
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: a choir actually has the most benefits of any kind
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: of scene is because you are becoming part of a group. Yes,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: Like if you've ever been a member of any kind
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: of choir, like, that's a fairly tight group. Everybody knows
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: one another. You're required to rely on one another, Like
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: you are needed by this group. Your voice is needed,
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: your part is needed. Like there's a sense of belonging
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: and inclusion that comes from being a member of a choir.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: And then on top of that, adding in all of
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: the benefits of singing again like this is it's just
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: really good for you.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's amazing. When we were I think I told
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: you this backstage. But when we were in Madison, I
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: went a day early and I woke up the next
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: morning and I was My hotel was like kind of
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: right on the water, so I had the windows open,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: and because I could hear the water gently laughing, and
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: it sounded really nice. But I heard singing, and I
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: was like like group singing, and I was like, where
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: is that coming from? And I went and looked out
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: of my window and there was It turns out that
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: in the hotel there was a choral festival going on,
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: so there were a bunch of choirs staying there, and
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: there was a group of young people, like probably twenty
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: of them on a dock on a pier singing a
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: Radiohead song. And it was the most lovely thing I
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: had ever heard. You can't imagine a better way to
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: sort of start your morning than just by hearing that.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: In reality, though backstage everybody he told me that he shouted,
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: piped down, shut up kid, that's cool man.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: It was great. It was so so lovely.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: Right well, I think since we ended that on a
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: high note from one of Chuck's good memories, good recent
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: memories from our visit to Madison, I mean short stuff
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: is out.
• 11:17
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• 11:20
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• 11:24
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