The topic of singing in schools is one that I feel passionate about not only for my background in choirs and music theatre but also because it is a way that anyone can experience music. Community singing is around us in varying degrees. We sing at events like the AFL grand final, birthdays, weddings, religious services so why not incorporate this seemingly ritualistic act into our education system? With the Victorian Curriculum's inclusion of the social and personal growth of students, singing is all more important in schools. Singing causes many chemical reactions in our brain that support wellbeing. Researchers are finding that singing has the power to sooth and elevate one's spirits. Stacey Horn (2013) writes
"The elation may come from endorphins, a hormone released by singing, which is associated with feelings of pleasure. Or it might be from oxytocin, another hormone released during singing, which has been found to alleviate anxiety and stress. Oxytocin also enhances feelings of trust and bonding, which may explain why still more studies have found that singing lessens feelings of depression and loneliness. (http://ideas.time.com/2013/08/16/singing-changes-your-brain/)"
These findings emphasise more than ever the need for schools to encourage community singing if for no other reason than to support student wellbeing. Although school students are very connected through social media and smart phones, they can tend to be isolated and consumed with their appearance and online presence. Through community singing these students can trigger chemical reactions that give them a sense of belonging and alleviate feelings of isolation. The flow-on effect is a student who feels the acceptance of others and therefore does not need to be overly concerned about how the world perceives them because they are connected to that world in a very real way and not solely through a smart phone.
Following on from the wellbeing aspect, singing in schools can also serve to improve academic achievement. On a very basic level many disciplines apart from music use songs as a way of introducing new topics, reinforcing knowledge or recalling information. Tom Leher created new lyrics for the Gilbert and Sullivan song “I am the very model of a modern major general.” Leher’s lyrics are in fact the elements of the periodic table (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfrv8Y9746g). This song (along with other similar ones) has been used in many classrooms as a way to reinforce the elements of the periodic table. Yes it has a repetitive and catchy melody with a fairly simple harmonic progression but why use song instead of simply learning the elements by rote? Given the chemical reactions induced by singing, our memory is enhanced through song and let’s face it, it’s just a more fun way to learn.
I went through my schooling without doing much singing in my music classes. If we were to sing, it would not necessarily be tied to the content of the lesson but rather a miscellaneous activity to fill the last few minutes. However, somehow I still developed the necessary musicianship skills…perhaps owing to my private lessons in a variety of instruments. When I became a teacher I learnt very quickly the value of singing as a way of giving students a language for music the wasn’t purely written. Languages and Music go hand-in-hand in their acquisition and practise. You cannot master a language without being able to read, write, speak or listen to it. The same applies to music. Reading, writing and listening are fairly obvious correlations, I think, but how does one speak music? The answer is, singing. Singing gives you an internal and essentially very personal understanding of music and a way to express it without an instrument—I use the term instrument to mean all other ways to generate music apart from the voice.
Coupled with singing, students need to be given a language to speak. There are many languages out there; solfa, numbers, tones and semitones, and intervals. While each of these languages have there merits, I have found that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ language for music. For those of you who know me, you know that I’m studying a PhD in music education and part of the research is trying to establish a ‘one-size-fits-all’ musical language. In any case, it is vital to music education that students be given a language with which to understand the mechanics of music. In future posts I will talk about the value of the Kodály Method as a musical language and my successes with it in the classroom.
Please leave a comment or question below. I’d love to engage in some discussions about this topic.
That’s all for now. Until next time.
"The elation may come from endorphins, a hormone released by singing, which is associated with feelings of pleasure. Or it might be from oxytocin, another hormone released during singing, which has been found to alleviate anxiety and stress. Oxytocin also enhances feelings of trust and bonding, which may explain why still more studies have found that singing lessens feelings of depression and loneliness. (http://ideas.time.com/2013/08/16/singing-changes-your-brain/)"
These findings emphasise more than ever the need for schools to encourage community singing if for no other reason than to support student wellbeing. Although school students are very connected through social media and smart phones, they can tend to be isolated and consumed with their appearance and online presence. Through community singing these students can trigger chemical reactions that give them a sense of belonging and alleviate feelings of isolation. The flow-on effect is a student who feels the acceptance of others and therefore does not need to be overly concerned about how the world perceives them because they are connected to that world in a very real way and not solely through a smart phone.
Following on from the wellbeing aspect, singing in schools can also serve to improve academic achievement. On a very basic level many disciplines apart from music use songs as a way of introducing new topics, reinforcing knowledge or recalling information. Tom Leher created new lyrics for the Gilbert and Sullivan song “I am the very model of a modern major general.” Leher’s lyrics are in fact the elements of the periodic table (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfrv8Y9746g). This song (along with other similar ones) has been used in many classrooms as a way to reinforce the elements of the periodic table. Yes it has a repetitive and catchy melody with a fairly simple harmonic progression but why use song instead of simply learning the elements by rote? Given the chemical reactions induced by singing, our memory is enhanced through song and let’s face it, it’s just a more fun way to learn.
I went through my schooling without doing much singing in my music classes. If we were to sing, it would not necessarily be tied to the content of the lesson but rather a miscellaneous activity to fill the last few minutes. However, somehow I still developed the necessary musicianship skills…perhaps owing to my private lessons in a variety of instruments. When I became a teacher I learnt very quickly the value of singing as a way of giving students a language for music the wasn’t purely written. Languages and Music go hand-in-hand in their acquisition and practise. You cannot master a language without being able to read, write, speak or listen to it. The same applies to music. Reading, writing and listening are fairly obvious correlations, I think, but how does one speak music? The answer is, singing. Singing gives you an internal and essentially very personal understanding of music and a way to express it without an instrument—I use the term instrument to mean all other ways to generate music apart from the voice.
Coupled with singing, students need to be given a language to speak. There are many languages out there; solfa, numbers, tones and semitones, and intervals. While each of these languages have there merits, I have found that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ language for music. For those of you who know me, you know that I’m studying a PhD in music education and part of the research is trying to establish a ‘one-size-fits-all’ musical language. In any case, it is vital to music education that students be given a language with which to understand the mechanics of music. In future posts I will talk about the value of the Kodály Method as a musical language and my successes with it in the classroom.
Please leave a comment or question below. I’d love to engage in some discussions about this topic.
That’s all for now. Until next time.