“When you sing with a group of people, you learn how to subsume (that’s a fancy word for “include”) yourself into a group consciousness because a capella singing is all about the immersion of the self into the community. That’s one of the great feelings – to stop being me for a little while and to become us. That way lies empathy, the great social virtue.”

– Brian Eno (whose real name is Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno; I would have shortened that a bit, too)

If something starts with the term “Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience”, chances are that my eyes are going to glaze over before I read too far. I like science, but that’s awfully deep awfully fast. However, this particular article snagged me and drew me in. The full text is here (http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00334/full), but what it all boils down to is this:

Choral singing is good for you (we knew that). One reason why is that it demands slower respiration than normal which has a direct effect on the activity of your heart (“Respiratory sinus arrhythmia”; everything in science seems to have a long name, doesn’t it? Kinda like Brian’s I guess). This is measurably calming and also good for your heart. Here’s the cool part: when groups are singing together and breathing together, their heart rates accelerate and decelerate simultaneously. The choir begins to align itself at multiple levels and it’s proposed that the joint action leads to a joint perspective, changing each singer’s focus from “me” to “we”. They even expand this idea to be one piece of the large puzzle that is the universal phenomenon of music. There’s no real need for it in the world of Darwin…but EVERY culture is rich with it.

We’ve all had that moment when the choir slides into a magical place, singing with one voice and making a sound that is greater than the sum of its parts (Susie would say, “Now THAT is making music”) and felt that little boost of euphoria when you realize that you were part of something special. It’s a great drug and you always want another dose.

Hearts aligned indeed…