Opinion: Christmas… are you ‘totally sleighing it’ or wondering ‘what the elf’?

The festive season is a joyful time for many, but for others it can bring stress and plenty of challenges. If your Christmas isn’t picture-perfect, what can you do to bring a moment of calm and boost your mood?

Let me introduce you to a possible remedy which doesn’t involve dipping into a box of chocolates or pouring a large glass of wine: singing in a group.

Belting out a tune is such an interesting activity. As adults we might feel awkward singing, particularly in company; from the moment we leave primary school, many choose never to flex their vocal cords in public again.

For me, this is heartbreaking because when we sing in a group, there are some very particular responses that happen in the body and in the brain.

When you’re alone it can boost your mood with an endorphin rush, and singing with others brings additional benefits: a sense of connection, togetherness and community.

A dose of wellbeing

Earlier this year, UWE Bristol teamed up with St George’s Bristol for a groundbreaking research project called Sing for Happiness. We set out to explore the effect singing in a group had on people’s mood and wellbeing.

Previous singing and wellbeing research has typically concentrated on smaller, well-established groups of singers. We wanted this project to be open to everyone no matter what their background – from seasoned singers to people with no singing experience, and those who believed they couldn’t hold a tune at all. And we’re grateful for the support of the Good Grief Project, Rising Voices, Age UK, and Hand in Hand, through which we were able to offer subsidised places for those who might be facing financial barriers to taking part.

There was no shortage of people wanting to get involved, with hundreds attending a series of in-person singing sessions at St George’s Bristol, where they learnt and performed several well-known songs across many genres, with more joining remotely online.

We gathered data from 361 participants, including mood surveys completed before and after the sessions and wellbeing questionnaires before and after the whole project, making Sing for Happiness the largest study of its kind.

The findings

• Instant mood boosters: Most people left singing sessions feeling happier, calmer, and more energised.
• Lasting impact: Over three months, generally speaking, participants’ overall wellbeing improved, even for many people with low starting scores or those facing more challenging circumstances.
• Inclusivity: The benefits weren’t limited to those who had experience of singing. Even those who’d never sung as adults – and didn’t think they could – experienced the same lift.
• Music preference wasn’t a barrier either. In fact, for some, like fans of gospel music, the mood improvements were positively soaring.

Singing in the season

This Christmas, we brought Sing for Happiness back with a festive twist; a shortened, two-session programme culminating in a final performance on December 7, at St George’s Bristol. The idea was simple: give people a moment to pause, breathe, and belt out some festive tunes. Once again, we collected mood data before and after each session including the performance for further analysis. The atmosphere during the final performance was both joyful and cathartic, with friends and family in the audience even joining in some of the singing. It will be fascinating to see how participants’ moods were affected by these experiences once data has been coded and analysed.

Looking ahead

Next summer, we’re launching another edition of Sing for Happiness, so there’s plenty of opportunity to get involved in 2025. And we hope to expand the research further, exploring not just mood but physiological changes as well, which might include recording cortisol levels for example.

But for now, if you’ve got the winter blues and you’re feeling the weight of Christmas expectations, why not give singing a try? Pop along to your local carol concert, get some friends and family over for a singalong, or maybe think about joining a choir. You might just find singing together brings you exactly what you need: a moment of calm, a boost of happiness, and a reminder of what this season is really about.

By Kat Branch, university researcher and Head of UWE Bristol’s Centre for Music.