Music doesn’t just soundtrack the movie of your life: it can change the genre altogether. The right song can turn a grey Vancouver errand run into a rom-com montage. The wrong one can have you staring moodily out the SkyTrain window like you’re solving a Scandinavian murder.
There’s science behind that. Vancouver-based health journalist and Wired for Music: A Search for Health and Joy Through the Science of Sound author Adriana Barton says music “really does stimulate the pleasure and reward centres in the brain,” which helps explain why it can lift your mood, make you smile and sand down the edges of a bad day. Barton explains that music set to about 60 beats per minute, roughly the pace of a resting heartbeat, can even help calm stress in as little as 10 to 15 minutes. Consider The Marías’ “No One Noticed” if you need to stop vibrating at your desk. At the other end, around 120 beats per minute is the tempo most likely to get people moving. Cue Benson Boone’s “Mystical Magical,” or, better yet, your next dance floor, line-dancing class or chaotic wedding reception.
But music’s real superpower may be connection. Barton points to research showing that listening with other people can synchronize brainwaves, while singing in a choir can increase oxytocin, the hormone linked to bonding. Add in dancing, drumming or singing in sync and it starts to make sense why concerts and karaoke nights hit so hard. And, scientifically speaking, you don’t even need to have any talent to reap the benefits, says Barton: “Luckily, you don’t have to be, quote, good at music.”
No Instrument? No Problem
There are dozens of non-auditioned community choirs in town, open to anyone who self-diagnoses as being able to carry a tune. To name just a few:
- East Van’s Rain Coast Choir focuses on rock and pop.
- Outside Voices is led by Hey Ocean’s David Beckingham and includes summertime rehearsals in the park.
- Chorus Studio combines vocal training, performance coaching and community.
READ MORE: Vancouver Choir Outside Voices Covers Fleetwood Mac and Rehearses in the Park
