There's a vocal teacher on Youtube that I love, and I wanted to share her with you. Kristel Cherelle's approach reminds me of our choir teachers back
There’s a vocal teacher on Youtube that I love, and I wanted to share her with you. Kristel Cherelle’s approach reminds me of our choir teachers back in school who had faith in our ability to sing if only we understood technique.
As a kid, I sang around the house and in the school choirs and even did a stint as a background singer for a local group/band. BUT, ever since I found out about the physical and mental benefits of singing, I have put it back into the regular rotation of my life.
Singing can be surprisingly good for the body, even when nobody would mistake you for Whitney Houston. 😂 The benefits come from the physical act of singing, not from sounding beautiful.
When you sing, several things happen at once:
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You breathe more deliberately. Singing requires longer, controlled exhalations. That can slow breathing and may help shift the autonomic nervous system toward a calmer state.
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Your respiratory muscles get some work. The diaphragm, abdominal muscles, intercostal muscles around the ribs, and muscles involved in posture all participate. It isn’t a substitute for exercise, but it is physical activity.
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It can reduce stress. Studies have found changes in stress-related measures such as cortisol after singing, particularly in relaxed or group-singing settings.
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Your brain gets involved in a big way. Singing recruits networks involved in hearing, language, memory, timing, movement, and emotion. Remembering lyrics and melody while controlling your voice is quite a neurological workout.
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It may support mood and social connection. Group singing in particular has been associated with improved mood, bonding, and feelings of social connection. There is research involving endorphins and oxytocin, although some popular claims about specific “happy hormones” are stronger than the evidence warrants.
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It exercises the voice and swallowing system. Singing uses coordinated muscles of the larynx, mouth, tongue, and respiratory system. This is one reason therapeutic singing and voice exercises are sometimes studied in rehabilitation, including Parkinson’s disease and some respiratory conditions.
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There is an interesting immune-system connection. Some small studies have observed short-term changes in immune markers such as salivary immunoglobulin A after singing. That’s intriguing, but it doesn’t mean singing literally “boosts your immune system” in the sweeping way that phrase is often used.
And humming deserves its own little footnote. Humming dramatically increases nasal nitric oxide compared with quiet exhalation. Nitric oxide plays roles in blood-vessel regulation and airway biology. That doesn’t make humming a medical treatment, but the physiology behind it is genuinely fascinating.
So singing in the kitchen, church, car, shower, choir, or while cleaning isn’t just entertainment. You’re coordinating breath, muscle, memory, hearing, emotion, and nervous-system regulation at the same time.
Which makes singing one of those lovely human activities where joy and physiology accidentally became roommates.
There are some even stranger findings. Singing may help people with Parkinson’s strengthen vocal volume and breath control. People with chronic lung conditions have participated in “singing for lung health” programs because singing teaches controlled breathing without feeling quite like respiratory exercises. And singing familiar songs can sometimes reach people with dementia even when ordinary conversation has become difficult.
Then there’s the brain. When you sing a song you’ve known for 30 years, you’re retrieving words, melody, rhythm, emotional memory and timing while coordinating breathing and dozens of muscles. You experience it as, “Oh, that’s my song!” Meanwhile, your nervous system has clocked in for work.
And group singing gets especially interesting. Researchers have studied choirs for stress reduction, social bonding, pain tolerance and well-being. Some research even suggests singers can begin coordinating aspects of their breathing and heart-rate patterns simply because everybody is following the same musical phrases.
There is something wonderfully ancient about all of this. Human beings were singing together long before anybody could explain cortisol, vagal activity, nitric oxide or neuroplasticity. We sang babies to sleep. We sang while working. Black Americans sang in fields, churches, homes, marches, prisons and movements. People sang grief and warning and faith and pleasure.
Science came along much later and started measuring the body during something human beings already knew how to do.
ABOUT KRISTAL CHERELLE | INDIE ARTIST SCHOOL I’m an R&B vocal coach helping singers develop clean, controlled, and expressive voices. I created the Riff Builder App specifically to help R&B singers practice riffs and runs with real patterns, real scales, and adjustable tempo. My online course, the R&B Singer’s Arsenal, covers everything from breath support and ear training to runs, range, and live performance…the same methods I use with my private coaching students, now self-paced.
