ABSTRACT

The Routledge Companion to Interdisciplinary Studies in Singing, Volume III: Wellbeing explores the connections between singing and health, promoting the power of singing—in public policy and in practice—in confronting health challenges across the lifespan. These chapters shape an interdisciplinary research agenda that advances singing’s theoretical, empirical, and applied contributions, providing methodologies that reflect individual and cultural diversities. Contributors assess the current state of knowledge and present opportunities for discovery in three parts:

  • Singing and Health
  • Singing and Cultural Understanding
  • Singing and Intergenerational Understanding

In 2009, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada funded a seven-year major collaborative research initiative known as Advancing Interdisciplinary Research in Singing (AIRS). Together, global researchers from a broad range of disciplines addressed three challenging questions: How does singing develop in every human being? How should singing be taught and used to teach? How does singing impact wellbeing? Across three volumes, The Routledge Companion to Interdisciplinary Studies in Singing consolidates the findings of each of these three questions, defining the current state of theory and research in the field. Volume III: Wellbeing focuses on this third question and the health benefits of singing, singing praises for its effects on wellbeing.

chapter |13 pages

Introduction

Singing and Wellbeing: Harnessing the Power of Singing

part I|169 pages

Singing and Health

chapter 1|13 pages

A Logic Model For The Effects Of Singing On Health

Introduction to Part I

chapter 2|12 pages

Singing and Wellbeing Across the Lifecourse

Evidence from Recent Research

chapter 6|12 pages

Singing For Cancer

Implications from Psychoneuroimmunology

chapter 8|11 pages

Singing For Rehabilitation

Efficacy of Singing-Based Interventions in Major Ageing-Related Neurological Disorders

chapter 9|15 pages

The Impact Of Singing On Human Communication In Aging

From Protection to Rehabilitation

chapter 10|12 pages

Singing and Parkinson’s Disease

chapter 11|10 pages

Singing as an Evolved Behavior for Social Bonding

The Ice-Breaker Effect, Beta-Endorphins, and Groups of More than 150 People

chapter 13|12 pages

Group Singing in Prison

Discovering and Developing Best Possible Self

part II|157 pages

Singing and Cultural Understanding

chapter 15|12 pages

Singing, Cultural Understanding, and Wellbeing

Cross-Cultural Research Approaches – Introduction to Part II

chapter 23|13 pages

Studying Singing Storytellers in Cape Breton

Community-Engaged Research-Creation as a Methodology

chapter 24|12 pages

Building Bridges Between Self and Others

A Suggestion for Music Education through Greek Singing

chapter 25|11 pages

Breathless

Singing and Social Justice in a Time Without Air

part III|102 pages

Singing and Intergenerational Understanding

chapter 28|11 pages

Songs of Gender and Generation

Ethnographic Perspectives on Initiation Songs and Wellbeing in Southern Africa

chapter 29|15 pages

Connecting Intergenerational Voices

Curricula to Foster the Wellbeing of Young Children and Elders

chapter 30|12 pages

Singing and Elders

Toward a Life Experience Approach

chapter 31|15 pages

Singing My Way Back to You

Mapping the Learning Journey of Persons with Dementia through Singing in an Intergenerational Choir

chapter 32|12 pages

Nurturing Voices in Intergenerational Choral Programs

The Singing Voice as Voice of Agency 1

chapter |11 pages

Conclusion

Singing and Wellbeing: From Research to Advocacy