A quote from the article:
According to Cross, Laurence, and Rabinowitch (2012), when two or more people entrain to the same musical beat, their breathing rates, heartbeat, brain waves, attention, and movements become coordinated, which, in turn, may result in a sense of “togetherness” and may promote the emergence of empathy, human cooperation, and social cohesion (see also Kirschner & Tomasello, 2010).
Discussion Question:
How do you think this “togetherness” affects your students and how has it affected you as a musician?
Jennifer: I think music is a natural unifier for children. Children choreograph songs in groups on the playground, and they make up songs to sing in groups in front of their peers. Sometimes outsiders are encouraged to join in, and new friendships are formed. The best part is that they do it all on their own, unprompted. I think the same phenomenon occurs with adults. I recently listened to NPR’s TED Radio Hour in which they performed a study to see why it’s difficult for us to feel empathy for strangers. As part of the experiment, they placed two adult strangers in a room together, causing their stress levels to increase. However, after only fifteen minutes of playing the video game Rock Band together, their stress levels reduced to the same level as being in a room with a close friend (Mogil, 2015). Personally, some of my closest friends and best life lessons have evolved through my participation in music.
Shelley: When I was in 5th grade, I had to go on a field trip with my “mortal enemy” at the time. My teacher put the two of us in a canoe and sent us out onto the river we were all supposed to navigate. The two of us got a little lost and had to work together to make it back to our camp. By the end of that journey, we were the best of friends. Though not a musical activity, the act performing a task and accomplishing something together created a bond. Many, many times when people ask me what I do for a living and I respond, “music teacher,” their eyes light up and they share their experiences in band or chorus with me. That shared experience bonds people and creates a commonality where there might otherwise be none. Recently, my kids began doing some maypole activities in which they are required to stay together on beat and work as a team to meet a common goal. By the end of each lesson, my students are all smiling at each other, and I see that “team” pride going on. I see this again and again as we work together to make amazing music!
Elizabeth: I had not heard about this research before, but I’m not surprised to hear that we can physically align with the beat of the music. In West Africa (and in other parts of the world, I’m sure), the word for “music” includes the sounds (what we call “music”), but also includes the social and physical (dancing) aspects as well–these aspects cannot be separated. My own 3-year-old girls respond physically to music, and they instinctively match their movements to the music they hear. And I can definitely see how experiencing that kind of physical alignment would develop a sense of togetherness.
I think the social aspect of music–the sense of togetherness, the development of empathy, the cooperation that is required, etc–is both the biggest blessing and curse for us as music educators. The social aspect of music brings out the best and the worst in everyone, and forces us to deal with it, not just ignore it! It can be very frustrating for a class that has one or two students who continually make poor behavior choices, because there is no way to get around them and be successful without their cooperation. I often give the example that in math class, if you decide you don’t care and you don’t try to figure out the worksheet, you will fail. But in music class, if you decide you don’t care and you don’t try to figure out your part in the music, we will all fail. With great adversity comes great rewards–those moments when all of the students do their part together are pure, joyful, magic! Those are the experiences that unite us.
Brittany: I definitely think that togetherness plays a crucial part in learning. When students don’t get along in a classroom, it can take a lot away from the learning process. You can’t spend a lot of time on small group work, which I find to be quite beneficial in the learning process. It is also difficult to get tasks accomplished when you have to constantly distract students from arguing or tattling on each other.
I’m also not surprised that the research shows that music creates an intrinsic bond. It is hard to be in conflict when you are busy working on something. Plus, music performance has a unified goal that all students are working to achieve. No one can do it alone, and everyone is important. This helps students feel special about their part and enjoy the moment.
As a musician, I have found that almost every one of the friends I’ve had for years was in a band or choir with me. Most of the time that was even where I met them. It is fun to reminisce about all the great times we had together in the show choir, marching band, etc.
Tracy: I’ve been teaching for twenty years and have experienced many different kinds of classes with a variety of group dynamics. Some have been whiny and hard to handle. Full of tattlers and argumentative, these groups didn’t handle activities very well. Since group activities are a large portion of our weekly lesson, I have had to get quite creative to develop their musicianship. In contrast, classes that come in with skills to solve problems and good listening skills tend to work better together. They look forward to small group work (like workstations and partner singing), and seem to learn the material much faster than other groups. Their cooperative learning speeds individual learning. In addition, these groups tend to be the ones that learn and display empathy in mature ways long before others. Does “togetherness” play a role in learning? Absolutely!
Michelle: It’s terrifying to be a small fish in a big pond. As an incoming high school freshmen and college freshmen, I was lucky enough to go to band camp before school started. Not many people would consider marching around a hot field for hours on end a lucky experience, but for me, it was the first way I felt accepted. I am not a particularly talkative person when put in new situations. Becoming part of the band family helped me ease into the next chapters in my life.
I see music unify students in a similar way in my own classroom every day. I witness students with opposite personalities encourage each other during singing games. I hear students sing songs on the playground. I see families come to support their children at concerts. Music certainly brings students and communities together!
Melissa: I think this research is almost intuitive. Even my youngest students bond when they are able to sing together. Kids everywhere are friends because they like the same song on the radio. This year, I started a band program from scratch for a growing school. Not only did this bring back a flood of memories for me of my own junior high experiences (of course, all my friends were in band too), it has also been amazing to watch my students bond as they work together. This group of students is pretty small and from a very close-knit Lutheran school, so they have always been supportive of each other. However, seeing them practice together before class, collaborate on Christmas music outside of class, and offer up their musical services without being prompted–or even having to be asked–has been a teacher’s dream come true. When I play back music from previous classes, they listen together, react together, and support each other. If they were close before, being the kids that started the band together, they have definitely grown. Putting this in terms of learning, their bonding has not only spurred them to learn more quickly, but also to take pride in their work. When one practices, three more of them get motivated. The bond of a shared musical experiences has definitely affected their learning and their motivation!
Lindsay: The dynamic of each class is different. There can be one or two disruptive kids in a class that totally throw off the possibility of “togetherness” and can truly keep the whole class from experiencing that feeling of making music. When I have a class that gels, we all enjoy making music together. We hold hands, sing songs, play games, and experience joy TOGETHER. There is so much joy to be found in making music for those who are open to it. I am able to get further through the lessons and concepts with these classes, and they have a better understanding of concepts when they are presented. I definitely strive to create room where everyone is valued and respected, so that each class has the best opportunity to experience that feeling of togetherness. Some of my kids will start the year totally turned off to holding hands, folk dancing, and singing and by the end of the year, it becomes the cultural norm of my classroom.
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Please share your thoughts with us in the comment section. We’re looking forward to hearing your perspective! If you are interested in becoming a panelist for future discussions, send me an e-mail (click on the envelope icon at the top corner of this page), along with a topic you’d be interested in discussing.