People who sing in a choir tend to feel happier, less stressed, and have a stronger immune defense in their mouths and noses—suggesting that singing together might be good for both your mood and your body’s natural defenses.

When people sing in a choir, they tend to feel happier and their body’s defenses get stronger, but if they just listen to choir music without singing, they might feel less stressed but also feel worse emotionally—so actually singing might be special for your mood and health.

When people sing in a choir and feel happy or emotional, their body’s first line of defense in the mouth and nose (called S-IgA) seems to change too—suggesting that how we feel emotionally might be connected to how our body fights off germs.

When people sing, their bodies might produce more of a special antibody called IgA that helps fight off colds and infections.

When people sing in a choir for 20 minutes, they tend to feel happier and less excited than when they sing alone—so singing with others might make you feel better emotionally than singing by yourself.

When people who sing in choirs for fun listen to choral music, their body’s stress hormones go down, but they feel worse emotionally—like more anxious or sad—so the music calms their body but not their mood.