The magical power of singing to help forge communities

How do you explain the magical power of singing to help forge a community?

Why do army recruits sing while they run?  How do church choirs whip a congregation into an otherworldly frenzy?  And what was I doing in the middle of dozens of musty-smelling men who formed one of the most joyful communities I’ve ever seen?

I went to an orthodox Bar Mitzvah over the weekend.  The kind with the big wall dividing between the men and women during the service, so as not to distract the men from prayer.

And it does a pretty good job,  Because on the men’s side, there was a lot of love.  A fraternity of bearded men hugging and kissing but mostly singing.

They sang louder and louder as the service progressed, clapping, dancing in place, repeating the same wordless verses over and over. 

As this community came together as I watched, I thought, “Take that, internet!”  You can’t compete with the spiritual connection going on in front of my eyes.

I can see the same thing happening at church services and on 20-mile Marine training runs (at least that’s how it always looks in the movies).

Music and singing is an undeniably powerful force.  Not only does Chipotle, one of the great community-focused brands, have a legendary playlist in their stores that regularly gets discussed online in places like Quora; they hosted an entire music-based festival last year.

So when you think about building your communities, think about how music and song could play a part.  If you’re interested, I know a few new wordless songs I can teach you.