Dust off those vocal chords, lonely hearts.
It turns out singing could be the key to forming new friendships.
According to an Oxford University study, singing with someone is one of the best ways to bond quickly.
Researchers examined 100 people, divided into singing, art and creative writing classes for one month.
The participants were asked to rate their closeness with the other class members out of seven, both before and after the class.
On average, the singers noted a two point increase in closeness after the four-week period, whereas the art and creative writing participants recorded just half a point increase.
While the ratings evened out over a seven month period, the survey showed that singing quickened the bonding process.
Evolutionary neuroscientist Eiluned Pearce wrote in the journal Royal Society Open Science:
“Singing seems to break the ice so you have this big upfront kick start to the process of social bonding.
“If you think about our evolutionary ancestors, you could imagine some kind of singing ritual to bond groups together very quickly so they could then take part in some sort of collective activity like hunting.”
**Her Top Tip** – make sure you let your new friend know that you’re trying to bond with them before just breaking into song High School Musical style.
