Choral Singing and Social Connection: From Embodied Synchrony to Grego-rian Chant

This contribution, at the intersection of historical musicology and music cog- nition, proposes an integrated approach to redefining music as a mechanism of embodied connection between self and others through temporal, affective, and so-cial coordination. Collective singing is examined as a privileged site for understand-ing how interpersonal synchronisation generates shared regulation and participa-tory sense-making. Empirical studies on choral singing show associations with wellbeing, emotional regulation, and social bonding. These effects are commonly explained through mechanisms of shared attention and embodied coordination of breath, voice, and timing (Schladt et al.2017; Bullack et al.2018; Good&Russo2022). Together, these findings suggest that group singing operates as embodied social synchrony in which affective and cognitive states are coupled across individuals. These effects are not reducible to single physiological markers but emerge from multilevel bodily and social coordination, with evidence indicating that respiratory synchronisation is not necessarily correlated with timing accuracy in musical per-formance (Schreiber,et al.2026). Building on this framework, Gregorian chant is examined as a case study in which liturgical standardisation, oral transmission, and acoustically resonant environ-ments may have supported large-scale collective synchronisation and shared affec-tive states. Rather than treating historical repertoires as isolated objects, this ap-proach reframes musical practices as evolving technologies of embodied coordina-tion across bodies, time, and culture.