Why Do We Sing in the Shower?

It's somewhere between tempting and inevitable to break into song in the shower. But why? Learn about the psychology and physiology of shower singing in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,
I'm Lauren vogel Bomb, and I think we can all
admit that we've pulled a Ferris Bueller once or twice
while lathered up in the shower. Everyone sometimes grabs a
handy bottle of shampoo as an improv microphone and busts
out a tune or two. There's just something completely satisfying
about singing in the shower. Even celebrities do it. According

(00:24):
to People magazine, actor Jack Black likes to belt out
led Zeppelin and why Cleff Sean digs a little Bruce Springsteen.
Everyone's a rock star in the bathroom, whether you have
a voice like a Wreatha Franklin or couldn't carry a
melody if it had a handle. But have you ever
wondered about this phenomenon? Some of us wouldn't sing in
public if someone paid us, yet will sing in the
shower without embarrassment. Believe it or not, there is a

(00:46):
scientific explanation behind our soapy musical stylings. First, let's look
at why we're relaxed enough in the shower to bust
into song. Think about it. You don't sing when you're sad,
unless you're singing the blues. Maybe for many people, our
time is the only time there alone all day. You're
in a warm, small, safe environment. You're comfortable enough to
be in the buff Stress literally washes off of you.

(01:10):
When you relax. Your brain releases dopamine, which can give
your creative juice as a jump start. Warm water is
rushing over you, and now you're relaxed and feeling good.
It turns out that singing makes you feel even better.
Singing because of the breathing that you put into it,
gets more oxygen into the blood. This gives you better circulation,
which in turn improves your body and mood. And because

(01:30):
you have to breathe a little deeper to belt out
a song, you get some of the same relaxation and
mind clearing benefits as meditation. Another neat thing is that
when you're singing, you can't really think about your problems.
More stress relief. But the best thing about singing in
the shower the acoustics. You couldn't ask for a better
sound system than a bathroom. Because bathroom tiles don't absorb sound,

(01:52):
your voice bounces back and forth around the room before
fading away, and because the shower is a small space.
It boosts your voice and even adds a little bass,
making your singing sound more powerful. Sound bouncing also gives
your vocal styling a reverb effect, which makes your voice
hang in the air longer and evens out variations and
your singing. To think of it as a primitive auto tune.

(02:13):
It makes you sound better than you normally would, which
is a confidence boost. We don't sing in the shower
simply because we have that song stuck in our heads,
you know the one. It turns out, we do it
for many reasons, stress relief, happiness, great acoustics, or maybe
just because we like to hear our own voices. No
matter what the reason, keep it up. It's good for
you and if you've never tried to pick a song

(02:34):
and put on your own private concert. Today's episode was
written by Debora Ranka and produced by Tyler Clang. For
more on this and lots of other rock and topics,
visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com.