Music and Health

It is a well-known fact that Music changes the brain more profoundly than any other intellectual, creative, or physical endeavour, but, equally important as the intellectual benefits of learning to play music, are the obvious emotional and social benefits.  Learning to play an instrument or sing enables people to be part of musical ensembles and form lasting friendships with like-minded people.  It is an outlet for feelings and it is a lesson in reliability, dedication, concentration, team-work, time-keeping and patience.

We are so proud of our thriving music department and work hard to ensure our students understand the relevance of music and musicians in the modern world. This is why we reach out to our community in order to share the power of music. We are focused on developing our student’s altruistic selves and considering how they can use their intelligence and musical talents for the greater good. We are also keen to educate our future medics, carers and research scientists to the benefits of music on our physical and mental well-being.

The Langton are proud to collaborate with various organisations to share musical opportunities with our community. One such collaboration is with Canterbury Cantata Trust. The Langton music department lead a Sing to Beat Parkinson’s group, The Skylarks, on a Tuesday afternoon, as part of the school day. This means that our students can be part of these singing sessions, join the fun, build empathy, altruism and witness the benefits of music on the Parkinson’s condition. We are currently in the process of designing our very own methodology for singing with Parkinson’s written by the Year 8 students and aimed at other teenagers in the hope that more young people will use the book to help them lead their own Sing to Beat Parkinson’s groups!

The benefits of this intergenerational work are twofold. Both the younger and older members of the group work together and really develop a strong empathy and respect for each other. Music is all about caring – when we sing together, we are caring for each other and believe that there is nothing more innate or powerful than this.