Fun Freetime: SingFit

SingFit is an app that was recently launched for iPhone, iPod, and iPad. (If you don't have one but are intrigued and want to let others know, you can also view the video simulation.) I had the opportunity to interview the app's co-creator about this app that can both fun and therapeutic.

QUESTION: WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR THE CREATION OF SINGFIT?

For centuries, in the opera, there has been a person whose job it is to feed the words of the aria to a singer right before they need to be sung if the performer can’t remember the lyric. This idea, along with utilizing word cueing in my own music therapy practice which focuses on kids and teens with special needs lead to the concept for SingFit.

By digitizing the “opera prompter” concept and merging it with karaoke, we make a fully immersive, successful singing experience accessible to almost everyone, including those with autism, Alzheimer’s, traumatic brain injuries, and other special needs. The number of studies that reveal the clinical benefits of actively making music and singing specifically for people with special needs has been exploding in the last decade. However, there are only 5,000 music therapists licensed to practice in the United States, not nearly enough to care for everyone who could benefit from their skills. Singfit can help fill this chasm by providing engaging, affordable, and therapeutic musical experiences that can be utilized by practically anyone.

The best way to understand how with SingFit, a person does not need to be able to read or even see to sing the words of a song perfectly, is to experience the app for ones self, that’s why we made it free to download along with a selection of complimentary songs.

QUESTION: HOW WILL THIS APP BENEFIT PEOPLE WHO HAVE A SPECIAL NEED?

The general act of singing can have several benefits for people with special needs. Some of these benefits can help to improve quality of life while others may help address specific therapeutic goals.

Improvements to Quality of Life
Firstly, because SingFit utilizes audio lyric prompts, the app does not require the participant be able to read or even see to sing the words of a song perfectly. So, the technology allows people with a large variety of special needs to engage in the joyful, life enhancing activity of singing.

In addition, caring for someone with special needs can be very stressful. SingFit allows caregivers and people with special needs to join together in an activity that fosters both joy and communication. This can promote more positive interactions for everyone and therefore help to reduce stressful situations.

Another way SingFit can help to increase quality of life is when someone is a bit agitated and scattered. Presenting compelling technology and an engaging activity like singing, say to a thirteen year old with special needs, not only can help to re-direct their attention, but can help the participant to calm and focus in a number of ways. Often, for people with special needs, they are told what to do, or things are done and decided for them. As long as SingFit is not a forced activity and the facilitator provides only as much help as the participant needs, the process can create the opportunity for the participant to make many empowering decisions.

Clinical & Therapeutic
On the clinical side, many studies out of institutions including Harvard Medical School and the National Institute of Health reveal ways in which singing can help address some of the challenges associated with special needs. We'd like to emphasize that we are not claiming that SingFit alone can achieve the benefits below but rather these are some areas where singing in general has positive implications for people with special needs:

As Physical Exercise: Professor Graham Welch, Chair of Music Education at the University of London puts it like this, “Singing has Physical benefits because it is an aerobic activity that increases oxygenation in the blood stream and exercises major muscle groups in the upper body, even when sitting.” So singing is a great way for people who might be confined to a wheelchair or bed to engage in activity that can bring about many of the same health enhancing benefits as more traditional types of physical exercise, from which their conditions might exclude them.

Decreased Stress and Pain: For many people with special needs, increased levels of stress and anxiety exacerbate their symptoms, which can often include pain. In clinical trials, singing has been shown to have a positive impact on many of the hormones and neurochemicals responsible for controlling our stress reactions including cortisol and serotonin. Similarly, clinical studies have found that singing releases dopamine and endorphins, both of which can help reduce pain and increase a general sense of wellbeing.

Improved Speech: It is often the case that people with neurological challenges associated with speech can still sing perfectly. Even if the person does not sing perfectly, when one sings regularly and in a repetitive manner the action of singing can still help deepen the connection between motor movement and the brain processing fluid speech. This process is much like the motor mapping going on when athletes train. While a basketball player might be working on a specific action, say practicing dunks, their overall ability to launch themselves in the air becomes progressively better with practice. It won’t matter if they are jumping to score a point or jump over a puddle; they’ve trained their brain and their legs to jump.

New studies are coming out all the time on the benefits of singing. Recently a Harvard Medical study found that a particular kind of singing therapy, called Musical Intonation Therapy, helps non-verbal children on the autism spectrum speak.

We follow studies like this on our Musical Health Technologies blog

QUESTION: WHAT MAKES THIS APP ALSO SUITABLE FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE ANY SPECIAL NEEDS?

Because you are not tied to a reading process, singing with SingFit is a more spontaneous process than traditional karaoke and therefore gives all of us, not just highly skilled musicians, access to an immersive musical experience.

While we designed SingFit to be accessible to people with special needs, we didn’t limit them or ourselves to just simple songs. People with special needs have just as eclectic and sophisticated musical tastes as anyone else. So the SingFit catalog features a variety of songs made famous by legendary artists and contemporary superstars alike.