I'M delighted this week to learn that singing is not just good for the spirit but for the heart, too.

I’ve been known to warble on odd occasions; although in this context the word ‘odd’ isn’t an alternative to ‘even’ but should be defined by its other meaning - ‘strange’.

I always fancied myself as a singer, starting with my teens when I cheekily auditioned as lead vocalist for a local pop group. But I didn’t get past the opening bar of the first song before being metaphorically hooked off the stage.

Years later, I tried for a key singing role in an amateur production of Paint Your Wagon, but ended up playing a croaky old gold digger who got slapped by a lady of the night.

I then joined a male voice choir, working on the assumption that I could enjoy singing while hiding my wobbly warbling within the ensemble’s entire baritone section.

I still sing, albeit in the privacy of my own home; and I’m rather glad I do after learning that researchers in Sweden have demonstrated the health benefits of a warbling life.

They discovered that choir singers not only harmonise their voices, they also synchronise their heartbeats to the benefit of their collective health.

After attaching probes to an entire choir, the scientists found that as the members sang in unison their pulses began to speed up and slow down at the same rate, which helped to keep everyone harmoniously healthy by reducing stress and lowering blood pressure.

I certainly felt calm and stress free in my choir’s baritone section.

I also witnessed first hand how choir singing enhanced the lives of the older singers.

Although then in my late-forties, I was one of the youngest members of the choir, which had a good few singers in their seventies, eighties and even nineties.

This suggests real potential health benefits from song which even a solo singer might be able to enjoy.

That said, I make no promises about the blood pressure of anyone who might inadvertently overhear my warbling.