The Right Music Turns A Group Into A Team

The fastest way to change a team’s mood might be sitting right on the gym wall: the speaker. We get into a simple coaching decision that quietly shapes everything that follows training effort, energy, and unity. When anyone can grab the iPad and throw on whatever track they feel like, the room drifts. But when the music matches the purpose of the session, it becomes a cue. Just like calm sound belongs in yoga, high-intensity gym music can help rugby players switch on, lift hard, and move with intent.

From there we zoom out to a tradition that outsiders often shrug off as “just banter” singing. Rugby teams have always sung on buses and in changing rooms, and there’s real psychology behind why it works. We break down three powerful effects: singing creates belonging through synchronized rhythm and oxytocin-driven bonding, it helps regulate emotion by lowering stress and boosting mood, and it reinforces team identity by carrying a shared story that outlives any single season. If you care about mental well-being, trust, and performance culture, this is a surprisingly practical tool.

We also talk about how to implement it without forcing it: lean on leaders, pick songs with meaning, teach the lyrics, and make the “why” clear so it never feels random. If you’re building team culture in rugby or any high-performance environment, you’ll leave with an easy ritual you can start this week. Subscribe, share this with a coach or captain, and leave a review telling us what song your team should claim.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:50

Welcome to Reflections, the midweek episode where we just dive into an aspect of culture in teams that make it better to be in those teams. And today's one is about music and singing in particular. And the reason is this, this is why it's topical at the moment. We do wait sessions where I'm at currently in the morning. In the early mornings, we put on some music. And when we started with this team, just a group of young men, we didn't we made a big point to actually, I would control the music, which was, I was new in the environment. I said, look, I'm as the head coach here, quite substantially older than the rest of you, I'm going to control the music. And at the start, I was met by pretty much everyone with a little bit of we're putting on your music, are we? And I said, yes, we are. And this is the reason why we are putting on a certain sort of music. Because before this, the music in the gym was just whatever. Whatever people liked, at the whim of whoever popped up to the iPad and pressed the next song. And I explained it like this to the team: the importance of music in a waits room. And the importance is this. If you were turning

Why The Coach Picks The Music

SPEAKER_00 1:56

up to a yoga studio or a meditation studio, and it was free license on the music, do you think that would be a sensible idea that anyone could come along and put on any old music? And quite clearly and obviously, people said, no, it's not. There's a certain sort of music that needs to be played when you're doing meditation or yoga. There's a style, there's a genre, there's a theming to that, and there's a reason. And the reason for that is that yoga and meditation is a calm, it needs sedate music, it means chilled, low frequency stuff. Because the point of the session is to take your body into that state. And likewise, so too, it is in the gym session with any sort of team, but we're talking rugby here, is that the purpose of a gym session is to get in a good testosterone-filled state and list some weights and put on some muscle and get in good shape. And certain sort of music helps that. Testosterone-filled music, big guitarists, big heavy beats, stuff which makes your body come alive and want to move fast and strong.

Matching Sound To Training State

SPEAKER_00 2:59

And I take it back to my the genre, which I think it does that, is kind of that those old school rock from the 90s and things. You know, the pearl jam, that kind of thing. And even heavier than that. Some would say, like your metallicas, your rage against machines, that sort of music. It elicits a response from your body. I know firsthand for myself, when I hear that sort of music when I'm in the gym, I get ready to go. And I think it's really important that we actually just embrace that and we say, yeah, that's actually true. It's not true for me now because I'm not trying to lift weights for the same perbs that I was when I was an aspiring player. Because when you're a player, you're doing it for a purpose. You're doing it to play the game. Nowadays, I don't put that sort of music on when I'm in the gym because I'm not lifting weights for the purpose of being a good rugby player. If I'm trying to be a good rugby player, I want to shift big weights and move fast and all that stuff and be aggressive with it. So it makes sense that I want aggressive music to get me in that state to help me do that. So that's something we did in our team, and it's gone really well. Players start getting used to this is this is what we walk into when we're in the gym. And what I also love is almost like a bit of a time stamp on that sort of thing. When you go look back at your time training in the gym and you hear that similar music, it takes you back to that place and it reminds you when you're older about the cool state, that cool aggressive state you got into when you're lifting bits of metal around to build up muscles. But I thought I would relate that music scene today with also the value of music in your teams. And I'm talking rugby teams, but it could be any team. In particular, it's often when we talk about music in teams, we often talk about singing. And singing has had a big part in rugby cultures. Always. Rugby teams have always sung in change rooms, on buses, after wins, sometimes even after losses. Now, to an outsider, that might just look like fun or tradition. But I reckon that singing together actually taps into something much deeper about human connection, psychology, and belonging. For hundreds of years, groups have used music and song to build unity. Armies march to songs. Culture passed story through songs, and rugby teams have done the same. And I reckon, and there is actually, some real psychology behind why singing together makes a difference. So I just want to put in three reasons singing builds stronger teams and stronger minds. Number one, singing creates belonging.

Why Teams Sing Together

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Yeah, and that word belonging comes a lot in rugby. So at its core, rugby is a tribal game. The best teams feel like a tribe, connected by something bigger than themselves. And when a group sings together, the brain releases oxytocin, the chemical link to things like trust and bonding and connection. And psychologists have found that a group singing together accelerates that social bonding faster than almost any other activity. It synchronizes breathing, rhythm, and emotion. Everyone becomes part of the same moment. I love that. In a rugby environment, song helps players feel like they belong, and that belonging is powerful. Right? So when people feel they belong, they're far willing to sacrifice more for the group. And that is a massive part of rugby. So if you don't have a team song, I would think about making one or bringing one in. Number two,

Three Psychological Benefits Of Singing

SPEAKER_00 6:34

singing regulates emotion and it builds mental well-being. Now we all know rugby is emotional. There is pressure, expectation, physical pain, victory, disappointment. Music is one of the most powerful tools human has to regulate emotion. And the studies that show singing can lower cortisol, the stress hormone, and increase dopamine, which boosts mood and motivation. And that's why often singing in the change room after a game is very common. It's not just celebration, it's emotional processing. It's getting it out, it's taking the emotion and turning it into something. And for athletes, singing can bring back a team back to balance. I love the there's an ancient philosopher called Plato who says music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life and everything. That's really cool. So after the chaos of the competition, that is rugby, music reconnects people with joy. And joy is an underrated ingredient of performance. And when you accelerate a win with a song, man, it just magnifies and amplifies the joy. When you commiserate with a song, a lower decibel song and an understated one, it actually brings a bit of joy to what would otherwise be a zero joy place. And that's important. It's important for your recovery mentally and emotionally. Number three, singing reinforces identity and a shared story. The best teams have a story about who they are, and songs help tell that story. They've done so for bloody ages. So songs that carry meaning, humor, tradition, all that stuff, they remind players that they're part of something that existed before them and will do after them, especially traditional old songs. You know, you even look at things like the The Haka before by the All Blacks. It's not just a performance. It's not just a nice to have. It's like a real identity piece. It's a DNA piece. It tells players this is who we are and this is what we represent. And music has that power to form character. And traditional songs like that, man, they just create this shared story between people. Singing does that. It reminds players that they're a part of something bigger: a shared story, a shared culture. I think it's really important. I I love this aspect of music and what it does to teams. And if you haven't ever tried singing, and just to just to be clear, I'm a horrendous singer. Uh, but when it comes to, as a coach, putting it in, you have to lean on your leaders and some of your key people in teams. And often some of the people that are good with the song and that sort of thing aren't always your best players. And if you can find the players in your team who are good at leading the musical side of stuff, encourage them to find songs that have a bit of a meaning for the group. Encourage them to play it more often. Maybe reach out to the team and say, learn these lyrics, or this is the song we're going to play on every Tuesday session, or this is our game day song, or this is one that we have to learn, is important because it just brings those things together. It just connects people. It just gives them a bit of shared connection for that season. And I love the idea of changing that song all the time. This is the song for this year, and this is what it stands for and why. And explaining the why you're choosing it. So it's never just random. It has a purpose, it has meaning. The deeper lesson in all this is in modern sport, we often, as coaches, chase the technical stuff: better tactics, better conditioning, better

How To Build A Team Song

SPEAKER_00 10:19

analysis, all that stuff. I know it is important, it's got its place, of course. But sometimes the things that really matter are these old traditions. Things like laughing together, sharing stories, and yes, singing together. Because when people sing together, they breathe together. When people breathe together, they start to feel like one team. And that's where real connection begins, and that's what we want. So if you don't have a song, if you don't have music, which signifies that this is your team, I'm wanting to encourage you to get out there and find one and make it have some meaning and see the joy it brings. Until next session. Stay well.