As of 2026, over 350 people have been trained worldwide by The Musical Breath team – including practitioners in the USA, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia and around Europe.
Asthma + Lung UK endorse and support the training and keep an up-to-date list of current groups in UK.
Research into the benefits of Singing for Lung Health is ongoing – with the aim of creating a strong evidence base. You can find a list of the research via Google Scholar.
”The service evaluation... indicates that SLH [Singing for Lung Health] has a significant clinical impact for people with respiratory disease besides the expected enjoyment of attending a community singing group.
Lewis, A., Cave, P. & Hopkinson, N. (2018)Singing for Lung Health: service evaluation of the British Lung Foundation programme. Perspectives in Public Health, 138 (4), pp.215- 222.
In 2007, two pilot singing groups began in Brighton and London exploring whether utilising the breathing techniques used in singing could help people with chronic lung disease.
The “Singing for Breathing” group at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London was run by Phoene Cave. It was inspired by a project in Oldham called “Bronchial Boogie” in which children with asthma were taught how to play brass instruments to improve their respiratory health and self-esteem.
The Brompton programme began with inpatients and then expanded to recruit outpatients for two clinical research studies (Lord VM et al, 2010; Lord VM et al, 2012).
In 2014, the British Lung Foundation (BLF) commissioned Phoene to develop and deliver a training programme for singing leaders entitled “Singing for Lung Health”. The BLF is now Asthma + Lung UK, and they continue to promote singing for lung health.
