Listening and Singing

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know the muscle connected to the ear drum is the tensor tympanum, while the muscle connected to the stirrup is the stapedius. According to Tomatis, both have an active role in listening. 

There is much talk of function nowadays, but little awareness of the function of the ear in singing. Do you know when it becomes an issue? When singers or singing teachers experience hearing loss, tinnitus and other challenges. But up until then, everyone goes about their business as if the ears are simply going along for the ride. 

Let me tell you a story that illustrates the current state of affairs.

I once gave a presentation to my peers where I talked about my listening training experience—thinking, naively perhaps, that I was making a worthy contribution. While a good number of the audience was quite receptive, another segment was not. In fact, that smaller segment was hostile to my presentation , even going so far as to repeatedly interrupt my talk multiple times. Afterwards, a noted member of the singing community took me to task, telling me that what I experienced was a sham: I was making it all up and could have gotten a better result by becoming her student. The irony, however, was that this same individual spoke with a lisp on three different phonemes. So, I thought to myself. “You believe that what I have to contribute is a figment of my imagination, but you seem to have your own listening problem which no amount of physical intervention has helped. What's wrong with this picture?" 

Current vocal pedagogy is replete with voice teachers discussing fact-based pedagogy, which, I believe in all honesty, is a good thing. I only wish it took into account the active participation of the ear, and not simply the quantifiable processes of the glottis and vocal tract. However, there seems to be precious little interest in the connection between the ear and voice.

My tuition at the Listening Centre put what I had been taught by Margaret Harshaw into perspective. What did I hear in my head during my listening training? A buzzy sound. What did my teacher talk about all the time? The buzzy business that never turns off. What vowel is associated with buzziness? The open-throated /i/ vowel. What is this buzzy sound in terms of the function of the ear? Bone conduction, which is heard ever more clearly in the center of the head as the envelope of the ear is opened—when the ear’s capacity to analyze the full complement of frequencies is enabled by active listening and right ear laterality. I will even go so far as to observe that this sensation of voice placement is one of balanced registration, which is not experienced by the singer who yells either in chest or or hoots in falsetto. This is also why falsetto singing is not—and will never be—bel canto.

Photo: Stirrup.