Left-Eyed Monster

Take a good look at the photo accompanying this post. What do you see? I am a left-eyed monster.

Ok, I jest. But I am making a point.

The careful observer will notice that my left eye (on the right side of the photograph) is much bigger than the right behind my 250-power Eyebob Readers. What does this tell you? That I use my left eye when I focus. According to Pierre Sollier’s Listening for Wellness: An Introduction to the Tomatis Method (2005), three out of ten people are like me, while four out of ten are left-eared. How many of us are left-eyed and left-eared, that is, lead with the left ear? While I have no stats for that, I have observed when a student presents as being left-eyed, their right ear is not always leading their voice. How do I know this? Besides being able to hear that this is so, I can see how they use their ears when they speak and sing. Therein lies some of the material covered in the Awakened Ear Workshop.

My right ear is the one that leads my singing and speaking. Pre-Tomatis listening training? That wasn’t the case.

It took me a long while to figure out and process what the training gave me. And you know what? If I don’t utilize my knowledge of bel canto vocal technique—that is a learning curve all its own—my left ear asserts control of my voice.

I almost forgot. You can see my leading ear in the photo as represented in the fold between my upper right lip and cheek. It’s deeper and higher than the one on the left.

All this to say: how you use your ears determines how you sing.