MadSci Network: Anatomy
Query:

Re: Is singing well determined by the makeup of the vocal cords or mental

Area: Anatomy
Posted By: Dan Berger, Faculty Chemistry/Science, Bluffton College
Date: Fri Nov 14 10:05:03 1997
Area of science: Anatomy
ID: 876720592.An
Message:

First, a word about my qualifications: I am a trained singer (nine or ten years of study) with a good voice. Before I realized that to succeed, you need lots of time, money, connections and luck -- of which I had only the first -- I considered a professional career in opera or oratorio. I have also taken a good vocal pedagogy course which was largely concerned with vocal anatomy.

The correct answer to your question is "yes." Yes, you must have the right equipment (after all, you don't expect the same sound from a spinet as you do from a Steinway grand piano), and yes, you must have the technique, which certainly qualifies as "mental." (However, if by "mental" you mean solely the power of positive thinking, consider that Norman Vincent Peale never made his living as a singer.)

"Technique" includes several items, including:

There are a number of people whose instruments are so wonderful that they need not have wonderful technique. (Peter Hofmann, the German tenor who made such a splash as Siegmund at Bayreuth about 15 years ago, is probably the most recent example; an American example is Richard Tucker.) But this is not true of most singers, and in fact an outstanding technique is required for even an outstanding voice to have a long life. Ha ns Hotter, for example, who sang Wotan a lot and was once called "the only man in the world who can get up on stage and convince you that he is God," sang professionally almost until he died because he had both an incredibly huge and sonorous instrument and a marvelous technique. But if you don't have a voice like Hotter or Tebaldi or Nils son, a good technique is essential!

I assume you are asking because you are an aspiring singer. If your voice teachers (and you might want a second opinion) say that your voice is not professional-quality, then you should not plan a career on the stage. On the other hand, if you are interested in a career as a coach or teacher, a top-quality voice is not required. But in both cases, you will need technique.

I am reproducing, below, a cartoon which I love. Unfortunately I don't know who drew it!

Dan Berger
Bluffton College
http://cs.bluffton.edu/~berger


Current Queue | Current Queue for Anatomy | Anatomy archives

Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Anatomy.



MadSci Home | Information | Search | Random Knowledge Generator | MadSci Archives | Mad Library | MAD Labs | MAD FAQs | Ask a ? | Join Us! | Help Support MadSci


MadSci Network
© 1997, Washington University Medical School
webadmin@www.madsci.org