SINGING

Singing, the use of the human voice to produce music. In singing, the lungs act as an air reservoir and bellows, forcing air between the vocal cords (see Larynx) and causing them to vibrate, much like the double reed of an oboe. The resulting sound is amplified as it resonates in the cavities of the chest, neck, and head, and it is articulated (given vowels and consonants) by the singer's lips, teeth, tongue, and palate (see Speech and Speech Disorders). Vocal training allows a singer to develop breath control, to regulate the degree of relaxation or tension in the body, and to resonate and articulate sound. Whether trained or not, singers in every culture exercise choice in their use of the voice. American, Swiss, and African Pygmy yodelers intuitively alternate rapidly between high and low registers, for example, and most men can produce falsetto tones without knowing that these tones depend on only partial vibration of the vocal cords.

STYLISTIC VARIATION

Among the world's many singing styles, cultural choices are observable in the variations in tone, color, physical tension, and acoustical intensity. Cultural differences also exist in preferences for high- or low-pitched ranges, solo or choral singing, extensive or sparse melodic ornamentation, and the use or avoidance of rasps, yelps, growls, and other colorful voice modifications.

The rich variety of vocal styles found in the U.S. includes the trained, resonant, well-projected tone of operatic singers; the relaxed, intimate sound of popular crooners; the tensely sung, high, ornamented melodic style of Appalachian folk singers; the relaxed, subtly ornamented, rubato singing of black folk musicians, sometimes augmented with rough, guttural effects; and the tense, electronically distorted sound of much rock singing. Where ancient Mediterranean and Asian civilizations once flourished, singing tends to be high-pitched, tense, and ornamented, and solo singing predominates; within this broad geographical area, however, sounds vary from the moderate-range, highly ornamented style of Indian classical singing to the thin, extremely high, well-projected tone found in Chinese opera. In sub-Saharan Africa, where an abundance of choral music is found, low voices for women and high, penetrating voices for men are favored. Many agricultural regions in central Europe also have strong choral traditions, characterized by a straightforward, open vocal tone.