Singing in tune, singing off-key
ANATOMY OF SINGING
The vocal gesture is influenced by a multitude of parameters which, when properly adjusted, correct pitch and open up a wide range of vocal possibilities.
ANATOMY OF SINGING, CHAPTER 2
An inner choreography
"You're singing off-key!" Like a curse, whoever receives the label of "tone-deaf" is punished and deprives themselves of the incredible joy of singing. Yet the vocal gesture is influenced by a multitude of parameters which, when properly adjusted, correct pitch and open up a wide range of vocal possibilities. It is up to you to coordinate the movement of your body, like a corps de ballet, in order to progress.
"Singing is nothing but movement; it is up to us to find its choreography."
Adeline Toniutti, Anatomie du Chant (Marabout, 2024)
THE 3 CONCEPTS
Singing right-side up, upside down, in tune
I will use 3 concepts to help you clearly define the contours of a healthy vocal technique.
1st concept: singing right-side up and in tune
The singer's goal is to "sing right-side up." This can be defined in contrast to "singing upside down." We also say "having your voice right-side up or upside down." "Singing right-side up" or "putting your voice right-side up" means producing a sung sound, a performance, that meets three equally important conditions:
- It produces a result that is considered correct by an audience of music professionals.
- Its performance level is consistent, meaning the way of singing allows the vocal gesture to be repeated as many times as required.
- The sound is supple and comfortable: no fatigue is felt after the performance, other than normal physical tiredness.
Singing right-side up therefore means producing a sound accompanied by a vocal gesture that allows for perpetual improvement of performance while guaranteeing physical comfort. By physical comfort, we mean that at the end of the singing session, the singer feels no discomfort or pain in the throat.
Singing remains a physical exercise. Fatigue may therefore be felt, in the abdominal muscles for example, but singing should never cause vocal cord fatigue.
2nd concept: singing upside down
Conversely, if the performance is not correct, meaning it is likely to be rejected by music professionals or the vocal technique is poor, then we say one is "singing upside down" or has "the voice upside down." The sound may appear correct with a poor vocal technique, but this bad gesture, repeated over time and with recurring fatigue, can lead to dysfunctional lesions that will appear later with more serious consequences for the vocal cords.
3rd concept: singing "in tune" as opposed to singing "off-key"
Singing in tune is the ability to reproduce the notes of a melody identically. They must be at the same pitch as the model that was heard.
What produces the ability to sing in tune? The ear receives a sound signal, a wave of a certain frequency, and transmits it to the brain which can then send the information back via the nerves to the vocal cords to produce the same frequency.
"Pitch accuracy is determined by the inner ear, a neurosensory organ. This is where the first mechanisms of pitch perception come into play." Dr Bruno Coulombeau, phoniatrician
"Pitch accuracy comes from a mental representation of the sound that is in perfect alignment with the shape given to the larynx and the tension applied to the muscles. This is not necessarily given to everyone; it requires work." Dr Romain Pérouse, ENT surgeon
PITCH ACCURACY
Singing off-key
Singing off-key means producing a sound whose frequency is not correct relative to the expected pitch. There can be several main causes, including:
- The vocal gesture is not optimized. For example, the subglottic pressure is not controlled well enough to make the vocal cords vibrate at the right frequency, which results in singing either too low ("singing blue") or too high. This can be corrected by finding a more appropriate vocal gesture.
- Stress can affect your listening to music: the ear is subject to emotional changes. Concentration and performance can be impaired in a stressful situation.
- Singing off-key may result from an ear problem. Either you have not heard the music correctly, in which case you can look for your dominant ear; or there is an auditory condition, in which case you should consult a specialist.
"In any case, before trying to sing in tune, it seems essential to me to become a musician, to learn to listen to music, to hear the melody."
The sound wave is a vibration that passes through the body, which you can feel with your hand, so do not hesitate to touch the strings of the piano, for example, to feel the vibration and correct problems with pitch and rhythm.
IN PRACTICE
Finding and awakening your dominant ear
EXERCISE
The phone rings, which ear do you answer with?
Objective: find your dominant ear.
To correct a pitch problem, start by checking that you have correctly identified your dominant ear. There are several tricks for this.
When you pick up your phone, which ear do you instinctively hold it to? That is your dominant ear!
Do you write with your right hand or your left hand? Generally, the dominant ear is on the same side as the hand you write with.
And if you write with your right hand but hold the phone to your left ear, that is often a sign of a problem: you are not in sync with your dominant ear.
EXERCISE
The fly behind the hand
Objective: awaken your dominant ear.
Place your hand against your jaw, in front of your mouth, and perform the fly vocalise, lips pursed as if for a kiss without forcing, at a piano or mezzo forte dynamic. When you go up into the high notes, your voice will want to switch to head voice; let it.
You thus create a resonance bell, and you will feel the vibration of the "zzz" all the way to your ear. You are awakening the sensations in your dominant ear.
This vocalise is often used post-operatively to "massage" the vocal cords against each other. It also serves to dispel mucus accumulated during the night upon waking or when you are ill. It very quickly improves sound quality.
This exercise must be performed while respecting the five pivot points. If you have a vocal cord condition, seek advice from your specialist.
GOING FURTHER
Music and the brain
What happens in the brain when we sing? That is the question Adeline put to a friend, a singer and neurosurgeon, Dr Gilles Zah-Bi.
It is worth knowing that we are born with a capital of neurons. However, the connections between neurons can adapt throughout life depending on stimulation and our lifestyle. The brain is therefore not made up of fixed zones. For more than twenty years now, we have known that it is made up of interconnected networks with slight variations from one individual to another. The brain has a mapping that is almost unique to each person, somewhat like a fingerprint.
When we hear a sound
The functions that are interconnected when we hear a sound are: the auditory area; the area of memory, emotion and reward; cognitive functions.
Music is capable of stimulating our brain in its entirety. The eardrum receives a vibration that is transformed into a nerve impulse and sent to the brain: the brain receives only nerve impulses. Dr Gilles Zah-Bi notes that music activates the areas of memory and emotion in the brain as soon as it is heard, whether we are aware of it or not.
A link with our lived experience
One of my professors at the University of Paris-IV Sorbonne told me about going to meet an indigenous people who had never had contact with our civilization. She played them Mozart, to which they replied: "Is that your sacred music?"
Music is always associated with something we have experienced, but in the case where it is the first time we hear a tune, it also activates the emotional area of the brain. Even if it is an unknown piece of music, music will always refer back to an emotion through correlation and sensitization.
DID YOU KNOW?
Hearing does not sleep, even when we are asleep, and it is the last active function before death. Music therapy is in fact used for people in a coma.
When we sing
The practice of singing, dance, and art in general, calls upon the same areas of the brain. In the more particular case of singing, fine motor skills are activated, including the movements of the mouth, face, etc. As for the vocal cords, this may involve unconscious or voluntary motor activity once one wishes to optimize the vocal gesture.
And when we imitate?
In the case of an impressionist, the auditory and memory areas of the brain are extremely solicited to store all those voices. Dr Gilles Zah-Bi believes that impressionists have particular anatomical aptitudes for modifying their resonators and using their larynx with an infinite variety of possibilities. For example, they certainly have a very supple larynx and extremely supple membranes and fasciae. Moreover, it is undoubtedly inevitable that impressionists train like athletes.
THE VOCAL GESTURE
Factors that influence the vocal gesture
The airflow causes the vocal cords to vibrate, this vibration transforms the flow into an acoustic impulse. This wave train travels through the vocal tract, the pharynx, and is modified by the resonators to produce the voice.
But the vocal gesture is also the product of several factors: it is a thought that generates a nerve impulse, which triggers a muscular reaction, which creates the conditions to produce a sound. Other circumstantial elements have the power to enhance or degrade performance.
In the context of learning singing and music, when a voluntary action or thought does not allow the motor action to be commanded, one can resort to an external action. This will trigger a reaction that stimulates the sensory nerves in order to obtain the desired result.
IN PRACTICE
Feel the note with your fingers
When someone has a problem singing off-key, one of the methods Adeline uses to make them aware of the correct pitch of the sound is to place their fingers on her piano to feel the vibration and help find the note. It is somewhat the same mechanism of action on the sensory nerves that she uses when she asks singers to touch her throat to feel the correct gesture.
The pivot points, which respond to anatomophysiological criteria, are based on the consideration of this body awareness. They are a set of actions whose purpose is to sing right-side up, that is, to sing with a healthy gesture and without hurting oneself.
"Every movement in the body has a direction: placed in the right direction, it will be a vector of optimization; placed in the wrong direction, it will be a vector of degradation."
SINGING AS CATHARSIS
Music, language of emotions
"Music is the language of emotions. Through it, one can release difficult and repressed feelings. Vocal work then becomes a catharsis that allows suffering to be sublimated into beauty. How many times have I seen singers reveal themselves, plunge deep within themselves to emerge transformed during Adeline's singing lessons. Through music, every human experience can be heard and validated. Working on your voice is also working on your being. Singing is a therapeutic means."
Emma Renaud, singing teacher and mental health peer supporter, in Anatomie du Chant (Marabout, 2024)
WORKING ON YOUR PITCH
Nobody sings off-key forever
This page is taken from chapter 2 of Anatomy of Singing by Adeline Toniutti (Marabout, 2024). To assess your pitch, your ear, and your vocal gesture, the CALYP team is here to support you.
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