Singing

[2][3][4] Other common definitions include "the utterance of words or sounds in tuneful succession"[1] or "the production of musical tones by means of the human voice".

Singers may perform as soloists or accompanied by anything from a single instrument (as in art songs or some jazz styles) up to a symphony orchestra or big band.

It may be done as a form of religious devotion, as a hobby, as a source of pleasure, comfort, as part of a ritual, during music education or as a profession.

"[12] While also a form of vocal music, rap differs from singing in that it does not engage with tonality in the same way and does not require pitch accuracy.

[13] In its physical aspect, singing has a well-defined technique that depends on the use of the lungs, which act as an air supply or bellows; on the larynx, which acts as a reed or vibrator; on the chest, head cavities and the skeleton, which have the function of an amplifier, as the tube in a wind instrument; and on the tongue, which together with the palate, teeth, and lips articulate and impose consonants and vowels on the amplified sound.

[21] The science behind voice classification developed within European classical music has been slow in adapting to more modern forms of singing.

Choral music most commonly divides vocal parts into high and low voices within each sex (SATB, or soprano, alto, tenor, and bass).

[23] Vocal resonation is the process by which the basic product of phonation is enhanced in timbre or intensity by the air-filled cavities through which it passes on its way to the outside air.

Various terms related to the resonation process include amplification, enrichment, enlargement, improvement, intensification, and prolongation, although in strictly scientific usage acoustic authorities would question most of them.

Another current popular approach that is based on the bel canto model is to divide both men and women's voices into three registers.

[34] However, as knowledge of physiology has increased over the past two hundred years, so has the understanding of the physical process of singing and vocal production.

[36] Passaggio (Italian pronunciation: [pasˈsaddʒo]) is a term used in classical singing to describe the transition area between the vocal registers.

In his book The Principles of Voice Production, Ingo Titze states, "The term register has been used to describe perceptually distinct regions of vocal quality that can be maintained over some ranges of pitch and loudness.

The art and science of vocal pedagogy has a long history that began in Ancient Greece[44] and continues to develop and change today.

With an effective singer or speaker, one should rarely be reminded of the process involved as their mind and body are so coordinated that one only perceives the resulting unified function.

However, some areas of the art of singing are so much the result of coordinated functions that it is hard to discuss them under a traditional heading like phonation, resonation, articulation, or respiration.

The areas of vocal technique which seem to depend most strongly on the student's ability to coordinate various functions are:[23] Singing is a skill that requires highly developed muscle reflexes.

Vocal pedagogists teach that a singer can only achieve this goal when all of the physical processes involved in singing (such as laryngeal action, breath support, resonance adjustment, and articulatory movement) are effectively working together.

A sunken chest position will limit the capacity of the lungs, and a tense abdominal wall will inhibit the downward travel of the diaphragm.

Good posture also makes it easier to initiate phonation and to tune the resonators as proper alignment prevents unnecessary tension in the body.

Vocal pedagogists have also noted that when singers assume good posture it often provides them with a greater sense of self-assurance and poise while performing.

Many singers abandon conscious controls before their reflexes are fully conditioned which ultimately leads to chronic vocal problems.

In 1922 Max Schoen was the first to make the comparison of vibrato to a tremor due to change in amplitude, lack of automatic control and it being half the rate of normal muscular discharge.

In heavy metal and hardcore punk subgenres, vocal styles can include techniques such as screams, shouts, and unusual sounds such as the "death growl".

As well, pop singers who use microphones can do a range of other vocal styles that would not project without amplification, such as making whispering sounds, humming, and mixing half-sung and sung tones.

In the 2000s, controversy arose over the widespread use of electronic Auto-Tune pitch correction devices with recorded and live popular music vocals.

In many rock and metal bands, the musicians doing backup vocals also play instruments, such as rhythm guitar, electric bass, or drums.

In some pop and hip hop groups and in musical theater, the backup singers may be required to perform elaborately choreographed dance routines while they sing through headset microphones.

Aspiring singers and vocalists must have musical skills, an excellent voice, the ability to work with people, and a sense of showmanship and drama.

Levitin describes how, beginning with the eardrum, sound waves are translated into pitch, or a tonotopic map, and then shortly thereafter "speech and music probably diverge into separate processing circuits" (130).