A Brief History of Singing In the beginning was the voice. Voice is sounding breath, the audible sign of life. --Ibid. Men sang out their feelings long before they were able to speak their thoughts. But of course we must not imagine that "singing" means exactly the same thing here as in a modern concert hall. When we say that speech originated in song, what we mean is merely that our comparatively monotonous spoken language and our highly developed vocal music are differentiations of primitive utterances, which had more in them of the latter than of the former. These utterances were, at first, like the singing of birds and the roaring of many animals and the crooning of babies, exclamative, not communicative--that is, they came forth from an inner craving of the individual without any thought of any fellow-creatures. Our remote ancestors had not the slightest notion that such a thing as communicating ideas and feelings to someone else was possible. --Otto Jespersen, Language, Its Nature, Development and Origin Singing, the vocal production of musical tones, is so basic to man its origins are long lost in antiquity and predate the development of spoken language.

The voice is presumed to be the original musical instrument, and there is no human culture, no matter how remote or isolated, that does not sing. Not only is singing ancient and universal, in primitive cultures it is an important function associated not so much with entertainment or frivolity as with matters vital to the individual, social group, or religion. Primitive man sings to invoke his gods with prayers and incantations, celebrate his rites of passage with chants and songs, and recount his history and heroics with ballads and epics. There are even cultures that regard singing as such an awesome act they have creation myths relating that they were sung into existence. It is likely the earliest singing was individualistic and improvisatory, a simple imitation of the sounds heard in nature. At what point the singing of meaningful, communicative sounds began cannot be established, but it was doubtless an important step in the creation of language. Many anthropologists believe the development of a lowered larynx (important to articulate speech, as it effectively makes the flexible lower tongue the front wall of the pharynx) was a relatively recent aspect of human evolution. There are no bones in the human larynx, so archaeological remains offer no direct physical evidence of the vocal apparatus of prehistoric man.

We lack studies that correlate vocal characteristics to body size, the basic gender difference aside, but there is general belief large-bodied peoples (Slavs, for example) frequently produce low-voiced singers, while small-bodied peoples (Mediterraneans, for example) produce more high-voiced singers. If there is any validity in this, the voice that belonged to the owner of the prehistoric jaw bone unearthed in 1909, at Heidelberg, Germany, may have been remarkable--it is half-again the size of a modern jaw. Carrying the idea of relating body size to vocalism into more recent periods, we see modern man has grown too large to fit the armor of medieval knights and, still more recently, we suspect an increasing rarity of the male alto voice type. Tempting though it is to see a relationship between such things, we lack the means to support it factually. Based on our knowledge of the singing of present-day primitive peoples, a possible scenario of musical development would begin with simple melodic patterns based on several tones.

Pitch matching (several persons singing in unison) might emerge next, with singing in parallel motion (the natural result of women or children singing with men), call-and-answer phrases, drone basses and canon as subsequent steps. All this could lead to an evolving sense of tonic and scale structure (primitive music often uses pentatonic scales) and the development of such basic musical devices as melodic sequences and cadential formulae. HISTORICAL ANTIQUITY The major early cultures that were sources for Western music each had distinguishing musical characteristics that related, in some degree, to their respective languages. Experts recognize that a culture's spoken language and its musical expression influence each other, but the relationship is very complex and not well understood. That modern French woodwind players produce a distinctive timbre, that 6/8 metrics are nonexistent in Hungarian folksong, and that Western classical vocal technique developed in an Italian-speaking region are examples of the relationship. It is not known when or where art music--as distinct from folk music--began, but there is evidence the various Mesopotamian cultures that thrived from 3500 to 500 B.C.

already considered music an art, and their writings mention both professional musicians and liturgical music. It is a song, the Sumerian Hymn to Creation, dated before 800 B.C., which is the oldest notated music extant. Egyptian musical culture existed by the 4th millennium B.C., and music was prominent in the social and religious life of the Old Kingdom. Egyptian instruments changed significantly as the New Kingdom era (1700-1500 B.C.) began. The change, which may have reflected foreign influence, was from delicate timbre instruments to louder ones and was surely followed by similar changes in singing tone for, over time, a culture's instrumental timbres and vocal tone always tend to match. There are many drawings extant showing that large choruses and orchestras existed in the New Kingdom. Grecian culture had a highly developed art music that showed signs of both a folk music origin and some Egyptian influence. The poetry of Sappho (600 B.C.) and others was often sung in contests, with melodies and rhythms based on the poetic meters. Singing was associated with all forms of literature and with dance.

The ode, the dithyramb (a choral tribute to Bacchus and the forerunner of tragedy), and the drama all employed singers who moved to the rhythm of the music. By 500 B.C. ventriloquism had been described, and both choruses and solo voices were being used in drama. Greek philosophers attached great value to music and to its cultural purposes. The PYTHAGOREAN SCALE (see Glossary) and a complex theory of music were developed. The Judaic culture has preserved some melodies that may go back to 500 B.C. The Psalms of David and the Song of Solomon were sung, and we know of an early presence of professional musicians. Both responsorial (a soloist answered by the congregation) and antiphonal (alternating congregational groups) styles were used in singing the Psalms. After the destruction of the Second Temple, in 70 A.D., Jewish music became exclusively vocal. As the dispersed and transient Jews would learn, the human voice is a readily portable instrument, and communal singing serves to bond its participants in both form and purpose.

Like the Egyptians, Jewish singers may have shared musical directions and reminders with hand-signs (CHEIRONOMY). Cantillation, the intoning of sacred texts using ancient melodic formulae, written with symbols called ta'amim, was an important musical format. Jewish prayer chants, which were based on ancient melodic lines and often highly ornamented, would have a considerable influence on Christian plainchant. What little we know of Roman music shows it to have been derived from the Greeks but primarily instrumental and military in nature. Still, Seneca (4 B.C.-64 A.D.) wrote of being disturbed late one night by loud sounds coming from a group of singers practicing vocal exercises. Singing was such an important part of early Christian worship that its ritual and music developed together and became almost inseparable. It borrowed music from other religions and from existing secular tunes and slowly developed a form of liturgical chant. It was a style based on sinuous melodies of limited range, expressed in free, unmetered rhythms. These were sung as solos or in unison by unaccompanied male voices. The various scale formats in which they developed were eventually refined into a complex theoretical system of so-called church modes.

As the Christian church became organized it tried to suppress secularism and secular singing while advancing both itself and its chosen musical style--plainchant. As a result, little evidence remains of the secular musical activity during the early centuries A.D., and we can more easily follow the evolution of singing as it is reflected in the development of sacred music, specifically that of the Latin-speaking Roman Church. THIRTEEN CENTURIES OF SACRED MUSIC In the fourth century A.D., Christianity became established as the official religion of the Roman Empire and a SCHOLA CANTORUM was founded by Pope Sylvester. The Roman Catholic Church would control the development of Western music for the next thirteen centuries, a span that saw music change from simple unison chant to the highly developed polyphonic choral style of Palestrina. This era was marked by a recurrent pattern, roughly three centuries in period, when the reigning Pope, concerned with the purity of the church's music, would order stylistic retrenchment and place new restraints on the creativity of those who were prone to elaborate the music of the MASS.

Three styles of chant melody evolved: syllabic (for clergy and congregation), neumatic (several notes to a syllable, for choristers) and melismatic (florid, for soloists). Metricity in either chant texts or melodies was uncommon, but occurred as early as the fourth century. About 600 A.D., Pope Gregory (whence Gregorian chant) reorganized the Schola Cantorum . His reforms standardized the liturgical repertory and changed the character of the Christian service from unbridled ecstasy to subdued reverence. By 800 A.D., the repertory was again being enlarged with newly created material called TROPES. Plainchant manuscripts are extant from the ninth century, which was also when the first known examples of polyphony occurred and the deterioration of chant began--to continue into the thirteenth century--as its original simplicity was gradually effaced by the ongoing use of specialized singers and their introduction of ornamentation and virtuosic effects (see JUBILUS ). About the tenth century, musical notation began suggesting pitch movement by placing symbols above or below a horizontal line and the slow development of multiple-line staffs began.

In the graphic art of the Middle Ages, singers were often shown with strained expressions, their furrowed brows, protruding veins and exaggerated mouth positions suggesting an effortful, possibly nasal quality--twangy or reedy--like the instrumental colors of the time. Chaucer, in his fourteenth century Canterbury Tales, described singing of the time as being 'intoned through the nose'. Straight tone was the probable norm, with vibrato being reserved for use as an ornament, as were a stock of ancient vocal devices: portamenti, turns, trills, and the intentional use of the qualities of the various vocal registers. The yodel was probably used as well. THE RISE OF POLYPHONY The idea of high and low pitched voices arose with the coming of polyphony in the ninth century. As polyphony developed in complexity, better educated singers were required, and one of the training devices created (by Guido D'Arezzo, 11th century) was the Guidonian Hand, the basis of a sightreading technique, SOLMIZATION, still used today. By the eleventh century, portamenti were being used on certain consonants in chant performance and the singing of descants had begun.

These were elaborations performed against a cantus firmus, the protracted notes of a plainchant melody. Those who sustained the prolonged notes were called 'holders' or tenors, while those who sang the descant part 'against' them were called contratenors. The contratenors often sang the 'high' part, eventually called the altus , and, later, those who sang a part intertwining with the altos were named--predictably--contraltos. Eventually these parts were surrounded by two outer contrapuntal voices, appropriately named sopranus (above) and bassus (below). Organum was the name given to early polyphony (800-1250 A.D.). Simple organum used two voice parts that sang in parallel fourths or fifths and eventually these two voices were doubled at the octave. Free organum (11th-12th centuries) employed an expanded harmonic vocabulary, allowing perfect fourths, major and minor thirds and the major second, while fifths and semitones were avoided. Parallel, oblique and contrary motion and crossing voices were increasingly used to obtain pleasing harmonies and to avoid the tritone, which was held to be 'the devil in music'.

As polyphony developed (14th-17th centuries) rhythmic notation was introduced. The fourteenth century ars nova (new art) style developed bolder harmonies, required wider vocal ranges and used more interesting rhythms (though bar lines would not be introduced until late in the sixteenth century). Though ever higher treble voices were needed, the Church could not resign itself to the use of female voices (proscribed in I Corinthians 14:34) and turned instead to the increased use of boys with unchanged voices (putti ). But boys suffered the drawback of having relatively brief useful careers after their protracted training, and the next step was to use mature males singing in the falsetto register. The fifteenth century saw the Council of Trent attempt to restore purity to the liturgy by outlawing the use of such elaborative material as tropes and SEQUENCES. It also saw important new activity in the creation of polyphonic Masses and MOTETS. As the developing contrapuntal style generated interest in the range and timbre differences of the lower male voices, the last primary voice-type term, baritone (Greek for 'weighty sound'), came into use.

Then, from Spain (where Moorish harem-guard eunuchs had been the probable models), came the first castrati. These were adult singers whose testicles had been surgically removed before puberty. (Youthful castration stabilized the infantile larynx and resulted in the development of an unusually large rib cage. Both soprano and alto voices resulted.) A castrato first joined the putti and falsettists (now called contraltini ) in the Papal Choir late in the sixteenth century. This was also when the rich polyphonic choral style of the Renaissance would end--while at its very peak--to be replaced by a revolutionary new musical style centered on soloistic vocalism: monody. The happenstance that a number of leading choral composers (Gabrieli, Gesualdo, Guerrero, Hassler, le Jeune, di Lasso, Merulo, Morley, Nanini, Palestrina and de Victoria) all died within the span of twenty years (1594-1614), helps explain the abruptness with which the great polyphonic choral era ended.

The nuove musiche (new music) style that began the Baroque period (1600-1750) was homophonic, and featured a melodic line supported by a vertically conceived harmonic accompaniment. From our modern vantage point it may be impossible to appreciate what a remarkable idea this was, but at a time when music was almost exclusively contrapuntal and each voice was horizontally conceived and of equal importance to those around it, it must have been revolutionary. The homophonic style is typified by the Protestant hymn or Chorale, and it may have been that the sixteenth-century Reformation movement--which used vernacular language in worship and expected its congregational members to participate in singing during the service--gave impetus to the use of the new, relatively simple homophony. THE RISE OF THEATRICAL MUSIC Though their purpose was to recreate ancient Greek drama, the FLORENTINE CAMERATA effectively established a completely new manner. Their operas (works) were what we would consider classical plays, sung throughout in a formless, text-centered recitative.

Yet they altered the history of music by opening a new venue for musical creativity and performance--the secular world of the theater. The impact this had on singing was revolutionary: women's voices could be used, dramatic expressiveness entered the realm of singing, the skills of moving and acting while singing had to be learned and the reverberant acoustic of the church was traded for the less favoring design of the theater. Also, a new and competitive presence, the instrumental accompaniment, was developing. The old unaccompanied style, with its relative ease of emission, would soon be reserved for use 'in the church'--a cappella. Attending and heightening this time of artistic disjuncture would be the fundamental transition from modality to major-minor tonality. GLOSSARY of terms capitalized in the text. CHEIRONOMY or CHIRONOMY: Before the era of musical notation ensemble singing was often guided by a leader making hand signals to show pitches. A similar idea, the Curwin Hand Sign System, is in active use today.

FLORENTINE CAMERATA: A group of artists intellectuals and musicians who, in Florence, at the end of the sixteenth century, often met to discuss ancient Greek drama and its performance style. JUBILUS: In early plainchant, an ornamental vocalization that was sung on the final vowel of the word alleluia. It was so popular with liturgical performers its use survived even the reforms of Pope Gregory, c. 600. MASS: The basic liturgical structure of the Roman Catholic sacred service and the music that attends it. The Mass developed over many centuries, and two categories of material came to make up its form: the Ordinary (items ordinarily present in every Mass) and the Proper (items inserted when proper to the occasion). Sung elements of the Ordinary are the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei. In the Proper, such sung sections as the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory and Communion may occur.

Portions of the Mass have been sung in plainchant since the earliest history of the Church, and for four centuries (1200 to 1600 A.D.) the polyphonic Mass was the primary format for serious musical composition. MOTET: An unaccompanied choral anthem intended for performance in the Catholic sacred service. It was an important form of composed music and underwent considerable change during its long span of active use (1250-1750 A.D.). PYTHAGOREAN SCALE: An eight-tone diatonic scale the Greek mathematician Pythagoras (c. 550 B.C.) created by reordering the tones he derived from a circle of fifths. SCHOLA CANTORUM: A training school for the papal choir in Rome. It became the center for the development and dissemination of the church's music and sent out singers to other churches. SEQUENCES: The oldest and most important form of TROPE, originally occurring on the alleluia of the Mass. Unlike older chant, this newly created material often used expanded vocal ranges and formal compositional devices such as melodic sequence.

SOLMIZATION: A music reading method that associates syllables (do, re, mi, etc.) with pitches of the diatonic scale. Many ancient cultures had developed similar systems before this one was created for use in teaching sightreading to monks. TROPES: A textual addition to the official Catholic liturgy. Some were adapted to preexisting melismas (hence contrafacta ) but others were sung to new melodies freely derived from the plainchant melody. How to Sing: 15 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow Healthy Singing Habits 1 Stand up straight ! Correct posture helps, so stand tall, one foot slightly in front of the other one, and feet shoulder width apart. This allows you to breathe easily and reach maximum lung capacity, which results in better notes and phrases. Stand up straight with shoulders pulled back and down, so that you are floating over your torso. Make sure that your chest is high to give room for your lungs to expand and contract. Relax. If you're sitting, the same things apply! Keep both of your feet flat on the floor--don't cross your legs.

Keeping your body in line allows for more control and sustained singing without strain if you are sitting your back should also not touch the back of seat it should be straight. 1 Breathe properly. The voice is best described as a wind instrument, because breathing is 80% of singing and proper singing begins and ends with proper breathing. Breathe low, from your stomach, and push out, tightening the muscles when you exhale. If you try breathing from your chest, you will find you won't have enough support for high notes. Practice the old fashioned book method: Lie on the ground and place a book on your stomach. Sing a comfortable note, and when you are exhaling/singing, try to make the book go up. 2 Practice your warm ups . Before you begin singing or doing practice exercises, it's always best to warm up. Try this: sing in your middle range, then low range, then high range, and back to middle. You should spend at least 10 minutes on each range and do not stress your voice if you're frustrated and cannot hit a note. Relax, then try again, carefully. Other things to practice: Dynamics: Dynamics are variations to the intensity of your resonance.

Even the simplest use of dynamics will make your songs come alive, and the more you practice, the louder and softer you'll be able to sing healthily. Sing a comfortable pitch and start very softly, crescendo to loud then decrescendo to soft. When you start out, you will probably only be able to sing from mp (mezzo piano, or moderately quiet) to mf (mezzo forte, or moderately loud), but your range will increase with practice. Agility—Hit the "do re mi." Try singing from do to sol, back to do really fast back and forth, trying to hit all of the notes. Do this in increments of half steps on different syllables. This will help your voice become more flexible. 3 Pronounce your vowels correctly. Practice all your vowels at every pitch (high, low, and in between). In English there are very few pure vowels. Normally, we will encounter diphthongs which are two or more vowel sounds elided together. In classical singing, the singer will sustain the note on the first vowel and then say the second on the way to the final consonant. In country, singers like to slide through the first vowel and elongate the second vowel on the sustained note.

For example: whereas a classical singer might sing "Am[aaaaaaai]zing Gr[aaaaaai]ce" and a country singer would sing "Am[aiiiiiii]zing Gr[aiiiiii]ce". If you can, always sing the first vowel for as long as you can before letting the second vowel in. Here are some pure vowels to practice with: AH as in "father", EE as in "eat", IH as in "pin", EH as in "pet", OO as in "food", UH as in "nut", EU as in "could", OH as in "home". 4 Practice scales. Practice this often, especially if you have pitch problems. Most coaches will recommend 20-30 minutes a day when starting out, as practicing scales will also strengthen the muscles used for singing and give you better control. To practice scales, identify your range (tenor, baritone, alto, soprano, etc.) and know how to find the notes that cover your range on a keyboard or piano. Then practice the major scale in every key, moving up and down using the vowel sounds. At some point you can start working in minor scales as well.

Solfege (Do,Re,Mi,...) is also an effective tool for improving pitch problems. Part 3 The Attitude 1 Be confident . Do not care what people think, just keep practicing. If you are limited by your inhibitions, your voice will be, too. Be confident that you are going to get better, and you will continue to improve. Making safe decisions will not stretch your abilities. In order to do new things with your voice, you must be fearless. 2 Be reasonable with your expectations. Regardless of where you are coming from, if you can devote 20 minutes or more a day to practicing scales and songs, you can expect measurable improvement within four weeks. Most pitch problems can be corrected within 3-4 months. Understand that your progress is linked to your ability to practice daily (as with most training). If you only do 10 minutes a day, a few days a week, you could spend a year or more. Part 4 The Performance 1 Make sure you have practiced . By the time it comes to performing your piece in front of others, you should have practiced a lot and ensure that you are confident that the performance will be comfortable and sound amazing. 2 Stay confident throughout the performance.

Audiences often have misleading expressions. If they don't look impressed, don't worry about it. Keep singing, and smile too - it will cheer them up endlessly. 3 Look at the people. Nobody wants you looking at the ceiling. You might find it easier to look just a little above their heads if you have stage fright. Community Q&A Search If I can sing perfectly well by myself, why is it that when I sing around other people, I sound terrible? wikiHow Contributor This may be because you're you're shy or you are not used in singing in public. Build confidence by singing to friends. Also try closing your eyes and feeling like nobody's watching. If this question (or a similar one) is answered twice in this section, please click here to let us know. Tips The more you practice, the more you can control your voice. Write down the lyrics of a song so it's easier and you don't have to remember and sing well you just focus on singing. While singing, always make sure you breathe regularly - not breathing can make your voice sound forced, horrible and may damage your vocal chords. Just work and work until you get what you want to achieve.

Use a loud 'shh' as if you are telling someone to be quiet but don't force any muscles. This will help clear your throat and softly warm it up. Be patient. Some people are just naturally born with the gift of singing, while others need to work on it a bit more. Breathe with your stomach. Deeply. Imagine the air isn't even getting into your lungs, but going straight to your stomach. If you have to hit a note you find uncomfortably high, lift your soft pallet, not your chin. Your tongue should be pressed against the backs of your teeth. Your tongue shouldn't be curled up near your throat. Avoid drinking soda or milk, as these beverages cause mucus buildup in the back of the throat. Instead, drink warm tea with honey or room-temperature water when you are thirsty. Pronounce each word as clearly as possible. It may sound weird to you, but to the audience it sounds beautiful. Sing with all your heart! Passion will often make the voice believable and more emotional. Learn to read sheet music. It comes in handy more often then you'd think.

If your voice is weak or airy, know that this is usually caused by under-developed muscles or improper use of the resonators (the pharynx, the hard palate, and the nasal cavity). Breathe properly to encourage your breathing skill and your singing skills. Keep your chin pointed slightly down and your pectoral muscles flexed. Most singers lift their chin up to sing with more power,while it only works temporarily. Keeping chin down not only works better but saves your voice. Listening to passionate singing and practicing various vocal techniques, will enhance your skills and pleasure. This is a great way to sound better. Get in shape . You'll be able to breathe better if you are in good physical health. Also, press both your lips together to make that 'brrrrrr' sound. When doing this try to go up the scale with notes while making this noise. This helps you practice on keeping your pitch and it helps you produce a more powerful note Have friends or family members critique you on pitch, etc. Lie on your back and hold your breath. Count to 10 and stay calm until you are ready to sing. You will notice your voice is stronger. Always stay positive throughout the performance. Don't listen to what others say!

Be you and you only. Practice with a friend. Or a family member. And always be sure if yourself that you can do it. Don't even pay attention to the audience, pretend that your just at home and singing your heart out. Just focus in your singing and make sure you speak clearly. Remember to always hydrate yourself before singing. Try to sing one song, everyday! Sing loud and proud, everybody has a great voice, show it! Find and practice your entire range to improve your singing. Warm up your voice by matching your voice to each scale that is being played on the piano. Make sure you know the lyrics to the song that you are going to sing. If you get nervous, imagine you are alone. Make sure you don't sing for too long. Your throat can hurt or you could damage your voice. Stand up straight and try your best! Be you! Just try to do your best when you are singing. If it's your first time trying to sing, just keep singing no matter what people say. Break out of your shell, and if you are an amazing singer, audition for things, ask for solos... Show everyone who you are. Don't try to sing higher pitched until you warm up and are ready for it.

It's bad to strain your vocal cords. If you know you have a long part next as you sing, breath in deeply then sing it. Be mentally awake, too. Record yourself and play the recording back so that you know how you sound when you sing. This will help you make improvements. Express your feeling when you are singing it will sound great! Sing to a friend so they can give you tips and tell you what sounds good. Singing to a friend is also good practice for singing in front of more people. Don't sing from your throat, this will sound nasally. Sing from deep down, take deep breaths before and while you sing. Don't show vulnerability. If you practice alone, put on shows for your family to build confidence to prove you can perform in front of people. Record your voice and after few months record again and if you practiced you should find a change. One huge tip , "CONFIDENCE IS KEY ". Confidence is what makes a singer/artist great exploring boundaries and developing them ; Be aware that everything takes time so don't worry if your not perfect first time. Care about what people say and think if it's a professional, they can give constructive criticism that can help you in the future.

Otherwise do not take advice from someone who does not know what they are talking about. Practice in front of friends to get used to an audience. Ask people to listen to your singing and give advice and criticism. Use it to improve your singing. Don't sing through your nose, as it can start to sound whiny. Drink water before signing so your voice will come clearly. Sing confidently! Don't be so quiet nobody can hear you . Don't be scared! Just feel confident, and don't be afraid of what people think about your voice! Drink plenty of water. Avoid smoking as it may damage or harm your vocal chords. Limit the intake of medicines like allergy medications because it will cause dryness to your vocal chords. When you first start singing, start off with easy songs. You'll be able to learn easier and improve smoother. Listen to a lot of music and sing along to songs you really like. Stand up straight. Then when more advanced you can control your singing while moving around. Clear your nose if it's congested to avoid a nasal undertone or even breath shortage. Record your voice each time. By listening to your own voice, you will realize if you are improving or not. But don't get discouraged. Just keep trying.

Be calm throughout you performance. If you get distracted watching others to see what they think, you could lose your place in your song or sing a wrong note. Remember that you don't need to have a nice voice to be able to sing. You can learn to control your voice and sing clearly and steadily, that should be enough! Before singing, try to stay away from milk products. It contains a lot of fat and can produce mucus in your throat. Be sure to drink water instead! To make sure your throat doesn't become dry and you can't sing a note, keep yourself hydrated. Remember to stay away from milk and fizzy liquids. Water is the best! Just know, even though you might say your vocal chords should be moist, anatomy says different. The water doesn't touch your larynx. It makes your throat nice and hydrated and makes the sound come out easily. Read books on how to sing. Remember, don't drink milk before you sing. Or any dairy products, water is best because dairy clogs your throat and you can't produce clear notes. Warnings If your voice begins to play with you and hurt, stop singing for an hour, warm up, then try again, but more relaxed.

Not only can you damage your vocal chords, your voice will sound stressed and unpleasant. If your voice or throat is really hurting and you notice that you can't even speak without your experiencing pain, do not use your voice at all. You need to be silent for the rest of the day. Drink lots of warm tea and, if you have a steamer, steam for 20 minutes. Steaming is where you breathe in steam through your throat to help fix it. If you don't have a steamer, then get a bowl the size of your head and fill it with boiling water. Get a towel that covers the rim of the bowl, drape it over your head and the bowl, and breathe in the steam - or - put your mouth over the bowl and breathe through the towel. Be careful not to strain your voice. It can really hurt. If you are trying to sing a low note and produce a raspy sound, you are damaging your voice. Basically, your vocal cords are rubbing against each other. This can cause harmful nodes. A node is like a callous on your vocal cords, and it won't go away without surgery or prolonged vocal rest (more than a year). The best cure: don't get one.

Pre-existing tension in your jaw, shoulders, neck muscles and all surrounding areas can hurt you. Make sure you are completely relaxed before you sing. If your jaw is wobbling while you are singing, that is a sign of tension in your jaw, and this can result in muscle tissue tearing if it continues. Music Definitions Accidental: a sign -- a sharp, flat, or natural -- indicating the raising or lowering of a note. Analogue sound: method of sound reproduction that imitates the original on electromagnetic tape or disc. B BeBop: jazz form of the 1940's and 50's, characterized by fast tempo and complex chord patterns, played by small ensembles with often dizzying instrumental virtuosity. Blues: melancholic, usually guitar-based, modern folk music, originating in the work songs of the black American plantation workers. Typically constructed around a simple twelve-bar, three chord pattern on which a vast amount of popular music has been based ever since. Bossa nova: Brazilian dance of the 1950's, closely related to the samba. C Cadence: a sequence of two chords that brings a phrase to an end, with an air of wither finality or partial completion.

Cadenza: originally an improvised decoration of a cadence by a soloist; later a more or less elaborate and written-out passage in a aria or concerto to display performance skills by a singer or an instrumentalist. Calypso: folk music of Trinidad Can-can: a fast, boisterous dance of scandalous repute, characterized by high kicking, which originated in 19th century Paris and was immortalized in Offenbach's opera Orpheus in the Underworld (1858). Canon: a musical form in which a tune in imitated by individual parts at regular intervals; known as a round when each part is continuously repeated. In simple examples, such as "London Bridge is Falling Down," the successive voices enter at a same pitch and at the same speed. In more elaborate examples, such as the canons in J.S. Bach's keyboard work known as the Goldberg Variation, the voices may enter at different pitches and present the tune at different speeds or even backwards or upside down (in inversion). Cantabile: in a singing style. Cantata: a vocal work, wither sacred or secular.

Some early examples approach operatic style and may have narratives; others, such as Bach's church cantatas, are inventions on chorales. Twentieth-century revivals of the form, most notably by Stravinsky and Webern, have been meditative rather than storytelling. Cantus firmus: a preexisting tune, often familiar, used by medieval and Renaissance composers as the basis of a polyphonic composition in which the other parts are invented. Capriccio: a lighthearted, improvisational, usually quick instrumental or orchestral piece. Carol: originally a round dance with singing, later a popular song or hymn celebrating Christmas. Castrato: male singers whose voices were preserved in the soprano or alto range by early castration. The virtuosity attained by certain castrati can be gauged by parts of Handel's operas that modern sopranos often find nearly unsingable. The last castrati lived into the 20th century and were recorded. Cavatina: a short, usually simple operatic aria, in one or two sections without repetition; occasionally, an instrumental piece in a songlike style.

Chaconne: a variation form in slow 3/4 time in which a bass pattern is repeated while the parts around it successively change; virtually identical to a passacaglia. Chamber music: music of an intimate character in which there is usually one player to a part, each of which is equal in importance to the others, written for from two to ten players, although "chamber symphonies" have been written for small orchestras. Chanson: a French song of simple character, or, in the medieval and renaissance eras, a French art song first developed by the troubadours. Chant: unison singing of sacred texts in free rhythm similar to the rhythm of speech. Charleston: popular 1920's syncopated dance. Chest voice: the lower part of the singing voice, as opposed to head voice. Choir: a group of singer, usually more than one to a part. Chorale: a hymn, especially a :Lutheran setting of sacred text. Chord: three or more note sounded simultaneously. Chromatic: in tonal music, notes that do not belong to the key in which a piece is written.

the chromatic scale includes all twelve notes in the octave. Classicism: a period in music that extended from the middle of the 18th century to the first decade of the 19th. Its major figures were Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. although it characteristics are a concern for order and balance, its most important productions are notable as much for passion and feeling within considered forms. Clavier: the keyboard of an instrument, or any keyboard instrument with strings. Clef: a symbol at the beginning of a line of music that denotes the pitch of a particular note and thus also the pitches of the notes on all the other lines and spaces. the most common clefs are treble, bass, alto and tenor; some instruments commonly use two or even three in succession to accommodate their wide range. Coda: the closing section of a movement. Col legno: (of stringed instruments) tapping against or drawing across the strings with the wooden back of the bow rather than the hair.

Compound time: a time signature that indicates two, three, or four groups of three notes (or the equivalent) in each measure-for instance, 6/4 constitutes two groups of three quarter notes, and 9/8 three groups of three eighth notes. Concert: a musical performance for an audience. Concertmaster: first violin in an orchestra, called the leader in Britain. Concerto: a work for solo instrument (or occasionally, instruments) and orchestra; usually in three movements, but sometimes four, as in Brahms, or more - Ferruccio Busoni's piano concerto is in five movements. Generally designed to display virtuosity, it has been a consistently popular form since the 18th century. Concertos have been written for every imaginable instrument as soloist; and there are also "concertos for orchestra" displaying virtuosity throughout the orchestra, written by such 20th century composers as Bartok, Roberto Gerhard, and Elliot Carter. Conductor: - the director of a group of performers, indicating the tempo by beating and communicating phrasing, dynamics and style by gesture and facial expression.

Console: the keyboards, stops, and pedals of an organ, by which the player activates and controls the organ's sounds. Consonance: in diatonic harmony, a group of tones that are heard as a compatible combination when sounded together; its opposite is dissonance. Consort: a group of instruments, in Renaissance and early Baroque music. A "whole consort" constitutes instruments of one sort (for instance, a consort of viols); a "broken consort" is made up of instruments of different sorts. Continuo: the part played, in Baroque music, by a bass instrument and keyboard. Generally, only the bass line is written out, with the harmonics indicated by means of chord numbers, which the keyboard player fills in and decorates in appropriate style. Contralto: the lowest female voice. Cool: the term for California jazz in the 1950s, a reaction to the more frenetic style of bebop. Counterpoint: the combination of simultaneous melodic line to form chordal progressions and harmony. Country music: white American folk music - a term preferred by fans to the more common Country and Western.

Courante: a Baroque dance form, utilizing a combination of three or two beats to the bar, often compound duple. Crescendo: a steady increase in volume. Crotchet: the British term for a quarter note. Cycle: a sequence of pieces, particularly songs, with a common theme or subject. Da capo: a term meaning "from the beginning" - an instruction to repeat the first section of a piece before stopping. Downbeat: the beat given the strongest accent, at the beginning of a bar. Drone: a held bass note under a melody, such as that heard in the playing of bagpipes. Duet: a piece of music for two performers. Duple time: a tempo with two beats in a bar (for instance, 2/4, 2/2, or 6/8). Dynamics: the loudness of softness of music, indicated by a system of gradations; from softest to loudest, these are pp, p, mp, f, ff. The extremes have been extended in both directions. E Ecossaise: a dance in duple time of the late 18th century, supposedly of Scottish origin.

Electronic music: music produced by live performers on electronic instruments; or sound manipulated by electronic means into a recording, which contains a piece of music rather than being a record of performance of a piece. Elegy: an instrumental lament. Embouchure: the position of the lips in wind instrument playing, by which the player controls the sound, especially for brass and the flute. Encore: an extra piece played at the end of a recital in response to an audience's enthusiastic reaction to the performance. Energico: a tempo marking meaning "energetically". Enharmonic interval: two notes that sound the same (as played on a modern keyboard instrument) and differ from each other only in name-for instance, A sharp and B flat, or E sharp and F natural. Ensemble: a group of performers; also, the term used to describe the quality of playing together with unanimity of attach and balance of tone. Expressivo: expressively. Etude: literally, a "study," A musical form originally intended solely to improve technique, it was raised to a level of musical interest by Chopin, and concert studies have been written by many composers since.

Exposition: the opening section in sonata form or a fugue, which sets out the initial thematic and harmonic material. Expressionism: a school of German music at the beginning of this century, often atonal and violent in style, as a means of evoking heightened emotions and expressing states of mind. Falsetto: a style of male singing in which, by only partial use of the vocal cords, the voice reaches the pitch of a female voice. Fandango: a lively Spanish dance in triple time or 6/6 time. Fanfare: a short exclamatory phrase on brass instruments, originally for ceremonial occasions. Fantasia: a piece in free form or of improvisational character, often for a single performer. Fermata: a pause. Fifth: the interval between notes that are three whole tones and a semitone apart is a perfect fifth-for instance, C natural to G natural. increased by one semitone, it becomes an augmented fifth-C natural to G sharp. Decrease by one semitone, it becomes a diminished fifth-C natural to G flat. Finale: the last movement of a sonata-form work: also, a sequence of numbers at the end of an act in an opera.

Fingerboard: the long piece of hardwood over which the strings of a stringed instrument are stretched. Fingering: a system of indicating by numbers which finger should play which note on keyboard, wind, or stringed instruments. Flat: a sign showing that a note should be lowered by one semitone. Flutter-tonguing: in wind instruments, a coloristic effect produced by the performer rolling "R" sound while playing. Form: the structure or architecture of a piece of music. Forte: dynamic marking meaning "loud", indicated by the letter f. May by strengthened to fortissimo (ff). Fourth: the interval between notes two whole tones and a semitone apart is a perfect fourth - for example, C natural to F natural. Reduced by one semitone, it becomes a diminished fourth - C sharp to F natural. increased by one semitone, it becomes an augmented fourth-C natural to f sharp. Foxtrot: a lively American popular dance in duple time. Free Jazz: cutting itself loose from the harmonic and rhythmic shackles of the past, free jazz was a radical improvising style of the 1960's. Frequency: the rate of vibration that produces a particular pitch.

On the piano, the lowest C has a frequency of 32 vibrations per second, the next C has 64 per second, and so on. Fret: on some stringed instruments such as guitar, a metal band on the fingerboard to mark a particular position of the fingers. Frog: the heel of the bow of a stringed instrument. Fugue: a contrapuntal form, beginning with an exposition in which each voice enters with the same subject in turn and proceed in imitation. Unlike a canon, fugues have free passages of imitation and passages without imitation. They commonly have from three to six separate voices. In more complex examples a fugue may have two or three different themes, contrapuntally combined. These are known as double and triple fugues. Fugues were most regularly written in the later Baroque period, but, regarded as a demonstration of compositional virtuosity, have also been written by most composers since then. Fundamental: the root of a chord, or its bass note. G G.P.: general pause Gagaku: the ceremonial music of the Japanese court. It exerted a strong influence on some Western composers in the 1960's, notably Karlheinz.

Gallaird: a Renaissance dance in triple or 6/8 time. Galop: a lively 19th century round dance in duple time. Gamelan: an Indonesian instrument similar to a xylophone; also, an Indonesian orchestra, consisting of such instruments as well as gongs, flutes, strings, drums, and voices. Notable for the prominence given to tuned gongs, its sounds have been used by many Western composers since it was first widely heard at the Paris World's Fair of 1889. Gavotte: a 17th century dance in quadruple time, always beginning on the third beat of the bar. Gigue: a lively dance in triple time or 6/8; the English jig, often incorporated in Baroque dance suites. Giocoso: cheerfully Giusto: exact, precise, as in "tempo giusto" Glee: unaccompanied male-voice composition of the late 18th and early 19th century in England, somewhat similar to the later barber shop quartet in America. Glissando: sliding between two note. Gopak: lively Russian in duple time.

Gospel: the hymn-based choral music of the African-American evangelical churches. Grace note: an ornamental fast note or notes immediately proceeding a main note. Grave: very slowly and serious. Grazioso: gracefully Gregorian Chant: the unison chant without strict rhythm collected and codified during the reign of Pope Gregory at the end of the 6th century for singing of psalms and other elements in the church service. Griot: French term describing a traditional West African story-teller or praise singer. Ground bass: a repeating phrase underneath freely varying upper parts in passacaglias or similar forms. Grunge: rock hybrid of the 1990's, combining punk anger with heavy metal guitar histrionics. H Habanera: a slow Cuban dance in duple time. Half note: a note equal in time value to two quarter notes or fourth eighth notes; in Britain it is called a minim. Harmonics: When a note is played on an instrument, along with the fundamental there may often be heard higher pitches, extending in a series up to four octaves above the note. The sounds are known as harmonics, or overtones.

In some instruments, such as a bell, they may be heard strongly; in others, they are relatively faint. Harmony: the combination of sounds of different pitch to form chord, which developed initially from the weaving together of two or more melodic lines; and, within the tonal system, the interrelationship of the major and minor chords based on each of the seven degrees of the scale. Although a sophisticated harmonic sense may be discerned in relatively early music, the modern sense of tonal harmony dates back only to the 17th century. Heavy metal: loud, riff-centered rock, fixated on the power and symbolism of the electric guitar. Hip-hop: another name for rap music. Homophony: a non-contrapuntal chordal style, in which all the parts move together in the same rhythm (as in hymns); or a melody with a chordal accompaniment. Hornpipe: a lively British folk dance in duple or triple time, originally accompanied by a reed instrument of the same name, and which became popular among sailors. House music: a form of disco music, with dominant bass motifs, developed in Detroit in the early 1980's.

Humoresque: an instrumental composition of playful or unpredictable nature. Hymn: a church song, often choral. Idee fixe: a recurring motto or theme (literally, "fixed idea" or obsession) in a large-scale work, somewhat like the later leitmotif. The term was invented by Berlioz for his Symphonie Fantastique. Idiophone: an instrument consisting of material producing a simple sound, such as a bell. Imitation: in counterpoint, when a phrase or theme introduced by one voice is repeated almost exactly (but higher or lower) by a second voice. If it is repeated exactly, with part of it overlapping in each voice, as in the stretto of a canon or round, then it is strict imitation. Impressionism: a term borrowed from painting and applied, often inappropriately, principally to the works of Debussy and Ravel. Characteristics are often a shimmering texture and loose tonality. Other composers who may be classed as Impressionist are Frederick Delius, Emmanuel Chabrier, and Karol Szymanowski. Impromptu: a short piano piece of improvisatory or intimate character, there are examples by Schubert and Chopin.

Improvisation: creating music spontaneously, with the player inventing as he or she plays. It has been a common element in much music, and composers including Bach, Handle, Mozart, Beethoven, and Liszt have been celebrated for their ability to improvise. Many forms, such as the classical piano concerto, incorporate opportunities for improvisations. In the postwar period, aleatoric music raised improvisation to a more important place than it had occupied for many years, as in music by Cage, Stockhausedn, and Xenakis. Incidental music: music written to be performed with a stage play. Instrumentation: the art of assigning appropriate parts of a composition to individual instruments within an ensemble. Interlude: a piece of instrumental music played between scenes in a play or an opera. Intermezzo: either an interlude in a play or opera, or a short comic opera of the 18th century Italy, performed originally a s part of a longer evening. Nineteenth-century composers such as Brahms have used the term for a short, intimate piano work. Interpretation: the art of bringing expression to the performance of a work.

Although a composer will probably indicate, in addition to the notes to be played, an appropriate tempo, some articulation, and the dynamic markings for each passage in more or less detauk, the performer inevitably has a good detail if leeway, within these indication where his or her powers of interpretation and skill become important. Interval: the difference in pitch between two notes, expressed as a second, third, fourth and so on. These intervals, if altered by a semitone in either direction, may be qualified as major or minor, augmented or diminished. Intonation: singing or playing in tune. Introduction: an opening section of a piece or a movement, formally separate often containing themes or passages that do not recur. In sonata forms, the introduction to a fast movement is very often on a slow tempo. Invention: the term used by Bach for his fifteen short keyboard pieces in two contrapuntal parts. Inversion: the tuning of a musical line upside down, so that an interval moving upward in a melody becomes the same interval downward in its inversion, and vise versa.

Invertible counterpoint means that a piece is written in such a way that the individual parts may be exchanged, so that the bass part may be reassigned to the soprano and the result is harmonically satisfactory. J Jam session: a term used, especially in jazz, when two or more players get together to improvise. Jazz: a strongly influential musical form, emerging shortly after World War I from black communities in America, incorporating many styles, including blues and ragtime. Taken up by commercial musicians, it was disseminated into the wider musical culture. Originally highly improvisational in character and played only on a small group of instruments, it developed into several forms, such as swing and bebop, and became popular as a form for big band ensembles. It was a big influence on the composers of the interwar period, many of whom wrote in a jazz idiom. Similarly, many musician whose origins were in jazz produced works that have proved lasting in the context of art music, most notably George Gershwin. Jig: a lively English dance, originating in the 16th century; it became the gigue.

Jongleur: a wandering musician in the Middle Ages of relatively low status, possibly also capable of juggling, acrobatics, and general entertainment. Jota: a quick Spanish dance in triple time. K Key: in tonal music, the concept of interrelated chords based on the notes of the major and minor scales, and centered on the tonic (the fist note of the scale, also called the fundamental). A key is indicated at the beginning of each piece by means of a key signature. Other notes, foreign to the key, may be used in a piece, but the nomination of all else b the basic key-exerted by gravitational pull of the tonic-is virtually constant. Most tonal works, even a very substantial piece such as a symphony or, on occasion, an entire opera, are written in a single key. Although the piece may in its course move far away from the fundamental key for the sake of variety, the unity imposed by the fundamental key is always felt. Keyboard: the range of levers pressed by the player on an instrument such as a piano or harpsichord to sound the note; also; generically, an instruments having such a keyboard.

Key signature: the sharps or flats at the beginning of each line of music to indicate the key of the music. Klangfarbenmelodie: literally, "melody of tone colors." A term invented by Schoenberg to describe the technique of altering the tone color of a single note or musical line by changing from one instrument to another in the middle of the note or line. Klavier: any keyboard instrument; in German, the piano. Landler: an Austrian or Bavarian dance in triple time, a precursor of the waltz. There are examples by Beethoven and Schubert. Leader: British term for the concertmaster (first violinist) in an orchestra or ensemble. Leading note: the seventh note of the scale, characterized by a strong tendency to lead upward to the tonic. Legato: smoothly. Leger line: short line which indicates the pitch of a note above or below the five-line staff. Leggiero: lightly. Libretto: the text of an opera. Lied: "song." A German art song with piano accompaniment, such as those by Schubert, Schumann, and Hugo Wolf. Ligature: a form of plainchant notation combining two notes in a single symbol.

Madrigal: a secular composition of the 14th through 17th centuries, written for four, five, or six unaccompanied voices. Maestoso: majestically. Maestro: the Italian term given to a distinguished inusician, usually a conductor. Major: one of the two modes of the tonal system; the other is the minor mode. The sequence of degrees in the major scale is always as follows: whole tone, whole tone. semitone, whole tone, whole tone, whole tone. semitone. Works written in major keys are often felt by listeners to have a positive, affirming character. Malaguena: in the style of the music of Malaga occasionally refers to a type of fandango. Manual: an organ or harpsichord keyboard. March: music for marching to, in quadruple time, originally for military use. Masque: an allegorical court show of the Renaissance and early Baroque, which almost invariably included music and songs as an essential part of the spectacle. Mazurka: a Polish dance in triple time, with much use of rubato; the most celebrated examples are by Frederic Chopin.

Medley: a sequence of tunes, often used in overtures of musicals or operettas. Melisma: several notes sung to a single syllable. Melodrama: spoken text over music, popular from the late 18th century onwards. Melody: a particular, identifiable association of notes and pitches; a tune. Meno: less (for example, meno vivo, "less fast"). Mesto: mournfully. Metronome: a pendulum-like instrument dating from the early 19th century, used to regularize and measure tempo. Mezzo: half (for example, mezzo tempo, "half speed"; mezzo soprano, a voice between soprano and alto in pitch). Microtone: an interval between semitones. Middle C: the C more or less at the center of the piano keyboard (about 262 vibrations per second). Minim: the British term for a half note. Minor: one of the two modes of the tonal system. The melodic minor scale differs from that of the major scale in having a flattened third degree (and, in the harmonic minor, a flattened sixth).

When used melodically, the sixth and seventh degrees are the same as the major scale when ascending, but both are flattened when descending. The minor mode is often felt by listeners to have a more poignant, less positive sense than the major mode, and in Classical usage, a piece in the minor mode would often have a conclusion in the major, which was felt to have a more final effect. Minstrel: a singer of verses ac companied by harp in the Middle Ages. Minuet: a formal 18th-century court dance in triple time, very commonly used in substantial Classical sonata-form works. Moderato: moderate tempo. Modes: the system that predated the tonal system. In each mode, the ordering of tones and SCMiLones in the scale differed somewhat. Tonal music consists of only two modes, major and minor. In post-tonal music some composers (such as Messiaen) have written pieces using artificially constructed scales as modes. Modulation: changing from one key to a related key in the course of a musical passage. Monotone: the repetition of a single pitch.

Morden: a formalized ornament in Baroque music, involving a quick alternation between the principal note and the note immediately above or below it in the scale. Morendo: diminishing to nothing. Motet: an accompanied or unaccompanied choral work, in a single, usually fairly short movement on a sacred text, of polyphonic character. Mosso: literally, "moved" (for example, piu mosso, "quicker"). Motif or Motive: a short melodic or harmonic idea, perhaps a fragment of a larger theme in a symphonic development. Wagner's leitmotifs are short themes associated with particular characters or certain psychological or symbolic elements in his operas. Moto: motion (for example, con moto, "moving onwards"). Movement: a separate section of a large work. Musette: an instrumental Baroque dance with a bagpipe-like drone bass. Musicology: the theoretical and historical study of music. Mute: a device used to dampen the tone of an instrument, affecting its volume and tone color. N Nationalism: a 19th-century political movement that led to investigation of native folk music by musicologists, and the incorporation of folk material into art music.

The most notable musical nationalists were in Russia (Glinka, Mussorgsky), Czechoslovakia (Smetana, Dvordk, Jangcek), Scandinavia (Gfieg, Nielsen, Sibelius), Hungary (Kodaly, Bart6k), America (Ives), and Britain (Vaughan Williams, Hoist). Natural: a sign that, after a particular note has been raised by a sharp or lowered by a flat, restores it to its original pitch. Neck: the narrow part of a stringed instrument extending from the body. Neoclassicism: a movement in music which sought, during the period between the two world wars, to use past forms and styles in more or less stylized and even ironic ways. Its traces may be found in composers as varied as BarL6k, Schoenberg, and Poulenc, but the composer most associated with Neoclassicism is Stravinsky, who wrote several compositions reinterpreting the works of previous composers, including Bach, Pergolesi, Gounod, and Tchaikovsky. Its characteristic manner is crisp and direct, and only rarely are Neoclassical works written for large orchestra.

Neumes: the ancient system of notation, indicating the rise in pitch of plainchant. Niente: nothing (as in a niente, "diminishing to nothing"). Nocturne: originally a salon piano work, as in examples by John Field and Chopin, with nighttime associations. Mozart's Nottumi are small chamber pieces. A celebrated orchestral set by Debussy owes more to the paintings so titled by Whistler than to previous musical examples. Nonet: a work for nine instruments. Notation: methods of writing music. Notation was first developed in the 8th century with neumes, and slowly evolved into the present system by the middle of the 17th century.

Question: What singing voice originally held the melody in choral music?
Answer: Tenor