MOHD BASRI CHE BASIR (A117006)

What is singing

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice which is often contrasted with speech. A person who is singing is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as song that can either be sung a capella (without accompaniment) or accompanied by musicians and instruments. Singing is often done in a group, such as a choir. Nearly anyone who can speak can sing, since in many respects singing is merely a form of sustained speech. It can be informal and just for pleasure, for example, singing in the shower or it can be very formal, such as singing done professionally as a perfomance or in a recording studio. Singing at a high amateur or professional level usually requires a certain amount of innate talent and a great deal of regular practice, and/or instruction.
Professional singers usually build their careers around one specific musical genre and undergo voice training, provided by a voice teacher or coach throughout a career.

classifying singing voices

Composer who write vocal music must have an understanding of the skills, talents, and vocal properties of singers. Voice classification is the process by which human singing voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types. These qualities include but are not limited to: vocal range, vocal weight,vocal tessitura, vocal timbre, and vocal transision point such as breaks and lifts within the voice. Other considerations are physical characteristics, speech level, scientific testing, and vopcal registration.


The science behind voice classification developed within European classical music and has been slow in adapting to more modern forms of singing. Voice classification is often used within opera to associate possible roles with potential voices. There are currently several different systems in use within classical music including: the German fach system and the choral music system among many others. No system is universally applied or accepted.However, most classical music systems acknowledge seven different major voice categories. Women are typically divided into three groups like soprano,mezo soprano and contralto. Men are usually divided into four groups such countertenor,tenor, baritone, and bass. When considering voices of pre-pubescent children an eighth term, treble, can be applied. Within each of these major categories there are several sub-categories that identify specific vocal qualities like coloratura facility andvocal weight to differentiate between voices.


History and development of singing

The first recorded mention of the terms chest voice and head voice was around the 13th century, when it was distinguished from the "throat voice" (pectoris, guttoris, capitis — at this time it is likely that head voice referred to the falsetto register by the writers johannes Garlinda and Jerome of movaria.The terms were later adopted within bel canto, the Italian opera singing method, where chest voice was identified as the lowest and head voice the highest of three vocal registers: the chest, passagio and head registers. This approach is still taught by some vocal pedagogists today. Another current popular approach that is based on the bel canto model is to divide both men and women's voices into three registers. Men's voices are divided into "chest register", "head register", and "falsetto register" and woman's voices into "chest register", "middle register", and "head register". Such pedagogists teach that the head register is a vocal technique used in singing to describe the resonance felt in the singer's head.