Kate's Voice

It’s the day after the Grammys and I have to say that I was disappointed in the show.  The sound was really bad and it was pretty amazing to hear so many people singing out of tune!  My guess is that the singers often could not hear themselves.  And remember that you can’t produce a sound that you can’t hear.  ( Alfred Tomatis.) I was also reminded of the fact that we all learn to speak through imitation.  We also adopt singing styles that are imitations of our favorite singers.  It’s really important to adapt a style that is healthy!!  So whose was a healthy approach last night?  Al Green is still singing after all these years and he sounded great!  Also, he didn’t have those intonation problems.  Either he was listening closely to the band AND to his own voice, or he had a monitor.  But poor Katy Perry was really having problems.

I am reminded then of a little piece in one of my favorite books, Hearing Voices, by Brian Andreas.  His book is made up of little quotes and sayings that he has collected over the years.  He then creates pieces of art called “Storypeople” and those “people” are quoted as saying what he has written. It’s pretty fun and he often says what I have been thinking or what I think someone I know must be thinking.  The Grammys last night reminded me of this one:

“You keep making noises like that, she told him, & pretty soon people will stop talking to you & after awhile all the kids were over there trying to learn how to do it, too.”

Two things to ponder for this week, inspired by the Grammys:

1.  Where do you imitate someone else’s sound and does it work?

2.  When you can’t hear yourself speaking or singing, what do you do to improve the situation?

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