MEGHAN KHARSYNRAP
A journey through
MUSICAL DISORDERS
PART 1
If you've been told that your singing is flat, sharp or that
you sound pitchy and you had no idea you did, chances are
you considered that maybe you could be tone deaf? We tend
to use that word very casually in conversation. We often
think someone who wrongly sings the melody of an easy and
popular song is tone deaf. But really being bad at recreating
a song doesn't always mean we don't hear the song correctly,
which is the literary meaning of being tone deaf. Yes, it is
in fact (primarily) the inability to identify or differentiate
between pitches and not the ability to recreate the pitches
that indicates that you could be tone deaf.
Now, there could be a host of reasons you're not recreating
a tune or song correctly. One, It may not be in a comfortable
key for your vocal range. If you're singing a song by Demi
Lovato in her key when your vocal range is closer to John
Legend you're bound to have difficulties reaching certain
notes. Another reason for pitchiness is a weak voice or
weak breath support. If that's the case, your voice tends to
accommodate these issues and sound more unstable or pitchy.
Another problem could be exposure to melodies. Often when
you want to recreate a new song or style--even if it's of vocal
range you're comfortable in--you may find that you can't
hit the right notes. You may have been able to identify the
pitches of the song but it's harder to guide your voice to that
exact pitch. You might even settle for a slightly flat or sharp
sound. This is because the brain finds it hard to remember
certain patterns of pitches, especially if it's immediately after
you've heard it for the first time.
But there is the chance that you're singing wrong because of
tone deafness. Tone deafness is also called Amusia, a musical
disorder or defect that affects the way your brain processes
pitch and differentiates pitches. There's congenital amusia,
wherein you're born with the disorder. There's also acquired
amusia, where trauma to the brain can cause tone deafness of
various forms depending on how it affects musical memory,
rhythm and pitch recognition.
A person with amusia may be unable to identify certain
semitone or tones/ half steps or whole steps between notes.
The concept of major scales and minor scales would be hard
to comprehend. The ability to recognize patterns in music
would also be affected. For example, people with amusia
can't recognize familiar tunes sometimes without visual help
like lyrics or a dance that's associated with the song. They
often can't tell when anyone is singing out of tune, including
themselves. They may be able to identify various everyday
sounds in the environment--school bells or the honking of
a bus--but, may perceive it differently from those without
amusia. Some of them find music unpleasant to listen to
because they can't detect the pitch changes in the melody.
However, the disorder only seems to affect them musically,
studies have shown that people with amusia can detect pitch
change in everyday speech/ intonation. Experts believe
this is because speech is a lot more crude sounding than its
purer-subtle form like music notes. So while those with tone
deafness don't speak in one tone, they'd still have a lot more
difficulties if they had to speak tonal languages wherein the
changes of pitches are very subtle and hard to decipher even
for those without the disorder. Amusia is harmless and hard
to detect, it's no wonder there are no effective treatments for
amusia as of today. Scientists continue to explore this barely
uncovered realm of study to find the bigger picture and a
greater understanding of the human body.
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
21