Anatomy of the Singer
The production or utterance of speech sounds.
What is phonation
The range of tones that the human voice can produce by using particular vibration patterns of the vocal folds.
What is vocal register
Variation in the loudness between notes and phrases of a musical piece
What is dynamics
A set of five horizontal lines and four horizontal spaces that represent musical pitches.
What is musical staff
A symbol following the clef, showing the division of a whole note and the number of beats in a bar.
What is time signature
A dome-shaped muscular partition separating the thorax from the abdomen.
What is diaphragm
One of the higher registers for the voice used in singing, above the chest voice. Does not extend into falsetto.
What is head voice
The way a musician shapes a sequence of notes in a passage of music to allow expression.
What is phrasing
The written representation of a musical composition. Individual parts are also written on individual pages.
What is score
Also called a bar. A segment of time corresponding to a specific number of beats. Divided by barlines.
What is measure
Any structure of the mouth that assists in creating speech sounds. Can be passive (non-moving), or active (movable).
What is articulators
When a singer directs their voice forward to have more focus and resonance. This makes the front part of their face ring with the sound.
What is singing through the mask
The pronunciation or enunciation of your vocal expression. In short, how words are pronounced in songs
What is diction
Any musical symbol placed at the left hand side of a staff, that designates the pitch of the notes written on it.
What is clef
An ordered series of notes, tones, or intervals that divide a musical octave.
What is scale
Also known as the larynx. This is a hollow muscular organ that forms an air passage to the lungs and contains the vocal cords in humans.
What is voice box
The point at which a vocalist transitions between registers
What is voice break
A fundamental musical parameter that determines how a single note or other independent event is sounded.
What is articulation
Also known as the F clef, this clef is used primarily for lower-pitched instruments and voices.
What is bass clef
The first pitch of a scale, Do. The note upon which all other notes of the scale are named. The "home" note of a scale.
What is tonic
The structures including the pharynx, oral cavity, and nasal cavity that receive, amplify, and influence the vibrations made by the vocal folds.
What is vocal resonators
The bone that extends from the side of the head, through the cheek bone to the front of the upper jaw.
What is zygomatic arch
Symbol indicating that the note should be held longer than written. The performer or conductor decides when to stop singing the note. Also known as a bird's eye.
What is fermata
A visual representation of music, using a staff that shows the change of pitch over a specified time. Also known as staff notation.
What is standard musical notation
A line used to notate pitches outside of the five lines and four spaces of the staff.
What is ledger line