Finding a voice: The art and science of unlocking the potential of adult non-singers

唱歌在流行文化和音乐中受到越来越多的关注，作为一项活动，它为一生的幸福提供了许多好处（Clift，2012）。从LSO等领先艺术组织提供的参与性艺术活动，到社区合唱团和为受社会或健康问题影响的人提供的歌唱活动，从未有过如此多的机会参与其中。然而，许多成年人却拒绝唱歌。大约17%的人自我定义为“音盲”（Cuddy et al 2005），可能更多的人是“非歌手”。非歌手经常感到遗憾和社交尴尬（Knight 1999），对自己的歌唱能力和声音持有负面的联想和信念（Numminen 2005）。许多人，虽然不是全部，唱得不如普通成年人（怀斯和斯洛博达2008）。与“任何人都可以唱歌”的话语相反，非歌手持有一种强有力的叙事，说“你要么唱歌，要么你不能-我不能”。该项目的重点是被剥夺唱歌权利的人，让他们参与专门设计的干预方案。它结合了心理，教育和艺术研究，以综合了解成年非歌手学习唱歌的旅程，以及他们可以获得支持的方式。虽然有充分的证据表明，歌唱技巧是开放的改善，很少有研究如何发生。虽然我们知道，非歌手的自我形象和信心，可以通过支持的机会（理查兹和达兰特2003年），知识是有限的，这些变化，沿着技能的提高，是如何与特定的学习活动和环境。与此同时，歌唱教师的专业技能知识在很大程度上是没有记录的，他们经常报告成功地教那些有歌唱困难的人。在实验室环境中的心理学研究已经阐明了音高和旋律处理在声乐音高中的作用。唱歌时是否能合调与音高感知本身关系不大，而与感知和动作的复杂协调关系更大。最近的证据表明，这种协调的一个重要方面可能是听觉意象-在脑海中想象音乐的能力。这提供了一个令人兴奋的联系点与实践，因为图像被广泛用于歌唱教学。该项目将整合迄今为止相当独立的研究和实践领域，并超越音高准确性作为“好”歌唱的主要衡量标准，以反映歌唱作为表达和交流手段的多面性。该项目位于市政厅音乐与戏剧学院，调动了专业教师、音乐心理学家、软件设计师和作曲家动画师的专业知识。它被组织成两股。Strand 1是一个歌唱课程，包括个人辅导和小组会议，以及由参与者和教师合作制作的最后表演。它将包括根据参与者对自己歌唱之旅的反思，在作曲家-动画师的领导下创作的适合歌手的曲目和原创材料。Strand 2的参与者在自己家中进行隐私培训。一个移动的应用程序将被设计来训练听觉意象，一个对照实验将测试这是否会提高歌唱技巧。如果成功的话，一个应用程序提供了一个科学验证的自助工具的巨大潜力。该项目将在培训前后应用一系列措施，以调查成年人在歌唱技能的多个方面的进步，以及他们对歌唱的自我看法和态度如何变化。它还将收集学习过程的视频数据和定性描述，以确定与可衡量的技能发展以及与令人满意的艺术、社会和个人经历相关的教育方法、音乐材料和活动的类型。

Singing is receiving growing attention in both popular culture and academe as an activity that offers numerous benefits for wellbeing (Clift, 2012) throughout life. From the participatory arts events offered by leading arts organisations like the LSO to community choirs and singing initiatives for people affected by social or health issues, there have never been so many opportunities to join in. However, many adults exclude themselves from singing. About 17% of people self-define as 'tone deaf' (Cuddy et al 2005) and probably many more as 'non-singer'. Non-singers often feel regret and social embarrassment (Knight 1999), holding negative associations and beliefs about their own singing ability and voice (Numminen 2005). Many, though not all, sing less well than average adults (Wise & Sloboda 2008). Against a discourse of 'anyone can sing', non-singers hold a powerful narrative that says 'you can either sing or you can't - and I can't'. The project focuses on people who are disenfranchised from singing, engaging them in specially designed intervention programmes. It combines psychological, educational and artistic research to give an integrated understanding of the journeys adult non-singers take in learning to sing, and the ways in which they can be supported. Although there is ample evidence that singing skill is open to improvement, there is little research on how this happens. While we know that non-singers' self-image and confidence can be improved by supportive opportunities (Richards & Durrant 2003), knowledge is limited about how these changes, along with improvements in skills, are related to specific learning activities and contexts. Meanwhile, the professional craft knowledge of singing teachers, who often report success in teaching those with singing difficulties, is largely undocumented. Psychological research in laboratory settings has elucidated the role of pitch and melody processing in vocal pitching. The ability to sing in tune has little to do with pitch perception per se and more to do with the complex co-ordination of perception and action. Recent evidence suggests one important aspect of this co-ordination may be auditory imagery - the ability to imagine music in one's mind. This offers an exciting point of contact with practice, since imagery is widely used in singing teaching. The project will integrate hitherto rather separate areas of research and practice, and move beyond pitch accuracy as the primary measure of 'good' singing to reflect the multifaceted nature of singing as a means of expression and communication. Based at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the project mobilises the expertise of specialist teachers, music psychologists, a software designer and a composer-animateur. It is organised into two strands. Strand 1 is a singing course including individual tuition and group sessions, as well as a final performance produced collaboratively by the participants and teachers. It will include repertoire chosen to suit the singers and original material created under the leadership of a composer-animateur, based on participants' reflections on their own singing journeys. Participants in Strand 2 undertake training in the privacy of their own home. A mobile app will be designed to train auditory imagery and a controlled experiment will test whether this improves singing skills. If successful, an app offers huge potential for a scientifically validated self-help tool.The project will apply a battery of measures before and after training to investigate how adults progress in the many dimensions of singing skill, and how their self-views and attitudes towards singing change. It will also collect video data and qualitative accounts of the learning process, to identify the types of educational approaches, musical materials and activities that are associated with measurable developments in skill and with satisfying artistic, social and personal experiences.