Genetics undeniably play a role in singing. Your physiology affects the timbre of your voice and some singers are born with vocal apparatus that naturally makes their voice sound good. But there are many factors aside from genetics that create a good singer.
As with most things in music, it's a bit of nature and a bit of nurture, and a whole lot of practice. Many people will naturally have a better singing voice to begin with, but everyone is capable of developing a beautiful singing voice.
The human voice is partially shaped by body size and hormones: these factors are often responsible for why female voices tend to have a higher pitch than do male voices. But another factor is genetics.
Well, by starting from the basic principles: good breathing, good support, a feeling of forward clarity and lightness in the voice, a loose throat, a healthy tone onset and understanding and having an imaginative picture of the vocal space, and … many years of structured vocal training.
There are many ways to tell if you're a good singer. Some of these include singing in tune, having a good vocal range, and holding a note. Characteristics of a good singer include having control over your voice, singing softly or loudly as needed, and being able to harmonize with other singers.
A different study on the perception of vocal sexiness says that men and women both find mid-pitched voices to be the “most sexy.” At the same time, a different study on interviewers' voices says that being high-pitched with an extensive vocal range is the most attractive.
As a result, women find men with lower-pitched voices more attractive. It's the opposite for men, who are more attracted to women with higher-pitched voices, which is perceived as a marker for femininity. Attractiveness in the voice is important for the impressions we give our potential partners.
Research confirms that deep voices give men an aura of power and sexual allure. Men with low, resonant voices are more likely to be perceived as attractive, masculine, respectable, and dominant.
Combine your head and chest voices so you achieve clarity and freshness (head voice) with authority and leadership (chest voice). The over-brightness of too much head voice, and the dullness of too much chest voice, are avoided as you create a balance that's both warm and intelligent.
The countertenor is the rarest of all voice types. The countertenor was not originally an operatic voice type as historically it was the castrati who would sing the female operatic roles in an age when it was not proper for women to sing in the opera.
Though most of us have the same vocal apparatus, every individual's body is different. Some people are born with better breath and pitch control owing to their muscle tone and genetic disposition to have naturally better vocal conditioning. However, this natural advantage will not amount to much if it is not trained.
'During menopause, the amount of oestrogen diminishes and affects the vocal cords, sometimes leading to a decrease in the pitch of the voice. That's why you'll often hear women in their 50s and 60s whose voices sound lower than they used to in their 20s and 30s.
How rare is perfect pitch? Out of every 10,000 people, only between 1 to 5 of them will have perfect pitch. Out of every 10,000 musicians, however, between 100 and 1100 (that's 1-11%) may have the gift.
Aretha Franklin
Rightfully bestowed with the title of Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin's inimitable voice propelled songs like “Respect” and “I Say A Little Prayer For You” into worldwide hits.
Some of us are born with an innate sense of rhythm or a naturally excellent voice. Others of us are born without this. Either way, voice lessons can help improve the students' singing, no matter what category they fall into. Even singers with a natural voice benefit from taking voice lessons.
So it tickled me to discover my voice was referenced in a recent dating study from the University of Sussex which found that men find a lower tone more attractive.
"However," he says, "evidence suggests men evolved deeper voices mainly for intimidating other men rather than attracting women." Studies show that men with deeper voices tend to have higher testosterone levels (an indicator of dominance) and a more athletic body type.
“Some men want to feel protective,” explains Jane Setter, professor of phonetics at the University of Reading and author of Your Voice Speaks Volumes: It's Not What You Say, But How You Say It. “So if a woman sounds more like a child, this might appeal to them from that point of view.”
“Men with higher levels of testosterone tend to have deeper voices and masculine facial features like larger jaws, chins, and noses,” Smith says. But Jones warns that voices and facial features don't always match. For example, David Beckham's high-pitched voice doesn't fit his chiseled features.
There is also abundant evidence that women prefer men with a deep voice, while men prefer women with a high voice. Attractive male voices are around 96 Hz and the most attractive women voices are up to 280 Hz.
Soprano: this is the highest singing voice, with the highest tessitura. It is also the most common female voice. Sopranos are given prominent singing roles, and are often the protagonists of the opera. They can sing from the middle C to two octaves higher (that is, an interval of 15 full notes in total).
A 2013 PLoS One study suggest our efforts may indeed be misguided, finding that while women consistently prefer men with low voices (indicating strength and virility, theoretically) men prefer women with high voices (indicating femininity and smallness, theoretically).
First, one study has found no correlation between fo and attractiveness. Second, a study on speed dating revealed that males found female voices more attractive when their speaking pitch was reduced by about 1.5 semitones (ST), that is, when fo was reduced by about 15.8 Hz.