Hearing Singing A Guide to Functional Listening and Voice Perception

Hearing Singing provides a wealth of discoveries at the intersection of voice perception, voice production, functional voice teaching, and functional listening, while providing exercises and actionable steps for singers and teachers.

Ian Howell starts with a broad exploration of how science and voice teaching intersect, investigating the reasons voice teachers and singers encounter scientific ideas in the manner they do. He dives into current models to consider the intersection of voice acoustics, perception, and the physical means of voice production, revealing gaps in common models used in a voice pedagogy and vocology.

The book provides a groundbreaking, new framework to hear singing with actionable detail, well-supported by scientific literature. Howell proposes a model that better aligns what we hear with how we imagine the voice works and offers a framework to apply these ideas within a cohesive approach to functional voice teaching, encouraging the application of the functional listening skills explored throughout. Also included are lab assignments and discussion questions.