Stuttering: My Friend Doesn't Stammer When She Sings; Why?
Posted: Tuesday, April 28, 2009
by Mogama
http://www.mogama.info
One of the strange things I did for boyish adventure was learn to stutter. My dad couldn't stand hearing me stutter. I never told Dad this, but I admired my first cousin who was a stutterer; I wanted to stutter like Cousin Joe.
I almost told my father that perhaps I wanted to stammer in order to be more like my namesake, Moses, the prophet of the Bible, who stuttered.
Later on when I moved to the big city, I met another cousin who stuttered much better or worse than Cousin Joe. This cousin would use one hand to beat against his body as he struggled to get his words out. Again, I was attracted to this cousin, whose name I no longer remember. He got much notice for his stuttering. No one could have convinced me that stuttering was an impediment or "disease" until I saw how enraged my cousin would get when anyone mimicked his stuttering.
As an adult I have known a handful of stutterers, and to my shame, I continue to admire them, though they do not know of my adoration.
Besides their struggle to speak, all of the stutterers I have known have another thing in common: they all don't mind singing. Intriguingly, these guys and girls cannot or do not stutter when they sing and while they sing. As soon as the song ends, and the talking begins, they begin to stammer again.
Of course, there must be a medical reason or scientific explanation for this apparent mystery. On the site stutterhelp.org, a child named Lizette posted, " I love to sing, and my friends will ask me, 'Why don't you stutter when you sing?' That's where I get stuck. I don't know what to say."
In response to Lizette's question, Dr. Lisa Scott, posted, "We don't know for sure why people don't stutter when they sing, but it's probably a combination of reasons:
- When you sing, you take breaths in between measures. This means that the number of words you say on one breath is very specific. When you talk, on the other hand, you can take breaths wherever you want in the sentence. Sometimes, people who stutter have a hard time keeping their air going, so it makes talking harder.
- Different parts of our brains help us think or act in special ways. Most people's center for music is on the right side of their brains, but the speech center is on the left side of the brain. This means that the "controls" are different for talking versus singing.
- Another idea that might explain why people don't stutter when they sing has to do with how much you have to think of words on your own. When you are talking, you have to have an idea, then pick out the words you're going to use to tell someone else your idea, then get your muscles and air going to be able to say the words. When you sing, someone else has already thought up all the words and it's not your own idea, another good reason that sining is easier than talking."
Frankly, Dr. Scott's real answer for the little Lizette is found in the first part of her post: " We don't know for sure why people don't stutter when they sing." Translated, "We scientists really have not the foggiest idea why there are no singing stutterers. Go figure."
Personally, I prefer a mystical explanation as to why singers never stutter: Music is a transcendent gift, a language that crosses all barriers and puts us all on common ground. When we all sing together, no one can tell who stutters and who speaks smoothly. Our imperfections are beautified into an attractive sound when we sing rather than talk. When we sing we are one, one harmonic voice, that is.
A parallel explanation as to why one cannot stutter when singing is this: "The secret things belong to Yahweh our God" (Deuteronomy 29:29).
This Article has been viewed 1,229 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)One of my favorite singers Mel Tillis stutters but you would never know it when he is singing. Good article. ThanksLinda DPlease log in to respond to this comment.Thanks, Linda, for sharing that info. Enjoy your day! ~mogama~Please log in to respond to this comment.
Mogama, this is an odd thing that I don't think anyone could guess why it works the way it works, but Mel Tillis had that affliction, but never stuttered once. He is one of my favorite singers, along with his daughter Pam, who fortunately has not had to deal with her fathers affliction.....Great info, and great read, the right and left brain, one side for speech, the other for music, it makes sense.....Great article , great read.......your friend and fan, Gary......Please log in to respond to this comment.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.