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The Tune Wreckers

Lousy singers make a pitch for scientific relevance

Sean Murphy/Getty Images

Strange things happen when bad singers perform in public.

SONG WORKS | The anatomy of singing is a bottom-up affair. Vocalization begins with the diaphragm assisting the lungs in pushing air through the trachea to the larynx. There, the vocal cords chop up air to make musical sounds that are refined as they proceed to the mouth. ~~ Source: Mayo Clinic; adapted by E. Otwell

SLIDING UP In one study, musicians and nonmusicians accurately recreated musical pitches (left) with a hand-held device called a slider. Singing a just-heard pitch (right) was tougher, especially for nonmusicians. ~~ Source: S. Hutchins and I. Peretz/J. Exp. Psychol. Gen. 2012

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