科学美国人60秒：唱歌音准易受同伴影响

燕山大学 刘立军 编写

【TRANSCRIPT】

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Christopher Intagliata.

Ever noticed how when a big group sings "Happy Birthday," the beginning is a jumbled mess, with everyone singing a slightly different pitch? But then, near the end, it all sort of comes together?

That's because we tend to adjust our own singing pitch to accommodate others. And now scientists in the U.K. have found that even trained choral singers will follow their fellow choir members. But not necessarily in the right direction.

The researchers had eight pairs of musically trained amateur singers—all women for this study—sing acapella, the melody of either "Silent Night" or another classic choir tune, "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded."

Individual volunteers all sang in their own separate studios, under four different scenarios: each singer was completely isolated, hearing only themselves; or singer 1 got to hear singer 2 (left ear solo); or singer 2 got to hear singer 1 (right ear solo); or finally, both singers could hear each other (stereo harmony). Then the researchers used software to extract pitch information from the recordings.

What they found was that singers stayed more on tune with the pitch written in the musical score when singing solo, versus singing with a partner. And when one partner veered off pitch, the other singer followed her, perhaps to compensate for the error—meaning even though they weren't singing the pitch as written, the resulting duet was more harmonious. The findings are in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

And the results support a common practice in choirs: put weak singers next to strong ones, so they can follow their pitch. As for the rest of us amateurs, if you find yourself out at karaoke duetting with an off-pitch friend, take this advice from study author Jiajie Dai of Queen Mary University of London:"You have to listen to yourself more than you listen to others. Trust yourself, never depend on others." This guideline appears to be the key... to staying on key.

Thanks for listening for Scientific American - 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

【VOCABULARY】

1. jumble n.（单数）jumble (of sth.) an untidy or confused mixture of things 杂乱的一堆；混乱的一团。例如：The essay was a meaningless jumble of ideas. 这篇散文思想混乱，使人不知所云。

2. mess n.（可数名词, 常用单数形式）a situation that is full of problems, usually because of a lack of organization or because of mistakes that sb. has made （组织欠佳等导致的）麻烦，困境，混乱。例如：The whole situation is a mess. 整个情况都是一团糟。

3. pitch n.（单数, 不可数名词）how high or low a sound is, especially a musical note （尤指乐音的）音高。例如：A basic sense of rhythm and pitch is essential in a music teacher. 基本的韵律感和音高感是音乐教师的必备素质。

4. amateur adj.（常用于名词前）done for enjoyment, not as a job 业余的。例如：amateur athletics业余体育运动

5. acapella n. 阿卡贝拉, 即无伴奏合唱

6. scenario n. a description of how things might happen in the future 设想；方案；预测。例如：

l Let me suggest a possible scenario. 我来设想一种可能出现的情况。

l The worst-case scenario (= the worst possible thing that could happen) would be for the factory to be closed down. 最坏的情况可能是工厂关闭。

l a nightmare scenario最坏的可能

7. veer off: 离开。例如：I'd like to veer off the subject a bit. 我想问一个稍微离题的问题。

8. duet n. 二重奏；二重唱

【QUESTIONS】

Read the statements. Then listen to the news and decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F).

1. We don't tend to adjust our own singing pitch to accommodate others.

2. Scientists in the U.S. have found that even trained choral singers will follow their fellow choir members.

3. The researchers had eight women pairs of musically trained amateur singers for this study.

4. Individual volunteers all sang in their own separate studios, under three different scenarios.

5. Depend on your partner is the key to staying on key.

【KEY】

Read the statements. Then listen to the news and decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F).