Finger in Ear - what's all that about?

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 17 Mar 10 - 07:21 AM

If I sat on a chair backwards - no - you mean with ME facing the audience, I suppose - well, the accordion would be on top of the chair back and they wouldn't see my face... oh well....

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: Paul Reade
Date: 17 Mar 10 - 07:12 AM

I agree that when singing unaccompanied, the pitch tends to change over the course of a song. I don't think that cupping the ear makes much difference though - it's a very gradual proces, and the change is no more obvious with the "finger in ear".

As for sitting on a chair backwards and cupping your ear, if you are Ewan MacColl you can do it - after all it was his style and he invented it. Anyone else doing it in a folk club looks like a prat.

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 17 Mar 10 - 07:04 AM

One when doing a theatre workshop where we put on 12th Night after a week of rehearsal, the cupped hand was a trick I used in the first run thru to differentiate me from the other characters, and the director liked it so much he insisted I keep it.

It's very useful - it helped someone who had been told by the school 'music teacher' - or that was his pay slip title, that 'she would NEVER sing' - she tried it to listen to herself and improved massively, being able to hold pitch etc after a few weeks using it.

Not much of a 'teacher' I suppose.... :-)

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 17 Mar 10 - 06:24 AM

"When singing solo and unaccompanied it's an affectation of the poseur-type, and completely unnecessary."
IMO Utter rubbish; most singers I have met find difficulty in maintaining pitch while singing unaccompanied - they tend to rise.
Tension is probably the main cause of loss of pitch control.
I assume you consider that the street singers, the Bengali temple singers, the Rumanian virtuosos, the callers to prayer on the minarets.... all of whom used (and in some cases still use) the technique "poseurs"?
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 17 Mar 10 - 04:27 AM

When singing with instruments or other singers, it's a good way of hearing your own voice in order to keep in tune.

When singing solo and unaccompanied it's an affectation of the poseur-type, and completely unnecessary.

IMHO of course.

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: Gurney
Date: 17 Mar 10 - 12:57 AM

I do it because I am descended from a long line of petrol pumps.

Seriously, as everyone said, it is using bone conduction to help sing a harmony when singing in a small group.

Different when singing in a choir. No-one can tell in the larger number of singers if you momentarily wander off key. Choirs have their own idiosyncrasies, like dressing in uniforms, but having soloists in a slightly different strip. Thwarted militarism, I call it.

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: Surreysinger
Date: 17 Mar 10 - 12:08 AM

As has already been said, it's a recognised technique for being able to isolate the sound of your own voice from the mix around you, and being able to better judge your tuning. I have seen Robert Tear, the well known tenor use the method in rehearsal while singing against a loud orchestra (although obviously not in public performance); the choir I sang in advocated it occasionally when rehearsing as a means of getting people to think about what they were up to .... and so on.

There is another interesting technique, which again I came across in training sessions with my choir. If you cup your ears (both of them) so that the palms of your hands are rearwards facing you will find that it isolates most of your own sound, forcing you to listen to the sound behind you. Useful for getting choir members to get to grips with listening to what others were up to!!

And, as has already been said sticking your finger actually IN the ear achieves nothing of any particular use, apart from engendering a deal of discomfort!

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: Suffet
Date: 17 Mar 10 - 12:08 AM

This song will explain.

SHE'S A PROPER FOLKIE NOW
Tune: The Devil's Nine Questions (traditional)
New words: Steve Suffet © 2005, 2010

Come and listen to my tale,
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!
And pour a tankard of warm ale.
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!

Laura was a maiden gay,
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!
Until a folkie led her astray.
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!

He plucked her flower from the stem,
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!
And turned her into one of them.
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!

Now she drinks dark porter beer,
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!
And sticks her finger in her ear.
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!

Before she utters just one note,
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!
Seven times she clears her throat.
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!

She sings no jazz, nor pop, nor soul,
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!
And never any rock and roll.
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!

But only ballads, ancient rhymes,
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!
Handed down from distant times.
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!

Like the story of Lord Arnold's wife,
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!
And the bloody way she lost her life.
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!

Matty Groves she took to bed,
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!
By morning's light both were dead.
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!

Yes, those are the songs that Laura sings,
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!
No hardcore rap, no nasty things,
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!

Like all the young kids sing today,
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!
Just gory songs from a bygone day.
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!

So maidens all take warning from me,
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!
And shun the folkie's comapny,
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!

Or just like our Laura dear,
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!
You'll stick your finger in your ear!
Oh, she's a proper folkie now!


--- Steve

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: Artful Codger
Date: 16 Mar 10 - 11:38 PM

Sometimes we have to tickle our brains to stimulate our recall.

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 16 Mar 10 - 10:29 PM

I used to sing in a church choir where anybody was welcome to join the group, including a French horn and a violin. There were a few times when I had to put a hand behind my ear in order to hear my own voice and see if I was in tune.

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 16 Mar 10 - 08:32 PM

The so called 'finger in the ear' is as others here have said, a method of staying in tune, especially when unaccompanied; it is a millenia old technique used by singers all over the world for exactly that purpose. There are 18th and 19th century woodcuts of London street singers and broadside sellers using it, also of Bengali temple singers and Eastern European peasants - some of the most skillful singers in the world.
Either MacColl or Lloyd introduced it to the revival - not sure which, they both used it.
The Watersons sang regularly with BOTH hands cupped over their ears.
Saw Dylan (sorry - Zimmerman) use it once but it didn't work for him - he could never sing in tune anyway.
MacColl's habit of singing with his chair back to front was a method of relaxation which allows a free, unrestricted flow of air, particularly useful for long-line songs. Have seen West of Ireland sean nós singers use similar techniques, usually side on with an elbow resting on the chair back - wonder if you think they were prats too - or is it just another case of corpse-kicking (he's been dead twenty years now - so you're perfectly safe; he won't come back and bite your bum)?
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: Paul Reade
Date: 16 Mar 10 - 08:27 PM

I agree it can help when singing in a group to work out your harmony - but only in reharsal, not live performance. I used to sing in a choir, and the choirmaster pulled me up for it.

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: Bounty Hound
Date: 16 Mar 10 - 08:26 PM

Oh and of course, the real reason is to hear one's own voice better, particularly when singing a harmony. If you close one ear with a finger, you hear your voice 'inside' your head. Cupping your hand over an ear just creates a swirling sound (Bit like a seashell)

It is not just folkies that use this technique, but any serious harmony singer.

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: Bounty Hound
Date: 16 Mar 10 - 08:17 PM

"I've sung the folk tradition with my finger in my ear,
'cause half the tripe I'm singing, I just can't stand to hear"

The late Fred Wedlock.

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: MartinRyan
Date: 16 Mar 10 - 08:10 PM

Click here for an earlier thread on the topic which you may or may not find enlightening!

Regards

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: Folknacious
Date: 16 Mar 10 - 08:10 PM

People do it (cup their hand over their ear, not put a finger in it) in many other genres of music. It's a perfectly acceptable way of hearing your own voice when singing with instruments or harmony parts, not restricted to folk.

Singing that way solo unaccompanied in a quiet room with good acoustics (e.g. Ewan MacColl, with the added affectation of the backward chair) is a reasonable invitation to being called a prat though.

Subject: RE: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 16 Mar 10 - 08:05 PM

It only LOOKS as though the finger is in the ear ! In fact . the hand is cupped so that what the singer is singing can be heard better
which can be an advantage when singing harmony !
Often , the Ear Lobe is held to improve the audible reception .

Subject: Finger in Ear - what's all that about?
From: Paul Reade
Date: 16 Mar 10 - 08:01 PM

A recent thread Not The Finger In Ear Show got me thinking about why it was ever thought acceptable for singers to perform with the aforementioned "Finger in Ear".

In any other genre of music, you'd be laughed off the stage.

Basically, if your voice is good enough to hold a tune, you can do it with or without the finger in ear, so is it really just an affectation?