Samantha Nordeng Research Paper Bio 115 1/23/13 Race and Vocal Abilities

For hundreds of years now, there has been a common assumption about race and vocal abilities. Many believe that African Americans can sing better than any other race. In 1781, Thomas Jefferson stated in his book Notes on the State of Virginia "In music they [blacks] are more generally gifted than the whites with accurate ears for tune and time, and they have been found capable of imagining a small catch. Whether they will be equal to the composition of a more extensive run of melody, or of complicated harmony, is yet to be proved" (7). Beverley Knight, a black UK singer, "There are two general assumptions: that most black female singers can seriously sing as a rule, and they generally sing R&B/soul. Therefore, a great voice does not make her exceptional. The other side of this situation is that a female of any other ethnicity who has a great soul/R&B voice stands out immediately. We have all heard the phrase, 'she sings like a black girl'. That singer is already a marketing dream, and stands more of a chance of success." As Knight says, most of us have heard the phrase she sings like a black girl. Usually when this is said a singer like Christina Aguilera comes to mind, but why do we have this assumption? Do African Americans really sing better? Is there a biological basis for why African Americans have better vocal abilities? People tend to say blacks have more soul, rhythm, and passion, but none of those things can be scientifically tested. Do African Americans have stronger vocal chords? Can they take in oxygen easier and therefore singing with their lungs? These are very difficult questions to answer and most people have overlooked the biology and just agreed that African Americans can sing better and thats the end of it. History also needs to be considered when thinking about this question. When blacks were finally allowed to start recording music, were they limited to certain genres and then just kind of stuck to it? Is

the only reason why certain singers sound better because society has categorized different genres with specific races that sing them? According to an article, African American Performers on Early Sound Recordings, 1892-1916, Finding music by African Americans on early phonograph records is more difficult than one might surmiseAt its inception, beginning in the 1890s, it was the song that sold a record and not (with some exceptions) the artist. The first African American to record a song commercially was George W. Johnson in 1890. Johnson along with other artists such as George Walker, Bert Williams, Ernest Hogan, Arthur Collins, and many more were categorized as blues/jazz singers. This genre of music is what they were known for. Many of these artists during this time were former slaves and were struggling through Jim Crow laws and the perception that they were ignorant but had some soul and that is why they could sing. It wasn't until 1920 that the concept of the race record was born. (Record labels figured out that they could make a considerable amount of money by signing artist that were African American and by targeting black consumers. The idea that certain races sing a certain genre of music was not only believed during the late 1800s. In the Journal of Popular Music Studies, Jon Stratton quotes Tony Hogarth a cofounder of Wizard Records, *T+he strange thing is that the person who became the big blues singer in Australia, Rene Geyer, was white, and the person who became the big pop/rock performer was Marcia. I mean, they almost swapped roles. This article is titled A Jew Singing Like a Black Woman in Australia: Race, Rene Geyer, and Marcia Hines. It was published in 2008, so ultimately we are still dealing with the idea that blacks are supposed to sing R&B, rap, or jazz while whites sing pop, rock, or country. Australia has been known to not be as accepting of colored races as other places in the world, so for Hines it was somewhat difficult to be taken seriously in the music world. For Hines in Australia, singing the popular music idiom familiar to the white majority, and keeping to a minimum the vocal styling characteristic of African-American music, whitened her enough to be voted Queen of Pop in 1976, 1977, and 1978

(Stratton 2008: 167). From 1890-2000 society has not changed very much in its views about race and vocal abilities and whether or not certain races should sing specific genres of music, but how can we change this? One way to change societys mind might be to find some biological evidence for why African Americans have better vocal abilities or if there is any evidence at all. When looking at the biological aspects of singing a person might find an article by W. Fitch stating that, the finer control over amplitude and pitch required in singing requires singers to use all major respiratory muscles (Fitch 2006: 196). From this a person might conclude that maybe certain races can control their amplitude and pitch better by having stronger respiratory muscles. It has been thought that East Africans are better runners because of intense training, their environment which is at high altitudes and may cause them to metabolize oxygen more efficiently. The only problem with this thought is that African Americans are not East Africans nor do they necessarily have any relation to them. Africa is a huge continent with the one of the most diverse populations. Not all Africans have adapted to high altitude areas and can metabolize oxygen better, only a very small region of people may have this evolutionary advantage. There is no proven scientific evidence for blacks having any kind of respiratory muscle advantage or having any other type of advantages over any other race. Singing ability seems to just be based on practice, coaching, and talent. Race should be left out when trying to figure out why a person can sing better than another. Most people just simply choose to categorize races with specific genres of music and society tends to make sure that they stay that way. Singers like Adele and Christina Aguilera have been called showstoppers because of their soulful vocal skills. American society has deemed black singers as more soulful and white singers as strictly pop or country. Obviously this is not true when we have white singers that are soulful and famous black singers like Darius Rucker who sing country very well. It will be very difficult to change the way our society thinks especially since things have been the same for so long. Now we have television shows like American Idol and The Voice to help average Joes

become famous singers, and this may be our opportunity to prove that races should not be categorized into certain genres of music. Americans have seen on these shows that vocal coaches will try to change the way a person sings because they dont have the look for it. The way a person looks should not determine what kind of music a person is passionate about or anything else for that matter. There isnt any recent scientific evidence for why certain races seem to have better vocal abilities and most likely there isnt anything to find. However, scientists have proven that all humans have the same exact genome, number of chromosomes, and DNA make-up. So why do we keep categorizing humans? The thought that blacks can sing better than everyone else is just a false statement constructed by society. We should encourage our youth to learn about every genre of music and not designate rap as black music or country as white music. This sounds easy and obvious, but even if these changes occurred it would take an extremely long time to change the perceptions of everyone in our society. Some people are just stuck in their beliefs and do not care if there is scientific evidence to oppose it. As of right now there is no biological evidence for if African Americans sing better than any other race.

Works Cited "African American Performers on Early Sound Recordings, 1892-1916 [article]:Article Description: Performing Arts Encyclopedia, Library of Congress." African American Performers on Early Sound Recordings, 1892-1916 [article]:Article Description: Performing Arts Encyclopedia, Library of Congress. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2013. Fitch, W. "The Biology and Evolution of Music: A Comparative Perspective." Cognition 100.1 (2006): 173215. Print. The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2013. "RACE - Sports Quiz - White Men Can't Jump and Other Beliefs about Sports and Race." RACE - Sports Quiz - White Men Can't Jump and Other Beliefs about Sports and Race. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2013. Stratton, Jon. "A Jew Singing Like a Black Woman in Australia: Race, Rene Geyer, and Marcia Hines." Journal of Popular Music Studies 20.2 (2008): 166-93. Print.