The Oxford Handbook of Singing

Singing has been a characteristic behaviour of humanity across several millennia. Chorus America (2009) estimated that 42.6 million adults and children regularly sing in one of 270,000 choruses in the US, representing more than 1:5 households. Similarly, recent European-based data suggest that more than 37 million adults take part in group singing.

The Oxford Handbook of Singing is a landmark text on this topic. It is a comprehensive resource for anyone who wishes to know more about the pluralistic nature of singing. In part, the narrative adopts a lifespan approach, pre-cradle to senescence, to illustrate that singing is a commonplace behaviour which is an essential characteristic of our humanity.

In the overall design of the Handbook, the chapter contents have been clustered into eight main sections, embracing fifty-three chapters by seventy-two authors, drawn from across the world, with each chapter illustrating and illuminating a particular aspect of singing. Offering a multi-disciplinary perspective embracing the arts and humanities, physical, social and clinical sciences, the book will be valuable for a broad audience within those fields.

CONTENIDO:

PART 1. The Anatomy and Physiology of Singing
1. Structure and Function of the Singing Voice (Gillyanne Kayes)
2. Voice Dysfunction and Recovery (Tara K Stadelman-Cohen and Robert E Hillman)
3. The Healthy Voice, Lifestyle and Voice Protection (including Exercise (Body Work and Diet, John S Rubin and Ruth Epstein)
4. Physiology and its Impact on the Performance of Singing (Filipa M B Lã and Brian P Gill)

PART 2. The Acoustics of Singing
5. Breathing in Singing (Alan Watson)
6. The Sound Source in Singing. Basic Principles and Muscular Adjustments for Fine-tuning Vocal Timbre (Christian T Herbst, David M Howard and Jan G Svec)
7. The Vocal Tract in Singing (Brad Story)
8. The Acoustics of Different Genres of Singing (Johan Sundberg)
9. The Developing Voice (Desmond Sergeant)
10. Perceptual Features of Singing (David M Howard and Eric J Hunter)
11. The Impact of Location on the Singing Voice (Harald Jers)

PART 3. The Psychology of Singing
12. The Neuroscience of Singing (Boris A Kleber and Jean Mary Zarate)
13. Intonation in Singing (Johan Sundberg)
14. Singing and Emotion (Eduardo Coutinho (Klaus R Scherer and Nicola Dibben)
15. Perceived Quality of a Singing Performance. The Importance of Context (Evangelos Himonides)
16. Defining and Explaining Singing Difficulties in Adults (Karen Wise)
17. Vocal Performance in Occasional Singers (Simone Dalla Bella)
18. Singing as Inter- and Intra-personal Communication (Graham F Welch and Costanza Preti)
19. Digital Libraries for Singing. The Example of the AIRS Project (Annabel J Cohen and Karen M Ludke)

PART 4. The Development of Singing across the Lifespan
20. Socio-cultural, Acoustic, and Environmental Imperatives in the World of Singing (Robert Walker)
21. Fetal (Neonatal and Early Infant Experiences of Maternal Singing (Sheila C Woodward)
22. Mothers as Singing Mentors for Infants (Sandra E Trehub and Helga Rut Gudmundsdottir)
23. Singing and Invented Song-making in Infants and Young Children's Early Learning and Development. from Shared to Independent Song-making (Margaret S. Barrett)
24. Children Singing. Nurture, Creativity, and Culture. A Study of Children's Music-making in London, UK, and in West Bengal, India (Valentine Harding)
25. Singing and Vocal Development (Graham F Welch)
26. Boys' Singing Voice Change in Adolescence (Jenevora Williams and Scott Harrison)
27. Adolescent Girls' Singing Development (Lynne Gackle)
28. The Effects of Gender on the Motivation and Benefits Associated with Community Singing in the UK (Diana Parkinson)
29. Voice Management and the Older Singer (Jane Davidson and Lynne Murray)

PART 5. Singing Pedagogy
30. Systematic Development of Vocal Technique (John Nix)
31. Addressing the Needs of the Adult "Non-Singer" ("NS") (Susan Knight)
32. Teaching the Professional Singer (Jean Callaghan)
33. Mental Preparation for the Performer (Alma Thomas)
34. Conservatory Teaching and Learning (Mary King and John Nix)
35. Pedagogy of Different Sung Genres (Jeremy Fisher (Gillyanne Kayes and Lisa Popeil)
36. The Extra-normal Voice (Michael Edward Edgerton)
37. Vocal Music and Pedagogy of Chinese (African and Indian Genres (Yang Yang (Aaron Carter-Enyi (Nandhu Radhakrishnan, Sophie Grimmer and John Nix)

PART 6. The Collective 'Choral' Voice
38. Contemporary Concepts and Practices of Choral Singing (Ursula Geisler and Karin Johansson)
39. The Youth Choir (Joy Hill)
40. Cultural History and a Singing Style. "The English Cathedral Tradition" (Timothy Day)
41. Perspectives on Choral Conducting. Theory and Practice (Colin Durrant and Maria Varvarigou)
42. Group Singing and Social Identity (Jane Davidson and Robert Faulkner)
43. Intonation and Staying in Tune in A Cappella Choral Singing (David M Howard)
44. Choral Singers' Perceptions of Musical Leadership (Dag Jansson)

PART 7. The Wider Benefits of Singing
45. Can Singing have a Beneficial Effect on Lung Function and Breathing for People with Respiratory Illness? (Stephen Clift and Rebekah Gilbert)
46. Singing and Psychological Needs (Jane W Davidson and Sandra Garrido)
47. The Effects and Benefits of Singing Individually and in a Group (Töres Theorell)
48. Unchained Melody. The Rise of Orality and Therapeutic Singing (June Boyce-Tillman)

PART 8. Singing and Technology
49. Historical Approaches in Revealing the Singing Voice (Part 1 (Harm K Schutte)
50. Historical Approaches in Revealing the Singing Voice (Part 2 (Harm K Schutte)
51. Ave Verum Pentium. Singing (Recording (Archiving and Analysing within the Digital Domain (Evangelos Himonides)
52. Practical Voice Analyses and their Application in the Studio (Garyth Nair (decd), David M Howard and Graham F Welch)
53. Future Perspectives (Peter Pabon (David M Howard (Sten Ternström (Malte Kob and Gerhard Eckel)