# Can one really break glass just by singing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 16, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-really-break-glass-just-by-singing/698691 "2014-09-16T22:57:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![henker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/46a35a/32.png) [@henker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/henker)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-really-break-glass-just-by-singing/698691/1 "2014-09-16T22:57:41Z")
Is it possible that a person can learn to sing loud enough or at the right pitch to shatter glass? Wondering if this is just a myth. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-really-break-glass-just-by-singing/698691/2 "2014-09-16T23:04:35Z")
> [@henker](#): > > Is it possible that a person can learn to sing loud enough or at the right pitch to shatter glass? Wondering if this is just a myth. Per Cecil, probably - but it would take a pretty loud voice with a pure tone [Can opera singers shatter glass with their high notes? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/801/can-opera-singers-shatter-glass-with-their-high-notes) ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-really-break-glass-just-by-singing/698691/3 "2014-09-16T23:04:47Z")
[One can.](http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/adam-savage-on-breaking-glass.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-really-break-glass-just-by-singing/698691/4 "2014-09-16T23:15:46Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > [One can.](http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/adam-savage-on-breaking-glass.htm) Cool! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-really-break-glass-just-by-singing/698691/5 "2014-09-16T23:21:27Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > [One can.](http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/adam-savage-on-breaking-glass.htm) Huh. The last one I saw, they were only able to do it by buzzing lips, as it took a really low frequency. When did they revisit this? It makes perfect sense that it would be a guy singing in falsetto, though. Falsetto has a lot of the harmonics dampened out and thus is closer to a pure tone. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-really-break-glass-just-by-singing/698691/6 "2014-09-16T23:26:33Z")
Here are some [previous](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=413610) [threads](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=317276) regarding the MythBusters test and **Cecil** ’s column on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-really-break-glass-just-by-singing/698691/7 "2014-09-16T23:46:15Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > [One can.](http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/adam-savage-on-breaking-glass.htm) Oh great, now I have to clean up the pieces of my TV spread across my living room. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-really-break-glass-just-by-singing/698691/8 "2014-09-16T23:54:27Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Huh. The last one I saw, they were only able to do it by buzzing lips, as it took a really low frequency. When did they revisit this? You’re thinking of the episode about extinguishing a flame. Breaking a glass was a different, earlier episode. Neither is a revisit. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-really-break-glass-just-by-singing/698691/9 "2014-09-17T02:41:24Z")
Of course, it’s a crystal wineglass, very thin glass, very high Q therefore it vibrates quite well with proper “pumping”. When you do the wet finger on rim trick, you can find the resonant frequency. (Or tick it with your fingernail) As the Mythbuster video shows, when it with the right frequency, it vibrates like a bell more and more deformed until it overstresses and breaks. But just general pieces of glass? not likely. The opera singer busting every piece of glass in earshot is a Hollywood trope. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-really-break-glass-just-by-singing/698691/10 "2014-09-17T05:05:10Z")
FWIW, the Wiki on Ella Fitzgerald says: "Fitzgerald also appeared in TV commercials, her most memorable being an ad for Memorex. In the commercials, she sang a note that shattered a glass while being recorded on a Memorex cassette tape. The tape was played back and the recording also broke the glass, asking: “Is it live, or is it Memorex?” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-really-break-glass-just-by-singing/698691/11 "2014-09-17T14:37:47Z")
That would be an amplified voice, though. Any sound will break glass, if it’s loud enough. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-really-break-glass-just-by-singing/698691/12 "2014-09-17T14:58:14Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > FWIW, the Wiki on Ella Fitzgerald says: "Fitzgerald also appeared in TV commercials, her most memorable being an ad for Memorex. In the commercials, she sang a note that shattered a glass while being recorded on a Memorex cassette tape. The tape was played back and the recording also broke the glass, asking: “Is it live, or is it Memorex?” Only her hairdresser knows for sure.