# Why does this guy hold his hand to his ear when he sings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065 "2017-04-08T18:21:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/1 "2017-04-08T18:21:06Z")
In this video of a group singing [Bully in the Alley](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS5xR7jBxDw), the lead singer John Bromley is holding his hand to his ear. If you look for other videos with him, he is always singing that way. Any one know why he is doing this? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/2 "2017-04-08T18:24:31Z")
IIRC it’s similar to why early radio announcers did the same thing; w/o a monitor or headset it helps them more easily hear what their voice sounds like externally. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/3 "2017-04-08T20:53:50Z")
Why don’t all singers in the video do this? Why only this guy? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/4 "2017-04-08T20:58:03Z")
**Moderator Action** Since this is about how musical performers do their art, let’s move this to Cafe Society (from GQ). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/5 "2017-04-08T21:03:20Z")
Perhaps the guy to this left has a horrible voice. (been there) ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/6 "2017-04-08T21:55:37Z")
Singer here. Your voice, as you hear it, is not what it sounds like to others. Resonance in your head makes it sound richer, fuller, and just different. If you cover one ear while singing, or stick a finger in one ear, supposedly you can hear yourself as you sound to others. Singing that way does sound different to the singer. I find that it helps me sing more precisely in tune, and it also cuts out distraction from nearby noise, which can make it nearly impossible to hear yourself. It really helps you focus, especially in situations where the mic’s sound is delayed, as in a stadium. I believe that most trained singers would sing with one ear covered if they could get away with it, but it’s distracting and is considered tacky. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/7 "2017-04-08T22:13:41Z")
One of the BeeGees guys used to do the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/8 "2017-04-08T22:53:54Z")
The late great [Gary Owens](http://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/gary-owens-laugh-in-announcer-getty-images.jpg) (of Laugh-In fame). ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/9 "2017-04-08T23:55:09Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > IIRC it’s similar to why early radio announcers did the same thing; w/o a monitor or headset it helps them more easily hear what their voice sounds like externally. Quite the opposite. Covering your ear or ears causes you to hear mostly the internal resonance and less of the external sound. But it makes it easier to hear if you’re in tune. You can easily demonstrate this by recording yourself talking or singing with your hands on your ears and then listening to the recording. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/10 "2017-04-09T05:17:44Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > One of the BeeGees guys used to do the same thing. Well, there goes my great contribution. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/11 "2017-04-09T05:24:20Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > Why don’t all singers in the video do this? Why only this guy? Because he needs the crutch more than they do. At least he thinks he does. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/12 "2017-04-09T17:19:14Z")
This is a thing which – in times past, anyway – was a long-running joke, of sorts, in the UK. People observed, or fancied that they observed: that the one-hand-held-over-an-ear-so-that-the singer could-hear-self-more-accurately, “bit”, was a mannerism particularly favoured by male folk singers of the very earnest, serious, traditional-folk-music-approving type. Such performers were also very often characterised by highly enlightened, progressive, “goodthinking” social and political attitudes. These guys received considerable ridicule for the hand-over-the-ear number, from detractors who saw them as using it as a way of parading how very serious and right-on they were. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/13 "2017-04-09T18:46:03Z")
> [@ioioio](#): > > I believe that most trained singers would sing with one ear covered if they could get away with it, but it’s distracting and is considered tacky. I don’t know about “most.” My choir director has specifically banned this practice, since we’re aiming for our voices to blend, and we obviously need to be able to hear one another to achieve this. In a different choir, I sang next to a tenor who did this a lot, on the side where I was standing. I felt offended! ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/14 "2017-04-11T02:03:50Z")
While I perform in operetta on a regular basis, this past year I got an opportunity to lend my modest tones to the chorus of a grand opera (_Der fliegende Holländer_, if anyone is interested). A sixty member chorus populated by stage-trained voices makes a \*lot \*of noise warming up in a small room. In fact I found that during some of the warmup exercises I could not hear my own voice at all. I was one of many cupping hands to ears in order to determine whether the pitch was indeed correct. Doing this on stage, of course, would have been highly frowned upon. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/15 "2017-04-11T23:58:42Z")
I can’t speak for anyone else, but when I’m singing harmony it helps me stick to my part. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/16 "2017-04-12T06:22:59Z")
I’m not a vocalist, but I play in a couple of community bands and I generally wear an earplug\* in one ear when rehearsing. I sit in front of the trumpet section, and without the earplug I can barely hear myself! \*[Musicians’ earplugs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earplug#Musicians.27_or_.27Hi-Fi.27_earplugs), not the foam earplugs sold at drugstores. ---
**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:** [April 13, 2017, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-guy-hold-his-hand-to-his-ear-when-he-sings/784065/17 "2017-04-13T08:13:59Z")
I agree it’s to hear yourself better. The one to hear what you sound like to others is a variation. It basically involves putting a flat hand (or ideally something longer) to the front of your ears. When I do it, my voice is definitely dampened and quieter, and I will say the timbre is different, but I don’t know know that I’d say it sounds like my voice in a recording. The big difference there is that my voice sounds a lot thinner and more forward/nasal. (To compensate, I tend to speak deeper in recordings.)