When I started teaching singers in the mid 1990s, I naively divided those who teach singing or rehearse singers into two mutually exclusive groups: the Dinosaurs, whose approach adhered to principles unchanged for decades and for whom the voice was a black box; and the Bright Young Things (BYTs) (some of whom, admittedly, were quite old), who based their approach upon the developing understanding of vocal tract anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics. I was a staunch BYT and joined the chorus of those predicting the impending extinction of the Dinosaurs. Fast-forward to the approach of the twenty-first century's second decade, however, and not only has the Big Asteroid still not hit, but I now find myself flirting with some of the Dinosaurs' old techniques. Far from being satisfied with the BYTs' physiological approach, I now find it wanting in a key area: psychology. Furthermore, through examining the conflict between the two schools of thought we may see a tantalizing glimpse of the future for voice research.
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