Not an educated response, but I would note that talking and singing are different usages of the same muscles, and if you’re using your diaphragm you have far more control over your breath and vocal chords than you have when you’re just speaking.
Speech-Language Pathologist here- Speaking and singing are two different (but nearby) motor areas in the brain. One can be affected, while another may not be. I’ve worked with a girl who stuttered who started playing a wind instrument and learned breath control and her stutter lessened. Also, there’s a therapy technique called Melodic Intonation Therapy for adults with brain injuries (i.e. strokes) that uses the “singing” motor pathway to help improve their “speaking” motor pathway
Some people do. John “Scatman” Larkin even addressed this in the song:
Everybody’s sayin’ that the Scatman stutters
But doesn’t ever stutter when he sings
But what you don’t know I’m gonna tell you right now
That the stutter and the scat is the same thing
Yo I’m the Scatman
Singing comes more from your memory than from your active speech center. Doing something for the first time is way harder than doing it from muscle memory
Everybody’s different. Same for “normal” people. My son is nonverbal(can’t speak coherently)but likes to sing and he sounds like a drummer. Bada da bada da, dumb tsk etc
Everyone is talking about “different parts of the brain,” so I’ll add some “explaining like 5.” Your pants have multiple pockets on them, they are all on the same pair of pants but they aren’t connected. If your gummy worms are in your right pocket, you can’t reach into your left pocket and pull out the gummy worms despite them “being in the same pair of pants.”
As a stutterer (though absolutely not a singer) it’s completely unsurprising. Stuttering is highly contextual and singing is such a different act to speaking.
As someone who stutters, I always thought of it as, when I am singing along with a song, I just know what the lyrics are, and I dont have to think about them.
Whereas, when I am talking, I have to think of what I am saying. But when I am talking shit with my buddies, I don’t stutter nearly as much because I’m not thinking about it. I’m just popping off.
Ooo look up the âspeecheasyâ – it was a hearing aid that repeated everything ~100ms and a few octaves higher in one ear that worked for some people to train their brain to think there was something like singing going on.
I knew dude, we called him Twitch. He had a “whole body” shudder kind of thing, it would happen randomly. When he was drawing or super-focused, like when he gave me my tattoo, he wouldn’t shudder at all.
Me with rhotacism singing my country’s National Anthem: đ¶And the wockets wed guware! The bombs bouahsting in aiah! Gave pwoof thwough the night that ow flag was still theyah! đ¶
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Lyrics are set and ‘recorded’ in the singer’s mind. They’re just repeating, not improvising.
Using different sides of the brain that control different functions
Talking = Left side brain
Singing = Right side brain
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can you elaborate on why you think autism is a speech impediment? I’ve never heard this before.
Not an educated response, but I would note that talking and singing are different usages of the same muscles, and if you’re using your diaphragm you have far more control over your breath and vocal chords than you have when you’re just speaking.
Singing doesn’t use the language part of the brain alone. You’ve got extra processing power coming from multiple parts of the brain.
Singing is rehearsed, which can help with managing stuttering.
Speech-Language Pathologist here- Speaking and singing are two different (but nearby) motor areas in the brain. One can be affected, while another may not be. I’ve worked with a girl who stuttered who started playing a wind instrument and learned breath control and her stutter lessened. Also, there’s a therapy technique called Melodic Intonation Therapy for adults with brain injuries (i.e. strokes) that uses the “singing” motor pathway to help improve their “speaking” motor pathway
The same reason people with accents sing without them.
Some people do. John “Scatman” Larkin even addressed this in the song:
Everybody’s sayin’ that the Scatman stutters
But doesn’t ever stutter when he sings
But what you don’t know I’m gonna tell you right now
That the stutter and the scat is the same thing
Yo I’m the Scatman
Singing comes more from your memory than from your active speech center. Doing something for the first time is way harder than doing it from muscle memory
ASD here, with perfect eloquence, but tone deaf đ
Everybody’s different. Same for “normal” people. My son is nonverbal(can’t speak coherently)but likes to sing and he sounds like a drummer. Bada da bada da, dumb tsk etc
Repeating a satisfying pattern of sounds is different to forming an ongoing pattern of sounds
Everyone is talking about “different parts of the brain,” so I’ll add some “explaining like 5.” Your pants have multiple pockets on them, they are all on the same pair of pants but they aren’t connected. If your gummy worms are in your right pocket, you can’t reach into your left pocket and pull out the gummy worms despite them “being in the same pair of pants.”
As a stutterer (though absolutely not a singer) it’s completely unsurprising. Stuttering is highly contextual and singing is such a different act to speaking.
As someone who stutters, I always thought of it as, when I am singing along with a song, I just know what the lyrics are, and I dont have to think about them.
Whereas, when I am talking, I have to think of what I am saying. But when I am talking shit with my buddies, I don’t stutter nearly as much because I’m not thinking about it. I’m just popping off.
Ooo look up the âspeecheasyâ – it was a hearing aid that repeated everything ~100ms and a few octaves higher in one ear that worked for some people to train their brain to think there was something like singing going on.
And why do Brits sound just like Americans while they sing
I knew dude, we called him Twitch. He had a “whole body” shudder kind of thing, it would happen randomly. When he was drawing or super-focused, like when he gave me my tattoo, he wouldn’t shudder at all.
I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to share this… https://www.tiktok.com/@fatheristheone/video/7336829146028412203
You donât have think about your next thought or word when you are singing.
Probably because itâs a practiced thing. I can recite or reproduce practiced muscle memory pretty easily and without thinking a lot of the time.
Trying to improv or speak from memory?? Total mess
One other interesting thing youâll notice is that singers tend to change accents when they speak vs when they sing.
I didnât know for the longest time that Rihanna was from Barbados because her singing accent is American.
Me with rhotacism singing my country’s National Anthem: đ¶And the wockets wed guware! The bombs bouahsting in aiah! Gave pwoof thwough the night that ow flag was still theyah! đ¶
Not all speech impediments function the same.
Since when do people with autism have speech impediments?
You breathe differently when you sing than when you talk. Not breathing properly while talking contributes to stuttering.