双语：遇到唱歌跑调的伙伴怎么办？

Sing Solo for Higher Fidelity
为更高保真度而独唱

Ever noticed how when a big group sings "Happy Birthday," the beginning is a jumbled mess, with everyone singing a slightly different pitch? But then, near the end, it all sort of comes together?

你曾经有没有注意到一大群人唱生日歌的时候，开始总是一团糟，每个人唱的音调都略有不同？但是临近结束的时候，所有音调却都合在一起了？

That's because we tend to adjust our own singing pitch to accommodate others.

这是因为我们唱歌时往往会调节自己的音调来顺应其他人。

And now scientists in the U.K. have found that even trained choral singers will follow their fellow choir members. But not necessarily in the right direction.

现在，英国科学家们发现，即使是受过训练的合唱团歌手也会跟随团员的音调。但并不一定是在正确的音调上。

The researchers had eight pairs of musically trained amateur singers—all women for this study—sing, a capella, the melody of either "Silent Night" or another classic choir tune, "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded."

研究人员让八对受过音乐训练的业余歌手（研究中全部为女性）进行合唱，合唱 Silent Night 或者另外一首经典的合唱曲目 O Sacred Head, Now Wounded。

Individual volunteers all sang in their own separate studios, under four different scenarios:

在以下四种不同的情境中，每一个志愿者都在各自的录音室里分开唱歌：

each singer was completely isolated, hearing only themselves; or singer one got to hear singer two; or singer two got to hear singer one; or finally, both singers could hear each other.

每位歌手是完全隔开的，只能听到自己的歌声；或者歌手一能听到歌手二的歌声；或者歌手二能听到歌手一的歌声；亦或者两位歌手都能听到对方的歌声。

Then the researchers used software to extract pitch information from the recordings.

然后研究人员用软件从录音中提取出音调信息。

What they found was that singers stayed more on tune with the pitch written in the musical score when singing solo, versus singing with a partner.

他们发现，歌手在独唱的时候更能跟上乐谱里的音调，合唱的时候则不然。

And when one partner veered off pitch, the other singer followed her, perhaps to compensate for the error — meaning even though they weren't singing the pitch as written, the resulting duet was more harmonious.

并且，当其中一人转调时，另一人也会跟着转调。这也许是为了弥补错误 —— 也就是说，尽管她们唱的音调与乐谱不符，但由此而来的二重奏听起来却更和谐。

The findings are in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

该项研究结果发表在《美国声学学会期刊》上。

The results support a common practice in choirs: put weak singers next to strong ones, so they can follow their pitch.

这项研究结果可以解释合唱团的一个惯例：把唱得一般的歌手放在唱得较好的歌手旁边，这样他们就可以跟着音调走。

As for the rest of us amateurs, if you find yourself out at karaoke duetting with an off-pitch friend, take this advice from study author Jiajie Dai of Queen Mary University of London:

对于我们这些业余人士来说，如果你和一个唱歌跑调的朋友在卡拉OK二重唱，请接受伦敦玛丽女王大学的研究作者戴佳洁的建议：

"You have to listen to yourself more than you listen to others. Trust yourself, never depend on others."

“你得多听自己的歌声，而不是别人的。相信自己，不要依赖别人。”

This guideline appears to be the key to staying on key.

看来，这条准则是唱歌不跑调的关键。

2025年7月18日于经典龙苑