Although it is not known exactly why it occurs, we can classify stuttering in two groups. The first is neurological stuttering as a result of brain damage such as stroke or head injury; the other is developmental stuttering that occurs in early childhood without known damage.
Based on these classifications, we can put forward a few reasons why people who stutter can sing without getting stuck.
The different functions of the right and left brain lobes have an interesting effect on stuttering.
You know that the right and left lobes of your brain have different functions. However, this does not mean that; Right-brain dominant individuals cannot benefit from left-brain, left-brain dominants cannot benefit from right-brain.
Both lobes of our brain are in interaction and transfer with each other. We can briefly list the functions in the right and left hemispheres as follows:
Dominant functions in the right brain:
- Imagination
- Art
- rhythm/music
- Feelings
- Creativity
Dominant functions in the left brain:
- Logic
- Maths
- Language
- realities
It’s a similar situation with İbrahim Tatlıses not being able to sing after he was shot.
All of this must have given you some clues about how people who stutter can sing without getting stuck. In fact, although more than one cause is possible, let’s start with the first of the most accepted theories.
According to the researches of Iova University; While music is an activity that activates the right side of the brain, language is dominant on the left side. Therefore, even if you have a disorder or disease that affects the left side of your brain, it is possible to sing without getting stuck as there is no problem with the right side.
If you remember, İbrahim Tatlıses could also speak but could not sing. This is among the examples that support the right-brain-left-brain theory.
When we sing, we use our mouth and vocal cords in different ways.
According to the theory of The Stuttering Foundation of America; People who stutter can sing, thanks to the combination of the vocal cords, lip, and tongue shape when singing, and the right-left brain assumption.
Voon Pang: “Our brain controls our language. So if the brain is telling our mouth to do something different, that might be one of the reasons we don’t stutter while singing.”
Although linguistic communication and singing may seem similar, they actually have many different aspects.
Communication is a two-way action, and we can’t largely plan our next response. On the other hand, singing is a one-way act. We are not faced with an unpredictable communication, we sing the songs by heart and without thinking.
Also, many parents say that children do not stutter when talking to themselves. This supports the fact that in situations such as excitement, anxiety and stress, stuttering increases and makes it difficult to speak.
In short, according to this theory; In an uncertain communication environment, it is much more common to stutter than to recite a song.
We cannot accept any theory as a real reason.
While all these theories make sense, none of them are definitively ‘facts’ about why people who stutter sing without stuttering. We hope that with the continuation of the studies on this subject, the questions about stuttering will be clarified.
Sources: Stuttering Help, Healthline, Stuttering Treatment and Research Trust
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