Whitney Houston will be remembered as a master of "melisma". But what is it and why did it influence a generation of singers and talent show aspirants? An early "I" in Whitney Houston's I Will Always ...

The pop icon, who died 10 years ago, often sang using melisma, a technique spanning time and cultures. Nowhere was it better than in her iconic hit, "I Will Always Love You." Some songs are so ...

The singer pulls on it, the note pushes back, and vice versa; the struggles are chronicled by the anguished note's rising and falling pitch as a helpless vowel is wrung to death. Melisma. I know it's ...

Embrace your inner coach potato this weekend. While you wait for the Tuesday night return of American Idol (admit it, you watch it), learn about and listen to the musical art of melisma. 24 kicks off ...

Whitney Houston popularized this centuries-old technique through her hits. Some songs are so incomparable in their execution that they are perhaps best left uncovered. A singing technique spanning ...

AS symbolic shifts go, two recent events in pop music couldn’t have been more illuminating. On Nov. 24 “Burlesque,” a big-screen musical starring Christina Aguilera, opened and landed with a thud, ...

As symbolic shifts go, two recent events in pop music were illuminating. On Nov. 24 Burlesque, a big-screen musical starring Christina Aguilera, opened and landed with a thud, both critically and at ...

Whitney Houston will be remembered as a master of "melisma". The singer had an ability to pack a series of different notes into a single syllable. For example, an early "I" in Whitney Houston's I Will ...

An early "I" in Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You takes nearly six seconds to sing. In those seconds the former gospel singer-turned-pop star packs a series of different notes into the single ...