Music: Why we love the sound of falsetto

Music correspondent Ian Chapman celebrates the male falsetto voice, playing examples that range from the unexpected (reggae singer Junior Murvin) through to the comedic/novelty (Tiny Tim). Although an oft-used singing technique, the falsetto voice requires much skill and, when used well, can imbue a song with a fragile tenderness and vulnerability such as evidenced in the two additional songs chosen for today's music slot by Mike Nesmith and the Stylistics. Ian Chapman is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Music at the University of Otago.