Why do folk singers sometimes put a finger in their ear?
Some people find that putting a finger in their ear (or an alternative is cupping a hand over one ear) cuts down external noise, amplifies the internal resonances in the singer’s own head, and therefore enables the singer to hear what they are singing better – it therefore gives the the singer more confidence in staying in tune and hearing themselves properly. Whether it is always done for this perfectly reasonable reason, or whether there is occasionally a degree of affectation involved, is open to debate. And on being asked why he put his finger in one ear when he sang, Dominic Behan is said to have replied “Sure, and I don’t like half the stuff I’m singing”.
