The Journey of the Voice From Birth to Death

1. The Journey of the Voice From Birth to Death Dr. Valerie Trollinger Kutztown University of Pennsylvania TMEA, 2007 San Antonio, TX

2. Why? • A lot of recent research. • Will affect the way we work with voices from the very young to the mature. • Will help us better understand “what is going on in there.” • Revisit strategies to teach singing, especially to children.

3. The body and singing

4. What will address: • Respiratory development • Laryngeal development • Vocal band development • Muscular/ligament development • Phonation • Registration events • Events external to the larynx • Implications for music educators

5. Will not address in detail: • Singing ranges • Changing voices/puberty--whole different set of issues.

6. DISCLAIMER • Please note: This presentation is only meant as an introduction. The voice is very complex, and voice specialists still have many questions that they can’t quite answer, especially about child singing. While the information presented here is based on scientific research, there are areas that we simply don’t have information about, but they are relevant to us. It is hoped that research will take place to address some of these vagaries about the child voice and singing. You are encouraged to do your own investigating, too!.

7. Basic Voice Terms and Parts • Larynx • Thyroarytenoid cartilages and Cricothyroid cartilages • Vocal bands, phonation • Vocal ligament • Vocal Tract • Ligaments, muscles, tendons, cartilage

8. Illustrations

9. Larynx-external

10. Internal Laryngeal Structures (simplified)

11. Vocal Ligament

12. A Definition of Registers • Have proven to be confusing • Manuel Garcia (1805-1906) • Voice Science • Singing • What happens? What do we call them?

13. Baby Voice

14. Characteristics • Small respiratory system • Larynx small and wide: mostly cartilage: place very high in the vocal tract. • No vocal ligament • Birth cry @ 500 HZ • Muscles are unshaped • Vocal bands mucosal

15. Baby Phonations • Reflexive. • Displays use of registers--but not the ones we think of in singing. • Short vocal bands are limited in pitch production. • We do not yet know how vertical laryngeal movement ( which we see later in older children) affects pitch. No research on children, but much on adults.

16. Baby Singing? • Imitate them • Sing where they phonate • Initiate echo games--you imitate them

17. Preschoolers(to age 7)

18. Preschool Voice • No differences between boys and girls • Larynx continues drop:speech frequency can be @ 260-360 Hz. • Vocal bands grow, become more fibrous • Vocal ligament structure starts to become evident ( around the age of 4) but is not functional.

19. Preschool Phonation • Since limited vocal ligament function ( if much at all), then registration events for singing do not happen yet. • Many children phonate with their larynxes at a rest position, however, we have observed them moving the larynx vertically to assist in creating higher and lower pitches. Again, this has been studied with adults, but not with young children.

20. Preschool Singing? • Limited range due to limited laryngeal development. • Middle C is generally attainable by age of 5, but there will be great variability. • D to A good place to work within.

21. Childhood Prior to Puberty

22. Physical Characteristics • Respiratory system grows and strengthens. • Larynx is larger, still mostly cartilage. • Larynx continues the drop ( speech frequency fundamental can be around D-C in elementary years). • Bands lengthen, vocal ligament begins more layering, but still not adult-like until age of 10-13 yrs. • Thyroid cartilage lengthens and gains characteristic shape.

23. Child Phonation • Larynx still moves mostly up and down, but due to longer vocal tract, has more available pitches, but not all are accessible. • Boys are more prone to vocal damage, often due to vocal hyperfunction, than girls.

24. Child Singing? • Increased range and breath control, but still varies from child to child. Justine, age 5 Justine, age 11

25. The Change

26. What happens: • Boys: • Larynx drops dramatically

27. Boys, cont… • Vocal bands get longer • Combination of larger, lower larynx and longer vocal bands is why the voice is lower. • Voice may bounce back up if it changes dramatically

28. What happens to Girls? • Ages 11 or so (younger?) • Hormones initiate the change • Menstruation • Causes changes in: • Laryngeal size • Length of vocal bands • Strength of breath • Supporting structures

29. Phonation • Can be wild for both boys and girls • Boys: dealing with a whole different voice anatomy • Girls: can find that singing high is not as easy as it was before--anecdotal evidence suggests that the vocal mechanism may feel a bit stiff due to the V.L. kicking in. • Boys and girls both have singing registers, however boys will sing primarily in the heavy adjustment, while girls will need to use all the mixed adjustments.

30. Singing? • Good time to keep them separate. • Rewriting of choral music to work with changing voices is appropriate ( for example, don’t make your altos go too low). • From here on, girls will have more tendency to have vocal problems.

31. Adult Voice

32. Characteristics • “Fach” may emerge, but can change from early 20’s into middle life. • Vocal ligament is developed completely • Voice is considered mature in the middle 30’s. • Larynx still continues to drop, calcification continues. • Bands stop growing.

33. Adult Phonation • Every which way--up down, side to side, rocking. • Great variety of sounds are available, but they may not be all accessible, depending upon how well the voice has been nurtured.

34. Adult Singing? • Wide singing range possible. • Adult singing voice stabilizes at about the age of 35, then will likely stay there for a long period before the individual is very old.

35. Senior Years

36. Physical Characteristics • Calcification is more evident • Vocal mechanism is less lubricated • Women’s voices may be considerably lower. • More difficult to control in singing, especially if the person didn’t learn how to sing correctly when younger.

37. Phonation & Singing • Diminished range and control • Can have problems maintaining a pitch • Possible excessive vibrato • A VOICE THAT HAS BEEN KEPT HEALTHY WILL LIKELY NOT SHOW EXCESSIVE EVIDENCE OF OLD AGE.

38. Death

39. Characteristics Permanent Vocal Rest

40. Questions?

41. Acknowledgements • Lambs with Baaaaad Posture--from Sarah Dorsey, University of NC at Greensboro music librarian. • Voice samples/pics • Justine; my collection of samples • Others; from the Voice Academy

42. The Journey of the Voice From Birth to Death Dr. Valerie Trollinger Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Vtrollin@comcast.net http://faculty.kutztown.edu/trolling