Femal Chest Voice

The article "Female Chest Voice" addresses the potential pros and cons of the female chest voice, comparing the thoughts of Gwenellyn Leonard, a voice teacher who has taught at Uof O, Linfield and Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and Freda Herseth, a widely known mezzo and voice faculty at Univ. of Michigan.

Leonard states that the female voice should be seamless when passing through registers, and that that should be the ultimate goal.  Being comfortable switching registers needs to come first, which is then implemented by scale equalization, which is singing a scale evenly, bridging that gap between chest and mixed voice, and then mixed to head voice.  When discussing it anatomically, what should happen with the larynx is that when singing an ascending scale, the cricothyroid moves down toward the thyroid and the cricoid moves up, successfully stretching the vocal folds as the voice moves higher up the scale.  Leonard also talks about how important the phonatory, breathing and posture processes are in successful register switches.

Freda Herseth mentions that use of the chest voice, or of mixed voice, is essential for giving whatever piece is being sung, the emotional drive it needs, with "the goosebumps or the unexpected welling up of tears."  She asserts that most audiences don't just want to hear high, floaty soprano pieces or arias that hang out in the upper staff area and that they need those warm, resonant sounds well.  However, Herseth also mentions that singing or speaking predominantly in the chest voice can cause fatigue and vocal faults.  Developing strength in the speaking chest voice and utilizing vocal exercises will result in further strength in the singing chest voice.  The correct repertoire is also of huge importance.  Giving a student a piece of music with a recording, and telling them to mimic what they hear, is not always a good step.  The student needs to be in tune with all of the healthy ways of using the chest voice, the muscles and other behaviors to sing correctly.  Otherwise, they could be trying to tackle too big of a task too early on.  Overall, Leonard and Herseth agree that when engaged correctly, women singing in their chest voice, or mixed voice, can be ultimately beautiful and bring a lot more presence with the character and emotion of a piece of music.

Teaching Methods for Correcting Probematic Vibrato

Teaching Methods for Correcting Probematic Vibrato

Adam Kirkpatrick

-Vibrato is difficult because it doesn’t exist in every day speaking (maybe during heightened emotion i.e. ‘I have a dream’)

-One Theory: Vibrato is caused by the crico-thyroid muscle. It becomes tense when elongating the cords.

Important to note about muscles in the body – when they are tense, the tension is not continuous. It oscillates.   Constantly flexing and releasing.

Creepy example: Getting shocked by an electric outlet. Your muscles react to this by contracting and releasing in time with the electric current. This happens on a small level every time a muscle in your body is engaged.

Crico-thyroids and Thyro-arytenoids work in opposition of each other. Muscle antagonism must exist for them to sustain a position which sustains a pitch. They flex and release, oscillating the tension. One group of muscles can’t become too rigid or overpowering or the balance between them is lost.

Vibrato expresses itself naturally when there is the proper balance of airflow and sublglottic pressure.

Thinking about airflow vs.sublgottic pressure:

Think about the same volume of air passing through a large opening and then through a straw. (This opening represents the glottis.) The air passing through the straw will have more force, velocity and pressure.

Excessive airflow in relation to sublottic pressure-à straight tone

Excessive subglottic pressure in relation to airflow-à wobble

Other causes of straight tone-

-high laryngeal position (Krikpatrick suggests that they ‘cry’ or ‘whine’ as they sing)

-sometimes just when a singer is running out of breath you hear their natural vibrato come in. Something releases or lets go.

-He suggests you never say “sing with vibrato” , leads to a fake one. Find out the problem or have them experiment with held notes so the vibrato can emerge naturally

Faux vibrato-

Creating vibrato with pulses in the abdominal muscles.

Bleat-

Pressed tone and lots of airflow - lots of air with a lot of resistance. Try experimenting with sighs.

Bottom line- vibrato is the result of balanced phonation and breath support, it’s an indicator of good singing, not something that should be manufactured or recreated.

Vibrato or Nonvibrato in Solo and Choral Singing: Is There Room for Both?

Vibrato or Non-vibrato in Solo and Choral Singing: Is There Room for Both? by Virginia Sublett

Does singing in ensembles affects vocal technique, especially with regard to non-vibrato singing? One panelist said that as teachers, our primary motivation should be to give the students what is best for them. So a question was raised: Does singing without vibrato ruin the voice?

As we’ve read, “pleasing” vibrato consists of five to eight pulsations per second. Fewer than five are usually considered a “wobble,” and more than eight move toward what we would call a “tremolo.”

Things that affect vibrato rates:

·      Taste (more or less vibrato)

·      Type (style) of music

·      The singer’s level of excitement

·      Cultural factors

Although some believe that non-vibrato singing can be harmful, there doesn’t seem to be much research in support of this idea. Since there is a lack of research, we can only approach this subject from an anecdotal or preferential standpoint.

In choral music, the issue of volume/vibrato/intonation is important. Before the concert hall was invented, choral music was performed in churches, small court halls, or rooms in private houses. Because of the smaller spaces, the voices of singers were “lifted” with little effort on the performers part. The precise articulation, dissonance, and detailed effects in choral music required pure, clear voices to achieve these things.

Vibrato that is used currently in standard operatic literature was not always the norm, but as orchestras and concert halls grew larger, the styles of singing changed. Large post-Romantic orchestras and large opera houses demanded more volume and intensity form singers, which encouraged the continuous use of vibrato.

Ultimately, style matters!!!

As voice teachers, we should help students achieve the aesthetic their choral directors are asking for in ways that will not compromise their development as solo singers.

·      Beyond the university, most student won’t continue to become professional opera singers, but they may sing in choirs in their community or churches. (It best serves the interests of students to help them sing healthily with minimal vibrato, if that style is being asked for in an ensemble setting)

·      Singing with minimal vibrato does not tire the voice if done correctly.

o   Singing with excess tension does tire the voice

o   Students may respond to the request of “straight-tone” singing by tightening their jaw or muscles supporting the larynx

·      A less problematic instruction would be “sing with a pure, clear, focused tone that is right in the center of the pitch.”

·      Using different terminology can help eliminate problems

o    “Think pure and don’t push”

o   “Use a pure, spinning, well focused sound”

·      Tips for helping students maintain good vocal habits while singing in choir (with the goal of minimal vibrato tone in mind)

o   Adjusting vowel color (brighter vowels have less vibrato than dark)

o   Singing with less breath pressure

o   Smaller mouth position

Encourage students to explore all the different aspects of beauty in their voices. They don’t have to only use one. Stylistic versatility will lead to a more well-rounded singer.

Conclusion: The voice is a sturdy instrument that is capable of a greater range of sounds, timbres, and expressive devices than any other. There is a lack of research to validly discourage non-vibrato singing. The only argument against non-vibrato singing is aesthetic choice or issues of style. It would best serve the student if they are taught to efficiently switch between styles.

The Female Primo Passaggio: A Survey of Its Physiology, Psychology, and Pedagogy,

The Female Primo Passaggio: A Survey of Its Physiology, Psychology, and Pedagogy, 

by Elena BIyskal

This article is filled with technical lingo and explanations surrounding the issue of the "break" in women's (mostly younger women's) voices.

Breaks and Registration:

• The "break" is where women struggle with the differences between head and chest voice, and how to "register" the notes they're singing depending on where they lie in their range.
• "Register" is a dangerous term as it has 5 different definitions, causing confusion.  Blyskal says: "if individuals rely on vocal breaks to define their registers, it is no wonder that the transitions become so conspicuous."
• In order to avoid the register break, students should aim to sing a natural, seamless sound throughout the entire range without consciously altering her voice to account for the break.
• Avoid gear-shifting
• Registration must be acknowledged and defined: "Registers are defined by laryngeal function... [and] resonance."
• Understanding the vocal folds' is paramount: The two pairs of primary laryngeal muscles are the thyroarytenoids (colloquially, the shorteners) and cricothyroids (the lengtheners)

Register Break Down:

• Although there are four generally accepted voice registers, only two are involved with the female primo passaggio: The "lower" and the "Upper" registers.
• The "lower" register has the thyroarytenoids more prominently contracted, making the folds shorter and thicker. The lower range of fundamental frequencies combined with strengthened higher harmonics result in a thick, rich, ringing sound.
• The "Upper" register is usually considered cricothyroid-dominant: the cricothyroids contract as the pitch ascends, placing greater tension upon the vocal ligaments. The folds become longer and thinner, creating fewer intense partials and a more flutelike tone.

Study Discoveries:

• "Thyroarytenoids are chiefly responsible for registration, antagonized by the cricothyroids as a pitch agent. It is the degree of thyroarytenoid activity—or lack thereof—that allows for a register change."
• Mix is produced mostly in either one register or the other.  It is not really the combination of chest and head voice.

"Mix"ed Register:

• Mix" is a concept widely used to camoflouge break.
• while mixed voice is primarily produced in one register, the singer can imitate the characteristics of the other register by modifying the sound's intensity, balancing the ratio between fullness and airiness."

- Ex: Kristin Chenoweth sings mostly in head voice, but places it forward enough that it projects and comes across as a "beltier", more musical theater sound

Smoothing out the Break:

• The singer can learn to smooth her transition not only by relaxing the laryngeal muscles, but also by formant tuning. 
• Formant tuning can be achieved through vowel modification. 
• Berton Coffin created the "Chromatic Vocal Chart", that showed which vowels would best resonate the fundamental frequency and harmonics on any note in a singer's range. 
• Regarding the passaggio, Coffin discovered that the female voice is narrower in the middle range while being wider and rounder at the top and bottom.
• Based on his chart, Coffin recommended that the female singer vocalize in the primo passaggio on alternating front and neutral vowels (/i/ and /u/ coupled with ¡a/ and /e/) to gain flexibility. 

Big Idea:

• The closer the formant is to the fundamental frequency, the more resonant the vowel becomes—essentially louder, purer in tone, and easier to sing.
• This is why "i" and "u" are so helpful in bringing tone forward amidst the break.

Physiological Issues associated with working through the transition point: 

• Young singers often attempt to accomplish intervals with a subconscious change in head position—either elevating the head for ascending pitch changes, or depressing the head to "dig" for lower pitches.
• The head and neck are crucial to positioning the larynx correctly: have the student focus on keeping her head relaxed.
• Appoggio breath management: "A uniformly resonant timbre is not possible unless breath energy is adjusted to match voice registration requirements." 
• When females sing exclusively in their lower range (which can be more comfortable at younger ages), they make accessing their head voice much more difficult.
• The development of the lower range is only detrimental if it is the only area young women sing in. It is still a natural part of the voice that should be utilized properly. 
• The female voice undergoes mutation in various ways: the trachea lengthens, the laryngeal muscles grow, the vocal folds thicken, and the larynx itself increases in size from twenty to thirty percent

Physiological Issues with working through the transition point:

• Not thinking about switching registers is actually a good thing, and can help to make the switch more discreet.
• For most female singers, the register break usually rears its head during adolescence, bringing about embarrassment due to the cracking and changing in their voice.
• Many young women think that the belty chest sound is the best way to sing because many of their vocal models sing that way.  Make sure to encourage them and inform them that "lighter" singing in the head voice is beautiful too!

Tips to working with young females in choir:

• With young choirs, it is smart to not classify your women.  Instead, divide all the women into 2 groups, and have them switch who takes soprano and who takes alto on different songs.
• No exercise should be used to point out and focus on the few pitches that mark the transition point: octaves, arpeggios, and legato scales can be used to smooth it out.

A true life lesson to sum up the article:

• "To guide a student through this transition is not only smoothing out a technicality, but also encouraging growth in being human—acknowledging weaknesses, accepting them, and patiently working through (not around) them to become stronger individuals."

P.S. Sorry this synopsis is giant and the video is a short film..... I didn't know what to do with all of the information.

Where's the line?

The article "The Speech Pathologist, the Singing Teacher, and the Singing Voice Specialist: Where’s the Line?" by Marina Gilman, John Nix, and Edie Hapner, dissects research findings related to the study of who should be responsible for treating or rehabilitating an individual with a vocal disorder. The research  was conducted by sending a survey to the NATS mailing list and a separate survey to 156 speech pathologists.

"The singing voice specialist addresses the functionally and /or organically disordered singing voice in the voice studio or the voice clinic.” is the definition most agreed upon by members of NATS, ASHA, and VASTA. The members of all of these groups technically fall under this description but should any or all of these people be rehabilitating vocalists with voice disorders?

Speech-language pathologists have the technical knowledge and the accreditation to work on voice disorders but not all work with singers. In fact, only about 2/3 of the surveyed pathologists had vocal experience (music degree, two or more years of private lessons, or professional experience). 

On the other hand voice teachers have all the vocal experience but no accreditation, no standard. They don't even have to be apart of NATS. However the biggest reason they can't be considered a singing voice specialist is because they don't have training in pathology. 

So what exactly are the qualifications to be a singing voice specialist? Marina Gilman, John Nix, and Edie Hapner believe that "the singing voice specialist should be someone who has knowledge of voice technique, understands the vocal demands of professional singing, and possesses a comprehensive knowledge of voice disorders, including how the disorders impact vocal fold vibration, resonance, and overall function, in addition to clinical management skills".  So do any members of the above groups have all of these skills? I think not.

In order to fix the confusion of who is a specialist and who is not it must be decided: what the definition of a singing voice specialist is; what their qualifications must be; and how someone will be certified. And for the well being of all singing voices it is high time to reopen this topic and come to a consensus of what it means to be a singing voice specialist.

Choral Conductor as Teacher of Vocal Technique

In vocal music, there is often the misconception that solo voice training and what is expected of a singer in a choral ensemble are at odds with each other. This idea perhaps comes from the vocal demands of early choral literature. The sheer range of the vocal lines of Bach and Beethoven were more extreme than that of many operatic roles, and the tessitura was also demanding. Solo singing in early music was not a focus, and as a result, singers were not encouraged to utilize their own sound but rather blend into that of the ensemble.
It has been suggested by research that the threat to vocal health in choral singing lies in the fact that singers must sing loud enough to hear themselves over their neighbor, but this author claims the biggest threat lies in asking training musicians so sing at the technical level of amateur voices. In reality, the choral director should create a learning environment that allows less-proficient singers to sing more effectively. The three areas that should be focused on in choral exercises are:

1) Breath Management (onset, release, breath renewal),
2) Free Laryngeal Function, and
3) Resonance Balancing

The author suggests that choral directors should focus at least 5 minutes a day to each of these categories. While it can be difficult, at times, to rationalize 'giving up' rehearsal time to focus on these things, it is impossible for a director to expect excellent musicianship if (s)he does not teach it.

The Choir Issue, Part Two

This article presented an interesting followup to The Choir Issue, Part One.

Before addressing the specific topics of the article, let me just ask:  was the article complete?  All other NATS Journal articles have closed with a list of sources and a copyright statement; this one just cut off seemingly without conclusion.  If there is more of it, it would be wonderful to see!

What We Sing
Repertoire is an important choice for both solo singing and choir.  The article outlines that choosing pieces for students in choir and solo work must be accomplished with their actual level of development and ability in mind, as well as the consideration of personal vocal Fach.  It points out that not only can giving students works that are outside their potential range and preferential Fach be discouraging, it can also be damaging to their developing voices.

Why We Sing
This section of the article deals with the reasons for the required participation of vocalists in ensembles at the university level.  It mentions that ensembles do not tend to actually serve the needs of the student, but the other way around, developing a potentially discouraging atmosphere to singers in their development if the ensemble is not meeting their developmental needs as a singer.