"It's a Metamorphosis": Guiding the Voice Change at the American Boychoir School

2004 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Copland Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Ryan Austin Fisher ◽  
Nancy L. Summitt ◽  
Ellen B. Koziel

The purpose of this study was to describe the voice change and voice part assignment of male middle school choir members. Volunteers ( N = 92) were recruited from three public middle school choral programs (Grades 6-8). Participants were audio-recorded performing simple vocal tasks in order to assess vocal range and asked to share the music they were currently singing in class. Results revealed 23.91% of participants’ voices could be categorized as unchanged, 14.13% as Stage 1, 3.26% as Stage 2, 10.87% as Stage 3, 26.09% as Stage 4, and 21.74% as Stage 5. The majority of sixth-grade participants were classified as unchanged or in Stage 1 of the voice change and the majority of eighth-grade participants were classified in Stages 4 to 5 of the voice change. Of the participants labeled “tenors” in their choir, over 60% were classified as either unchanged voices or in Stage 1 of the voice change.


2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 32-34
Author(s):  
Julie A. Skadsem
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Bridget Sweet

The chapter describes how an understanding of the way the voice operates can empower both female and male adolescent singers as well as the teachers assisting them through the voice change process. It unpacks basic vocal anatomy and physiology, and then overlays physiological transformations that occur in the larynx during female and male voice change. A special section addresses the impact of hormones on the adolescent voice (especially for females) and promotes awareness of premenstrual vocal syndrome. The chapter encourages music educators to frequently discuss and reference vocal anatomy and physiology with adolescent singers in order to demystify vocal challenges and dispel myths and misunderstandings about how the voice and body function.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 7447-7450

The human voice construction is a complex biological mechanism capable of Changing pitch and volume. Some Internal or External factors frequently damage the vocal cords and change quality of voice or do some alteration in the voice modulation. The effects are reflected in expression of speech and understanding of information said by the person. So it is important to examine problem at early stages of voice change and overcome from this problem. ML play a major role in identifying whether voice is pathological or normal in nature. Voice features are extracted by Implementing Mel-frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) method, and examined on the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to identify the category of voice.


Author(s):  
Bridget Sweet

Thinking Outside the Voice Box: Adolescent Voice Change in Music Education is different from other books on voice change in that it encourages new and holistic ways of thinking about the female and male adolescent changing voice. It gives choral music educators (or anyone interested in the changing voice) the opportunity to step away from typical considerations of voice change and explore the experience within the bigger picture of adolescence. Female and male adolescent voice change are addressed at length, but special efforts have been made to bring new attention to female voice change to boost considerations of females in choral music education. Holistic considerations encompass the importance of understanding physical development during adolescence, including the body, brain, and auditory system; vocal anatomy and physiology in general, as well as during male and female voice change; the impact of hormones on the adolescent voice, especially for female singers; ideas of resolve and perseverance that are essential to adolescent navigation of voice change; and exploration of portrayals of voice change that have contributed to a situated reality not based in fact, but accepted in pop culture. Choral educators are also given a larger scope of voice classification systems and other foundational ideas in choral music education through examination of some of the most eminent works in the profession. Emerging considerations of adolescent voice change beyond classification systems provide new food for thought about working with the adolescent changing voice.


2017 ◽  
Vol 131 (10) ◽  
pp. 853-859 ◽  
Author(s):  
I-C Nam ◽  
J-S Bae ◽  
S-H Lee ◽  
J-O Park ◽  
S-Y Kim ◽  
...  

AbstractObjective:This study aimed to identify the effect of lateral neck dissection on voice change in thyroidectomised patients.Methods:Medical records from 264 patients who underwent thyroidectomy with (n= 65) or without (n= 199) lateral neck dissection were reviewed. Clinical and voice evaluation data were compared between the two groups.Results:Patients who underwent surgery that included lateral neck dissection had lower fundamental frequencies and speaking fundamental frequencies. They also had a higher incidence of asymmetric mucosal wave and vocal fold oedema on videostroboscopy during the first month after surgery, with the incidence of vocal fold oedema remaining significantly higher at three months. Self-assessed voice quality scores were significantly higher in lateral neck dissection patients at both one and three months after surgery.Conclusion:In thyroidectomised patients, lateral neck dissection lowers the vocal pitch in the initial period after surgery and induces vocal fold oedema that persists for several months. Although most objective parameters improved within a month, subjective symptoms lasted for longer.


Author(s):  
Bridget Sweet

The book describes voice change as a whole-body experience for adolescents, both female and male, which, while not always easy, should not scare music teachers away from working with adolescent singers. Many aspects of adolescent voice change are addressed throughout this book, but there may be exceptions to what is discussed. Everyone has an endocrine system that contains glands to produce hormones, but this system is sometimes influenced or disrupted by biological makeup, environmental conditions, or malnourishment; in addition, some people are diagnosed with atypical chromosomal structures. As a result, it is acknowledged that not every person on the planet does, in fact, experience a voice change. The focus of Thinking Outside the Voice Box remains on adolescent females and males who are engaged in the singing process and experiencing symptoms and expectations of a “typical” adolescent voice change.


2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 1875-1886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn McGettigan ◽  
Frank Eisner ◽  
Zarinah K. Agnew ◽  
Tom Manly ◽  
Duncan Wisbey ◽  
...  

Historically, the study of human identity perception has focused on faces, but the voice is also central to our expressions and experiences of identity [Belin, P., Fecteau, S., & Bedard, C. Thinking the voice: Neural correlates of voice perception. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8, 129–135, 2004]. Our voices are highly flexible and dynamic; talkers speak differently, depending on their health, emotional state, and the social setting, as well as extrinsic factors such as background noise. However, to date, there have been no studies of the neural correlates of identity modulation in speech production. In the current fMRI experiment, we measured the neural activity supporting controlled voice change in adult participants performing spoken impressions. We reveal that deliberate modulation of vocal identity recruits the left anterior insula and inferior frontal gyrus, supporting the planning of novel articulations. Bilateral sites in posterior superior temporal/inferior parietal cortex and a region in right middle/anterior STS showed greater responses during the emulation of specific vocal identities than for impressions of generic accents. Using functional connectivity analyses, we describe roles for these three sites in their interactions with the brain regions supporting speech planning and production. Our findings mark a significant step toward understanding the neural control of vocal identity, with wider implications for the cognitive control of voluntary motor acts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 964-968
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Schlaudecker ◽  
Olivia Zamudio ◽  
Keesha Goodnow ◽  
Harini Pallerla ◽  
Saundra Regan

Despite rising opioid fatalities, attitudes remain indifferent toward those with opioid use disorder (OUD). Utilizing patient voice may be one way to move providers to action. We included persons with OUD in 2 educational sessions as an important tool of attitude change. Post-session surveys demonstrate increased compassion, deeper understanding of challenges, and positive change in attitude. Inclusion of patient voice was identified as the most useful feature of both educational sessions. Four themes emerged: value of patient voice; change in attitude; barriers to change; and enhanced provider role. Future educational sessions should include the voice of persons living with OUD.


2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 190-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven M. Demorest ◽  
Ann Clements

The skill of pitch-matching is a prerequisite for even the most casual musical participation. While singing accuracy has been carefully researched at the elementary level, there has been comparatively less research done with adolescents. The purpose of the study described here was to examine the influence of perceptual ability, task demands, and singing range on the pitch-matching performance of adolescent boys in various stages of the voice change. We found significant differences between certain, inconsistent, and uncertain singers in their perceptual skills and found that a contextual pitch-matching condition was significantly easier than a single-pitch condition. There was no difference by singing range. Future research should explore the progression of these skills longitudinally and continue to examine performance related to different task demands.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document