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Vocal Health and Singing Pedagogy: Considerations from Biology and Motor Learning

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Teaching Singing in the 21st Century

Part of the book series: Landscapes: the Arts, Aesthetics, and Education ((LAAE,volume 14))

Abstract

It is clear that vocal health is influenced by numerous factors, involving physiological, mechanical, and psychological mechanisms. This chapter provides an overview of such issues, emphasizing the role of the voice teacher in fostering vocal health and identifying early signs of physiological vocal changes. A particular focus will be two issues of recent interest within the clinical voice science community: (1) approaches to recovery from acute vocal fold injury and (2) approaches to voice training in general. Novel biological data indicate the counter-intuitive possibility that some forms of light classical singing may not only not exacerbate injury, but may actually help to reverse it in some cases. Regarding training, this question has been the target of intensive investigation in the general motor learning literature for the past decade. Again counter-intuitively, recent literature strongly indicates the typical practice of training learners verbally, analytically and biomechanically may actually interfere with both immediate performance and long-term motor learning. Data instead suggest that experiential learning in which learners’ attention is directed to performance outcomes rather than biomechanics enhances performance and learning over traditional verbal-analytical approaches. Data and implications for singing pedagogy will be discussed with practical examples.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Overall vocal dose is determined by (1) distance dose, which is the cumulative distance traveled by the vocal tissues over a given period of time, (2) time dose, which is the cumulative amount of phonation time within a given time frame, and (3) energy dissipation dose, which is the cumulative heat dissipation and can be loosely associated with the amount of rest between phonation events.

  2. 2.

    Evaluation by a specialized laryngologist is preferred over evaluation by a general otolaryngologist because of the former’s additional training and experience with voice problems.

  3. 3.

    In vitro refers to research conducted on isolated tissues in a lab. This approach avoids risks to human subjects and allows greater experiment control than is possible with human subjects. However, findings do not always translate back to the living organic system.

  4. 4.

    In vivo refers to research conducted with living subjects. This approach has the advantage of observing effects within the context of the entire organic system and has greater power for clinical applicability. However, experimental controls with human subjects may be poorer than for in vitro studies or in vivo animal studies.

  5. 5.

    In silico refers to computer modeling of biologic systems. This approach allows for faster than real-time observations of a biologic process. However, these types of simulations are limited in their ability to fully model and predict the behavior of an entire system.

  6. 6.

    This is not to imply the teacher should shy away from internally analyzing and considering biomechanical information, as such knowledge informs how the teacher will guide the student to the desired target. Ultimately, the student will need to know this information for the time when he will teach but during skill acquisition, attention to such information is known to impair the rate and depth of learning.

  7. 7.

    The degrees of freedom refer to the large number of independent states that could be employed to produce an action. The number independent states are derived from each of the independent joint movements that could be activated in concert and each of the many muscles that could be employed for those joint movements.

  8. 8.

    This of course assumes the student has been adequately warmed-up before engaging in exercises that present a technical challenge.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Voice and Swallowing Center, Department of Otolaryngology, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

    Douglas F. Roth

  2. School of Medicine, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA

    Douglas F. Roth

  3. Department of Communication Science and Disorders, Otolaryngology, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Katherine Verdolini Abbott

  4. Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie-Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Katherine Verdolini Abbott

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  1. Douglas F. Roth
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Correspondence to Douglas F. Roth .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Scott D. Harrison

  2. Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Jessica O'Bryan

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Roth, D.F., Verdolini Abbott, K. (2014). Vocal Health and Singing Pedagogy: Considerations from Biology and Motor Learning. In: Harrison, S., O'Bryan, J. (eds) Teaching Singing in the 21st Century. Landscapes: the Arts, Aesthetics, and Education, vol 14. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8851-9_6

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