Care of your voice.
As a singer, your instrument is your body. It’s obvious that your overall health can affect your voice, but the reverse can be true, too. At this time in our society, we are encouraged to show excitement by yelling loudly. Have you heard a coach or a cheerleader respond to a crowd: “I can’t hear you” and then everyone shouts louder and louder. The number of children, especially boys, who have damaged vocal cords is growing at a rapid pace. Here is Kathy Morey’s experience as a voice teacher:
“… it's troubling how many of [my students] show signs of vocal abuse from a young age. They almost all report that they yell a lot at sports practices and on the playground at school and at P.E. Some people outgrow this as adults and others develop a permanent ‘raspy’ tone in their speaking voices. Needless to say, one can’t sing with a damaged voice. Swollen vocal cords can contribute to other health problems such as colds.”
There are no pain receptors in our vocal tract, so the only way you can know that you have damaged your voices is when we hear breathiness in your sound. Breathiness is a sign of air escaping between swollen vocal cords which, due to inflammation, are unable to fully close and open to produce pitch. If the inflammation is allowed to continue, then boys will develop nodules – little calluses on the vocal cords.
From Pediatric Voice Disorders: Evaluation and Treatment, by Shannon M. Theis as found in The Asha Leade, Novemer 23, 2010,
Pediatric voice disorders typically have been blamed on vocally "abusive" behaviors, and many practitioners have tended not to provide intervention because they believed that children would "grow out of it." However, changes in pitch, loudness, and overall vocal quality tend to interfere with communicative abilities. Recently, research has focused on pediatric voice disorders and the effects of a voice disorder on a child's life. It has been reported that children and adolescents felt that their voice disorders resulted in negative attention and limited their participation in activities (Connor, Cohen, Theis, Thibeault, Heatley, & Bless, 2008)….Vocal fold nodules are one of the most common forms of pediatric dysphonia (Maddern, Campbell, & Stool, 1991) and are considered inflammatory. Studies have estimated that the incidence of vocal fold nodules as the cause of pediatric dysphonia ranges from 38% to 78% (Gray, Smith, & Schneider, 1996). Vocal fold nodules are defined as swelling (usually bilaterally) in the mid-membranous portions of the true vocal fold that interferes with glottic closure and vocal fold vibration (Heman-Ackah, Kelleher, & Sataloff, 2002). Vocal nodules impede the normal vibratory pattern of the vocal folds and present what we hear acoustically as hoarseness. Vocal nodules are the most common—but not the only—cause of pediatric dysphonia; therefore, a thorough assessment and diagnosis are essential in the evaluation and treatment of pediatric voice disorders. (For full article visit http://www.asha.org/Publications/leader/2010/101123/Pediatric-Voice-Disorders--Evaluation-and-Treatment.htm)
Some well-known singers have suffered from vocal nodules, famously Julie Andrews and often this requires surgery.
Interestingly, whispering is not a good solution. Since whispering is the passage of a great deal of air over the vocal cords, and is actually traumatic to the voice. Here is a link to a research study on whispering: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/health/08really.html?_r=1
As singers, we must protect our voices. There are healthy ways to make loud noises; ask your directors to show you how. Be sure not to allow others to talk you into damaging your voice and learn to speak more softly.
Joyce Keil, Artistic Director
Ragazzi Boys Chorus
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