Abstract
Objective
Collegiate a cappella groups have grown significantly in popularity and prominence;
however, there have been few studies that evaluate the vocal health of this subgroup
of young singers. The objective of this preliminary study was to conduct a multiparametric
evaluation of the vocal health characteristics of a sample of collegiate a cappella
singers. We further tested whether differences in vocal health assessments exist between
a cappella singers with and without vocal training and trained collegiate singers
who do not participate in a cappella groups.
Study design
Point prevalence study.
Methods
Forty-one collegiate singers participated in this study. Participants were divided
into the following three groups: trained singers (TS), trained a cappella singers
(ATS), and untrained a cappella singers (AUS). Participants were administered a set
of surveys to assess self-perception of singing voice health and perceived access
and attitudes toward voice-related health care. Acoustic and laryngoscopic assessments
of participant's speaking and singing voice was performed and validated vocal health
questionnaires administered as a means to objectively evaluate for the presence of
voice problems.
Results
Overall, 87.5% of the ATS and 60% of the AUS groups reported experiencing problems
with their singing voice. However, no vocal abnormalities were detected during laryngoscopic
and acoustic assessments. Furthermore, minimal differences between any of the measured
vocal health parameters were observed between the TS, ATS, and AUS groups.
Conclusion
Collectively, a high percentage of collegiate a cappella singers with and without
vocal training report singing voice problems. However, our sample of a cappella singers
did not have increased singing voice problems as compared to vocally trained collegiate
singers not in a cappella groups. We did find that a cappella singers may be more
inclined to seek information about maintaining a healthy singing voice from their
fellow musicians as opposed to singing teachers or other voice health professionals.
Singing teachers, otolaryngologists, and speech-language pathologists may need to
play a more active role in educating a cappella singers regarding maintaining good
vocal health.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 12, 2018
Accepted:
October 1,
2018
Footnotes
Funding: This study received support from the i.e., Department of Otolaryngology. The authors have no other funding, financial relationships, or conflicts of interest to disclose.
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
