Summary
Introduction
Bhramari Pranayama (BP) is a yogic breathing technique that involves producing a vibrating
constant pitch sound emulating the buzzing of bumblebee. Since BP deals with breathing
and humming in the sustained pitch, it is hypothesized that it can have implications
for improving voice quality in individuals. However, there is a dearth of research
available to support this assumption. Further, there are no published reports on the
effect of BP on voice quality in prospective singers group.
Aim
Current study was taken up to explore the effect induced by BP in the voice characteristics/quality
of prospective singers.
Method
The participants included 30 healthy prospective singers in the age range of 18-35
years who were attending music schools within the state of Karnataka, India. BP regimen
was demonstrated to all individuals. The voice recordings of the participants were
obtained on day 0 and day 30 of BP practice. Acoustic analysis was performed to obtain
AVQI and its constituent parameters and voice parameters from the MDVP program.
Result
Among the AVQI and its constituent parameters, Cepstral peak prominence-smoothed,
Slope LTAS, and Tilt LTAS showed significant differences before and after BP. MDVP
showed a significant difference in tremor measures before and after the practice of
BP.
Discussion
Results of the present study indicated positive effects of BP on the voice characteristics
of the prospective singers and it is reflected in objective acoustic outcome parameters
of AVQI and MDVP. This supports the assumption that BP which involves yogic breathing
will have beneficial effects on vocal physiology in turn leading to improved voice
quality in these individuals. However, it is of future interest to validate these
findings on larger samples and populations with different outcome measures. Also,
future studies are warranted to verify the efficacy of BP in improving vocal quality
and vocal efficiency of individuals with dysphonia.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 08, 2022
Accepted:
May 12,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2022 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
