Choir Singing for a Lifetime: What We Can Do as Older Adults to Take Care of Our Voices

Age Impacts Our Voices

The sobering facts:

Hormonal changes… of the endocrine system can affect fluid levels in tissues below the larynx. Extra fluid can cause the cords to change in shape and mass — causing effortful and less efficient phonation. Hormonal changes can also impact change in vocal pitch: lower for women, higher for men. Loss of muscle tone in the vocal muscles — both intrinsic and extrinsic — impacts the efficiency of phonation.

Low thyroid function… can cause hoarseness, vocal fatigue, muffled quality, loss of range, a lump in the throat.

Reduction in respiratory function… can be due to thorax shrinkage, rigid, stiff rib cage, weakness of thorax/rib musculature; loss of lung elasticity. Did you know that starting at 30, 5% of vital lung capacity is lost per decade?

Laryngeal function diminishes… due to calcification and ossification of once flexible thyroid, cricoid, and arytenoid cartilages. Membranes surrounding the folds atrophy; others grow thicker and more swollen. Secretions of the mucous membranes decrease.

Vocal fatigue… is often caused by type of sound and/or the duration of sound-making.

While we have no control over our chronological age, we CAN improve our biological age with proper nutrition, rest, and exercise; we CAN maintain and improve our psychological age thru positive psycho-emotional health and outlook, and even meditation.

What We Can Do as Older Adults to Take Care of Our Voices

Take care of our bodies. Monitor what, how much, and when we eat. Minimize salt and sugar intake. Alcohol, caffeine, and smoking are deterrents to healthy vocal function. Late meals can cause digestive tracts to release gastric hydrochloric acid into the esophagus and laryngeal areas (acid reflux or GERD).

Physical exercise, particularly aerobic exercise, enhances blood flow to the brain. Water intake maintains healthy vocal fold lubrication. Try to maintain a 40-50% level of humidity in our homes and offices. Wash hands often; colds are transmitted more successfully by hands rather than by germs in the air or radical changes in temperatures.

Find ways to reduce tension and stress in our lives, in our bodies, and in our sounds.

Monitor our speaking voices, by speaking in a comfortable pitch range and at comfortable volumes. Avoid environments with overpowering ambient noise.

Take some voice lessons, if possible. It’s never too late. If you are having vocal difficulties, get professional help. Ask me what those difficulties might be. Professional training can make us more resistant to the effects of aging on the voice.

Know our vocal limitations. Sing in moderation. Listen to the voice, outwardly and inwardly. Vocal endurance varies considerably between individuals. The more one uses one’s voice, the more wisely and economically it must be used.

Sing in the appropriate range and monitor duration and vocal stamina.

Warm up the voice and activate singer’s breathing before strenuous singing. This focuses the brain, engages the muscles with which we produce sound, enhances blood flow to the folds, and maintains consistent efficient vocal cord function. Rest the voice after strenuous singing (NO talking, e.g.). Singing is athletic. Regular practice produces positive results.

Set some choir singing goals!

Vocal sound aims:

• Freely and consistently produced sound
• Pleasant to listen to
• Loud enough to be heard easily
• Rich, ringing, and resonant
• Energy flows smoothly from note to note
• Vibrant, dynamic, and alive
• Flexibly expressive

Singer’s alignment and breath aims:

• Maintain good posture by keeping weight forward, knees loose, gentle torso tuck under while elongating the spine
• Suspend rib cage; keep the back of the neck long – ‘book on the head’
• Breathe in as if beginning a yawn
• Feel the body expand around the middle
• Suspend the breath just as torso is comfortably full of air
• Start the sound by just thinking to do so, w/o conscious physical effort
• Maintain the expansion around the middle for as long as the sound lasts

The Tools: Here’s How

Singer’s Posture:

Using a mirror, stand with weight forward on balls of feet, knees loose, lower torso tucked under (pelvis tilted forward), spine elongated, sternum comfortably elevated, shoulders back and down, head up, back of the neck long, eyes at eye level.

Breathing exercises:

In singer’s posture, place right hand over waist, spreading fingers so that they cover the belly button and the lower abdominal area, with thumb in upper abdominal area. Take air in through mouth with nose open. Consider a ‘surprise’ breath without the noisy gasp. This lowers the larynx, opens the mouth and activates your abdominals. Breathe into hand, expanding the belly button outward, along with upper and lower abdominals. Then hiss out slowly, steadily maintaining the inhalation posture, while slowly contracting lower abdominals inwardly. Try using the consonants [f], [z] in the same way.

Pant like a dog: large dog, medium-sized dog, small dog. Work for lateral pulses in and out at/from the center of the body.

Did I say use a mirror when practicing? Shallow breathing is a very definite high, up/down, vertical process. Singer’s breathing is a lower, more lateral process. Rib cage expands three ways: up and down; front to back; side to side.

Read on. . .

Six areas of relaxation to exercise and monitor:

1. Facial muscles. Give the face a facial massage starting at the hairline, working fingers down over the temples, jaw hinge and chin. Spend a moment on the brow. Let the face remain slack.
2. Jaw/Mandible. Take hold of the jaw with hands. Gently surrender the jaw to them. Let hands move the jaw up and down, as freely as possible. No need to open the jaw beyond the hinge. Be patient and persevere.
3. Tongue and jaw muscles just inside the jaw bone. Using both hands, massage the tissues just inside the jaw line to release tension in the tongue and the muscles that connect the tongue to the jaw.
4. Tongue. Extend the tongue firmly outside the mouth…hold. Release the hold on the tongue, letting it hang out of the mouth. Then let it slink back inside. Repeat. Take your forefingers and make a point or use your thumbs. Place them just behind the chin bone into the soft tissue area and massage up and down. Swallowing, while doing this, demonstrates the mighty tongue at work. In voice use, as little tension here as possible is desired.
5. Larynx. With both hands on either side of the larynx, gently move it from side to side. If there is any ‘clicking’, keep moving it side to side to release it. This ‘clicking’ is cartilage that is inflexible and is holding. Ideally, singers want a suspended larynx, free of tension.
6. Head/Neck. Starting with the head forward on the chest, bob it gently and slowly back and forth with the mouth slack imitating a ‘bobbin’ doll. Stretch neck side to side (ear toward shoulder). Do these several times.

Work to maintain all areas of relaxation whenever you use your voice!

Now you are ready to vocalize: Suggested Vocalises

Some general vocalizing tips:

• Sighing, humming, lip trills, rolled [r], ‘raspberries’, [ng] are excellent ‘set the stage’ sounds in comfortable middle range and at a comfortable volume.
• With vocalizes, start in middle range, working out in either direction from there. ‘Conversational mezzo-forte’ is the recommended volume. About 10-15 minutes is usually sufficient. Vary vowels; vary dynamics, vary the exercises. Check areas of relaxation constantly.
• Keep tongue loose and forward in the mouth, up against the bottom teeth. Moving higher in range, open the mouth by releasing the jaw downward. In addition, find space inside the mouth by cultivating a beginning ‘yawn’ position which raises the soft palate and lowers the back of the tongue. Keep nasal passages open. Lips can fan slightly forward away from the teeth. Avoid spreading or ‘smiling’ with the mouth. Consider an oval shape as upper range is reached. Strive for a balanced mix of brightness and richness.
• Use a mirror and stand when practicing for optimum results. Check areas of relaxation throughout vocalizing.

1. Mee, may, mah, mo, mu. One pitch, one breath. Work for continuity of sound, smooth transitions from vowel to vowel with a vibrant [m] to connect them. Work slowly, aiming to use the entire supply of air intake. Move upwards and/or downwards in pitch by ½ steps. Stay in middle range.
2. Moo-ee, oo-ee, oo-ee, oo-ee, oo-ee. 5,4,3,2,1. Middle range. One breath. Sing both vowels on each note, working for continuity of sound, and minimal shift in the lips from [ oo] to[ ee]. Move up and down in pitch by ½ steps.
3. “Viola” 1,3,5,4,3,2,1. One breath. Sing [vee] on 1,3, [o] on 5,4,3,2 and [la] on 1. Work for consistency of tone, keeping the brightness of the [vee] on both the [o] and [a] vowels. Work up in range by ½ steps into the upper voice. Increase energy with the singing of higher pitches.
4. Zee, ay, ah, oh, oo. 1,3,5,8,7,5,4,2,1. One breath. Each vowel is sung on two consecutive pitches, with the [oo] on the final pitch in the pattern. Start comfortably low in the voice and work upward into the upper and high voice. Work for consistency of tone, smooth vowel transitions, and more space for top-most sounds. Remember to release the jaw and create an inner yawn for more space as you move into higher voice.
5. Mee/oh or mee/ah. 5,4,3,2,1—-9—-1. [Mee] for 5,4,3,2,1; [oh], or [ ah] for 1-9-1. One breath. Work for a brisk, rhythmic tempo, with a slight pulse on the first of every four (4) notes. Aim for clarity, flexibility, without aspirating in between notes; rather, aim for legato and pulsed phrasing. Start comfortably low in the voice, and work upwards to comfortable highest pitches in the voice.
6. Triplet exercise, all vowels. 1,3,5,8,10,12,11,9,7,5,4,2,1. One breath, legato, on any vowel: vary them each time. Start comfortably low in the range and work to the top and then back down. Move at a good pace.
7. Staccato. All vowels. 1,3,5,8,5,3,1. Triplet feel. Start comfortably low in the range and move upwards to upper and high range. Begin slowly until the pattern is established, then gain some speed. Strive for accuracy and a resonant ‘ping’ in each note. Actively engage your breath mechanism on each and every sung pitch.

Selected Bibliography

**McClosky, David Blair, with members of the McClosky Institute of Voice, Your Voice At Its Best, Fifth Edition. Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc., 2011.

McKinney, James. The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults. Nashville: Genevox Music Group, 1994.

Miller, Richard. The Structure of Singing: System and Art in Vocal Technique. New York: Schirmer Books, 1996.

Stark, James. Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999.

**Ware, Clifton. Basics of Vocal Pedagogy: The Foundations and Process of Singing. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998.

Barbara Ann Peters

Soprano, Clinician, Vocal Instructor

M.M. University of North Carolina at Greensboro

License de Concert Chant, L’École Normale de Musique, Paris, France

B.M. Boston Conservatory at Berklee

Certified McClosky Voice Technician

6103 Buckhorn Road, Greensboro, NC 27410, bapeters@mindspring.com