Moseley-Morgan, Rebecca;
(2024)
A Longitudinal Study of Vocal Functionality and Longevity in the Mature Female Singer.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Scientific literature reports that a voice will suffer from age-related changes over-time due to a decline of its primary anatomical and physiological components. This thesis has examined these age-related changes and investigated whether or not the functionality and longevity of the voice can be maintained. Respiratory function, agility, vibrato, resonance, mode of phonation and pitch range were all examined. There were scant models on which to base this study, hence the fieldwork designed has had to be innovative in order to capture meaningful data. One of these innovations has been the use of acoustic software to recognize and monitor perceptual acoustic vocal changes. The conclusions indicate that vocal behaviour does not change in a regular, patterned way and at the same rate for all singers. The cross-referencing of empirical data has allowed the author to gather insightful information about any atypical results and their causes on both individual and group levels. Vibrato, resonance, and mode of phonation do not automatically decline with age, factors such as musical training, personal circumstances such as grief, former careers and lifestyle all play a part. Further conclusions indicated that respiratory function and vocal agility could achieve statistically significant improvement over-time. Effective vocal technique was shown to aid good functionality. The fundamental frequency of the main cohort dropped over-time as literature predicted, but the majority of singers were able to maintain and even increase their highest pitches through targeted exercise. The conclusions from the questionnaires, diaries and research log overwhelmingly indicated that singing is good for health and well-being which concurs with the literature. Finally, the tests designed for the fieldwork in this study will provide a basis for an effective pedagogy for mature female voices in the future. This will benefit singers by helping them to maintain vocal functionality and sing into senescence.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | A Longitudinal Study of Vocal Functionality and Longevity in the Mature Female Singer |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2024. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Culture, Communication and Media |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10193685 |
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