- If you're over the age of 50
then this video has been specially crafted for you.
If you're under the age of 50
then, all things being equal, one day you will be 50 plus
and this information about your voice and singing
in the latter years will be super helpful.
As they say, "Forewarned is forearmed",
so regardless of age,
stick around if you want to learn more
about the aging singing voice.
- [Female] Sound check.
Check one, check two.
(crowd cheering)
Good day and welcome to another Voice Essentials video.
My name is Dr. Dan.
I'm so glad you could join me today
for another in-depth look at the human voice.
I love reading and responding to all the comments
on my channel and this comment left by Barbara
on my video about pre-menstrual voice syndrome
recently caught my eye.
Barbara writes: Thank you for this, Dr. Dan.
I'm happy to find a vocal specialist who is willing to deal
with sensitive and very important topics like this.
Now that I'm officially a senior citizen,
monthly hormonal changes are no longer an issue for me.
However, I have discovered that with diminishing estrogen
levels comes difficulty reaching high notes
or sounding squeaky in notes
that previously were full and strong.
Is it true that our female vocal chords
get thicker as we get older?
I'd love to see a video about the aging human voice.
I'm also very interested in what happens
to male vocal chords as they age.
And is there anything we older folks can do
to keep our voices strong and sounding good?
Thanks.
Now that's a chunky comment that poses some interesting
questions for our discussion.
So Barbara this video is for you and every singer who
continues to enjoy using their voice for singing
in their latter years.
And in the interest of full academic acknowledgement,
I've taken much of the information that follows from the
comprehensive text, Manual of Singing Voice Rehabilitation
by Leda Scearce, to which I'll leave an affiliate link below
should you wish to purchase your own copy.
- [Female] Sound check.
(crowd cheering)
- We may not like to accept it,
but our bodies do change as we get older.
And when it comes to the singing voice there are a variety
of changes that the elderly person may experience.
Symptoms such as altered vocal range, increased levels
of effort when singing, unstable tone, reduced volume
and difficulty when moving between registers might all be
experienced by the older singer.
So what's causing these changes?
And more importantly, can you delay
or avoid altogether the seemingly inevitable?
First things first, let's talk about some of the
contributing factors to many of the symptoms
we've just mentioned.
One of the most common occurrences among the older
population is called vocal fold atrophy.
This occurs when the body of the vocal fold,
the thyroarytenoid, starts to lose its bulk
becoming thinner and often weaker.
As many of us already know, the singing voice as well as the
spoken voice requires finely tuned coordination
between muscular engagement
according to applied air pressure levels.
When the mass of the vocalis muscle is thinned and weakened
by age, the singer can find it harder to gain full closure
of the vocal folds.
This in turn can leave a small glottal gap, sometimes known
as a glottal chink, along the rear third of the glottis.
A glottal chink allows more air to escape than might be
deemed appropriate and this can also leave the voice
sounding breathy and lacking in strength and volume.
Unfortunately, the natural response but not necessarily
the right response is for the singer to simply push harder.
And just like their more youthful counterparts, any voice
that is placed under inappropriate loads of subglottal
pressure runs the risk of further wear and tear, not to
mention the development of vocal pathologies
such as nodules.
- [Female] Sound check.
(crowd cheering)
- As we age, there is also a physiological alteration
to the structure of our cells,
the building blocks of our anatomy.
The vocal folds don't escape this change with many singers
experiencing a notable modification to their sense
of vocal agility.
Now this is due in part
to a reduction in vocal fold elasticity.
Elastic recoil helps muscles, in this case the vocal folds,
to quickly adjust and respond to that being required of it.
The aging of the human body can also have a detrimental
effect on a person's skeletal structure.
Now you don't need a PhD in human anatomy to understand
that if the bone and muscle structures are weakening then
body alignment, what many people refer to as posture,
will also be impacted.
When the singer is less able to recruit the entire
instrument, that is their whole body, to produce sound
their larynx is required to complete the vocal task
all by itself, something it's not designed to do,
at least not over the long term.
And another significant change experienced by many older
singers is a dry mouth and vocal tract.
This is because as we age our mucus glands produce a lesser
amount of secretions.
Additionally, many people in their senior years are taking
a variety of medications that often act as a diuretic
further exacerbating the impact of reduced lubrication.
Less lubrication is often experienced
as a thickening of the mucosal layer.
This not only can cause the older singer to work harder
because of a higher phonatory threshold pressure, but might
also lead to the constant clearing of one's throat because
of a cloggy sensation both in the mouth and pharynx.
Before we finish, I want to quickly discuss the effects of
menopause on the female voice as well as offer some helpful
tips when learning to sing with an older voice.
But before I do, I'd love you to hit the thumbs up button
if you're finding today's information helpful.
- [Female] Sound check.
(crowd cheering)
- Girls, you have one extra thing to contend with
when it comes to your voice getting older, menopause.
As you may well have already suspected, it's your
fluctuating hormones, specifically estrogen and progestrogen
that cause you all the grief.
The two most significant impacts of menopause are vocal
fold atrophy and a swelling, what medicos call edema,
of the vocal fold mucosa.
These two issues combine to reduce range, increase a sense
of vocal fatigue and require higher levels of vocal effort.
The significance of these changes may be mitigated by HRT,
hormone replacement therapy, but this option should be
discussed in depth with your gynecologist due
to the heightened risk of cancers, stroke and dementia.
Okay, so we've talked a lot about the challenges
facing the older singer.
It would be all too easy to throw in the towel and stop
singing once you turn 50, but for those of you who regularly
watch my channel and read my blog,
you would know I believe anything.
But older singers have so much to offer society
with their voice.
Yes, we do need to manage our expectations and age with
dignity, but this certainly doesn't mean we hang up our mic
and step off the stage never to be heard again.
The number one key when singing as an older person
is summed up by the old adage, use it or lose it.
Much of the recent research concerning older anatomies shows
that the aging body will respond positively
to a balanced and consistent exercise.
The voice will age, but much of the aging process vocally
speaking can be slowed by regular singing.
I think it's also helpful to remember that you have already
been through a significant voice change earlier in life.
When a young person's voice transforms through puberty,
they must adjust their repertoire,
the type and length of performances they do as well as
redefining their vocal identity in accordance with the new
sounds that their voice makes.
So too it is for the aging voice.
Learn to manage your expectations and you may well find
a depth of joy in your singing you didn't know was possible
in your younger years.
Of course, some of you watching this video may be confronted
with a voice significantly altered by the aging process.
If this is you, then I recommend you seek out the assistance
of a speech therapist or a singing voice specialist like
myself to assist you in regaining your vocal confidence.
Much of what you feel you have lost can be recovered with
the use of vocal activity such as semi-occluded vocal
tract exercises and resonant voice therapy.
And while activities such as those
or my singing exercise CD, Dr. Dan's Voice Essentials,
will be helpful to singers of all ages.
I commend to you the one-on-one process when working with
your older voice.
We've covered a lot of ground today.
I hope the video has been helpful.
If you're an older singer and you haven't already subscribed
to my channel, please take a moment to do so.
Here at Voice Essentials we welcome every voice, especially
those voices who have experienced life
beyond the well worn cult of youth.
I look forward to seeing you
in the next Voice Essentials video.
I'm Dr. Dan.
Sing well.