From Song to Speech

Misinterpreting Research Results or "A

Little Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing"

Jean Westerman Gregg

Clients coming to my studio

from the office of an otolaryngologist always bring with them the results of voice study from past years.
It is the responsibility of the speechlanguage pathologist to determine
what muscular patterns and behavioral habits have contributed to a laryngeal disorder diagnosed by the
doctor. Over the years, certain recurring problems have emerged, which
might be helpful for the voice teacher
to review.
One of the most prominent of
these is difficulty with the upper
passaggio, which often is coupled
with a diagnosis of inflamed and
edematous vocal folds. In addition to
problems with the upper voice, a
clinical vibrato may be present and
also possible protrusion of neck
muscles during singing. Questioning
the client sometimes reveals something such as the client's voice
teacher from years past using the
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imagery "down and back, up and

over."
This brings to mind the several
research projects on vertical laryngeal position undertaken by the late
Dr. Thomas Shipp at the Veterans
Administration Medical Center in
San Francisco. Dr. Shipp has stated,
"I believe that vertical laryngeal position is important to aspects of
voice production such as pitch and
quality and, perhaps, vocal fold tissue damage."' Because the method
used in his research involved filming
laryngeal profile, only subjects who
had prominent thyroid cartilages
were used, which eliminated women
from the study. (The most prominent thyroid cartilage and larynx I
have ever seen appeared on the cover of the April 15, 2001 New York
Times Magazine, which showed Darryl Strawberry in profile. With that
larynx, he should have been a singer
instead of a baseball player!)
One of Dr. Shipp's findings indicated that the larynx in most
trained male professionals remained
in a relatively low position during
singing. Looking at the structure of
the larynx and its function in various life activities is helpful in understanding the problems that can occur when a voice teacher takes the
results of that research and interprets those findings to mean that
students should be taught to force
the larynx down into a lowered position as a requisite for good singing.
All bodily structures are designed to accomplish a primary func-

tion that is always a life-sustaining

one. It must be remembered that
speaking and singing are secondary
uses of structures that are designed
primarily for other functions. One
must never lose sight of the primary use of a structure and force it to
be used in a manner inappropriate
or counter to such function, as the
result can be muscle tension and
possible tissue damage, which does
not promote longevity in a singing
career.
The larynx lies in the neck at
the top of the trachea (windpipe). It
is in effect a three-way valve to protect the trachea, bronchi, and lungs
from foreign particles that could impede respirationa vital function
for human beings. When the larynx
serves in this fashion, the vocal
folds, false vocal folds, and epiglottis
close tightly to protect the airway.
This action is also used to impound
air in the lungs during such activities as lifting, child bearing, evacuation, and being tackled in football,
because the abdominal muscles are
tensely setall downward bearing
activities, which is the opposite of
singing. During deep inhalation, the
larynx lowers as the folds open to allow passage of air into the lungs.
Deglutition (swallowing) is a
primary function of several structures in the mouth and neck, including the larynx. Teeth and tongue are
involved in masticating food prior to
swallowing. The tongue then drives
the bolus of food back into the pillars
67

Jean Westerman Gregg

of the fauces (two curves of mucous

membrane containing muscular fibers that arch lateraiward and downward from the uvulain other
words, the lower border of the soft
palate, which hangs almost as a curtain between the mouth and pharynx). As the tongue pushes the food
back, it presses against the hard
palate with its base retracted, and
the larynx and pharynx rise. The entrance to the larynx is closed by the
forward movement of the arytenoid
cartilages toward the epiglottis, produced by the contraction of the thyroarytenoid muscle and muscles related to the aryepiglottic folds. The
food is prevented from entering the
nose as it passes by the posterior surface of the epiglottis by the contraction of the constrictors of the fauces,
the palatine velum being raised by
the levator veli palatini and tensed
by the tensor veli palatini while the
pharynx is pulled upward over the
food bolus by the action of the
pharyngopalatini muscles coming
nearly together, the space between
them being filled by the uvula.2
Thus, the food descends into the
lower part of the pharynx and into
the esophagus. During this process,
the larynx moves up and down in
the throat with an excursion that
has been measured up to 30 mm in
extent. This, of course, means that
not only are the muscles in the soft
palate and pharynx used, but the trachea is also stretched, explaining
why it can hurt to swallow if you
have a sore throat or tracheitis.
Thus, one sees that vertical movement of the larynx occurs naturally
in life activities.
Pressed phonation has been described by Sundberg as "high subglottal pressure combined with high
adductive force." In contrast, flow
68

phonation is "lower subglottal pressure and lower adductive force. 113 A

change from pressed to flow phonation can increase the amplitude of
the fundamental by as much as 15
dBa not inconsiderable change in
acoustic output. When a singer is
trained to use the vocal folds in this
more efficient manner, air is not allowed to escape during phonation
that is not being used to vibrate the
folds, but the stress on the larynx is
greatly reduced.
Newton's Third Law of Motion
states: "To every action there is an
equal and contrary reaction or the
mutual actions of two bodies are
equal and opposite." This law points
out that all forces are essentially
"double ended. 114 Sundberg has stated that "the main tool for raising
loudness of phonation is an increase
in subglottic pressure. 115 During loud
singing, it might appear that some
slight resistance at the laryngeal level to subglottal breath pressure could
be present. This might be interpreted by some as a feeling of holding the
larynx down, rather than just firmness of control.
Pitch rise (increase in fundamental frequency) is also associated
with an increase in subglottal pressure. When viewing a videostroboscopic image of the larynx, it is noted that with rising pitch the larynx
moves up in the throat, although
Shipp's findings indicated that,
while some singers demonstrated
this movement, others had no correlation between pitch rise and laryngeal position. if, however, the larynx
is prohibited from a normal slight
rise with increasing pitch by forcing
it down, problems with the passaggio can result. Again, in accordance
with Newton's Third Law of Mo-

tion, there might be slight resistance

on the part of the larynx to subglottal pressure, which may be interpreted by some to mean a tendency to
maintain a certain amount of downward pressure and, therefore that
movement should be taught.
The best pedagogical technique
for teaching an easy transition
through the passaggio, in the view of
this author, is very soft singing,
which reduces subglottal pressure
on the larynx and activates only the
cover of the folds, allowing the vocal
folds to make adjustments necessary
for higher pitches gradually. In other
words the larynx is allowed to "do
its thing" throughout the whole
pitch range without stress. Calling
attention to laryngeal height seems
to be completely counterproductive
and unnecessary. In very soft singing, the amplitude of the fundamental is increased without stress on the
larynx. This allows healing of the
tissues and movement through the
passaggio becomes easy. When the
singer learns this, the resulting
knowledge of the level in the face/
head of the vibratory feel of any given pitch becomes a reliable sensation
that can be duplicated at a higher dynamic level without adding stress on
the larynxnot so you can "place"
it there, but so you can "let" it go
where you have learned it naturally
wants to go. In the meantime, the tissue damage/abnormalities present
are allowed to heal. Thus, the vocal
production becomes a more healthy
one that increases the performer's
enjoyment of singing, as well as the
longevity of his or her career.
Note: My sincere thanks to
Robert T Sataloff, M.D., D.M.A. for
his review and suggestions on this
article prior to publication.

From Song to Speech

NOTES

1 Thomas Shipp, "Vertical Laryngeal

Position: Research Findings and
Application for Singers," Journal of
Voice 1, no. 3 (1987): 219-19.
2. Henry Gray, Anatomy of the Human
Body. Warren, H. Lewis, ed. 24th Edition (Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger,
1942).
3. Johan Sundburg, The Science of the
Singing Voice (Dc Kalb, IL: Northern
Illinois University Press, 1987), 80.
4. M. Randall Harrison, Neil H.,
Williams, and Walter F Colby, General College Physics, rev ed. (New York:
Harper & Brothers, 1937).
5. Sundberg, 56.

Jean Westerman Gregg holds A.B. and

MA. degrees from the University ofMichipan and the MS. de rce in communication

disord ers from Southern Connecticut State

University. She is the Vice Chairman of
the American Academy of Teachers of
Singing, a certified member of the American Speech-La nguage-Hea ring Association, and served as President of the National Association of Teachers of Singing
(NATS) 1994-1997. and President Pro
Tern for 1998-1999. Following a career as
a singer in opera, oratorio, and recital, her
interest in the laryngeal health of the profrssional voice user led her to obtain certification and licensure as a speech-language
pathologist in 1986. In demand as a lecturer and clinician, her private practice is
about equally divided between the teaching
of singing and the rehabilitation of laryngeal disorders on referral from the medical
profession. She chaired the NATS Committee on Voice Therapy and together with
Dr. Ingo Titze of the University of Iowa,
represented NATS in the negotiations with
the American Speech -Language-Hearing
Association that resulted in the joint statement "The Role of the Speech-Language
Patholoqist and Teacher of Singing in Re-

WINONA
STATE UNIVERSITY

mediation of Singers with Voice Disorders" that appeared in both The NATS
Journal and ASHA magazine. She has
served on the faculty of the Voice Foundation's Symposium on Care of the Professional Voice since 1992 and is member of
their Scientific Advisory Board. She served
as a panelist at the First International
Congress of Voice Teachers in Strasbourg,
France in 1987, for the McGill University
Workshop on Voice in the summer of 1994,
presented at the Third International Congress of Voice Teachers in Auckland, New
Zealand in 1994, at the Third Brazilian
Congress of Laryngology and Voice in Rio
dejaneiro in October 1995, at the first International Symposium on Care of the
Professional Voice in Athens, Greece in
September 1997, and at the Fifth International Congress of Voice Teachers in
Helsinki, Finland, in 2001. She is a member of the Editorial Board oftheJournal of
Voice and her column "From Song to
Speech" has appeared in the journal of
Singing since January 1990.

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