Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of vocal cord length on vocal range in aspiring vocalists. On the basis of the Frederic Chopin Irkutsk Regional College of Music. 141 student vocalists (18 ± 3.6 years, 122 girls) underwent indirect laryngoscopy, the length of the vocal folds was measured using an ultrasound scan of the larynx using an Aloka SSD 500 apparatus with a 5 MHz sensor during breathing and during phonation of the lowest and highest tones, measured weight and height, the voice range in Hz and the number of semitones were assessed. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was calculated, the significance of differences according to the U-Mann – Whitney and Wilcoxon criteria was calculated using the Statistica 10.0 software (reliable data at p <0.05*). Results. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was: between the length of the vocal folds and weight + 0.52*, height + 0.43*, gender + 0.45* (female 1, male 2), the lowest tone –0.34*, between height and the lowest tone is –0.23*. The range of the voice in arbitrary units and Hz correlated weakly with the length of the folds during breathing (-0.18/–0.24*, respectively), with the lowest pitch (+ 0.42/+ 0.59 *), but there was a high correlation with the highest (+ 0.88/+ 0.99*). The latter depended on: the length of the vocal folds at rest (–0.32*), weight (–0.25*), gender (–0.45*), the length of the folds during high-pitched phonation (–0.6*). Differences in the length of the vocal folds during breathing in female vocalists with different vocal ranges were not significant, while in males and females (soprano) they were significant. The length of the fold during phonation in all types of voices was shorter than during breathing. The voice range of novice vocalists was increased mainly by high tones in parallel with the shortening of folds during phonation, which could be measured using ultrasound scanning and which is achieved by training.

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