Habilitation for the Aging Avocational Singer

Abstract

Habilitation for the Aging Avocational Singer Dann Mitton (bio) VOICE PEDAGOGY We are getting older. Nearly seven million Canadians are currently age 65 or older.1 More than two-fifths of U.S. Baby Boomers have already reached the de facto retirement age of 65; the first Gen Xers to cross this aging milestone will do so in 2030. By 2060, 94.7 million Americans are projected to be age 65 or older.2 Williamson reports that "the fastest growing segment of the population is in the over age 85 category."3 This means a steadily growing market segment for the informed voice teacher who understands and can address the needs of the aging singer. The purpose of this article is to curate some thoughts on voice pedagogy (listening, interventions, and resources) that can equip voice teachers to better support an aging singer clientele. It will identify aspects of the aging process that impact the singing voice, and touch on pedagogic interventions for six common challenges experienced by aging singers: onset, power, intonation, vibrato, noise, and vowel production. An in-depth discussion of serious age-related diseases such as Parkinson's, chronic illness, or vocal pathologies is outside the scope of this article. The assumption is that voice teachers understand and embrace their role as part of a greater voice care team that will include certified medical experts to whom one defers whenever issues of health and singing intersect. WHAT IS AGING? Aging is a complex process in which changes at the molecular, cellular, and organ levels result in a progressive and inevitable decrease in the body's ability to respond appropriately to disruptions.4 [Aging affects] accuracy, speed, endurance, stability, strength, coordination, breathing capacity, nerve conduction velocity, heart output, and kidney function. Muscle and neural tissues atrophy, and the chemicals responsible for nerve transmissions change. Ligaments atrophy, and cartilages turn to bone (including those in the larynx). Joints develop irregularities that interfere with smooth motion. The vocal folds themselves thin and deteriorate, losing their elastic and collagenous fibers. This makes them stiffer and thinner and may correlate with voice changes often noted with aging such as breathiness, slightly decreased volume, "thinning" of the voice, and loss of vocal efficiency … The vocal fold edge also becomes less smooth.5 The loss of muscle mass from aging is also known as sarcopenia. [End Page 347] Johnson and Brunssen correlate these widespread systemic changes to the following effects for the aging singer: loss of range (up and/or down); noise in the sound; breaks in the voice; "knerdly" sound and other compensatory effort; intonation; need to take a few more breaths; vibrato slower; warming up takes longer; unclear open vowels; slower coloratura; less ring and intensity in the sound; vocal fatigue; cramping in voice: ceiling; /h/ between notes; difficulty with soft singing and decrescendos; debilitating and compensatory efforts to make up for compromised function.6 Gerontologist Dr. Tracey Gendron questions the ethics of feeding the larger narrative of aging as a progressive decline.7 "Older age is a time that we can actually look forward to. People really just enjoy themselves more and are at peace with who they are. I would love for everyone to say their age at every year and celebrate it."8 Can one recapture youthful vigor? Exciting new research shows that it soon may be possible to undo the reduction in capillary density that accompanies aging. Capillaries are the vehicles through which oxygen off-loads from the blood to the muscle cells. The greater the density of capillaries, the faster the metabolism is excited.9 A 2018 study on aging mice successfully restored the number of blood capillaries and capillary density seen in younger mice, concomitantly restoring their ability to exercise rigorously as in youth.10 This is encouraging as we develop future therapies that can benefit humans. One manifest advantage enjoyed by the aging performing artist is life experience. Lived experience "allows older singers to bring a level of emotion to a performance that is not possible in youth."11 Another point of optimism is that aspects of the aging process respond very well to intervention. Physical decline does not take place uniformly among the...