Phonational profiles of male trained singers and nonsingers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the mean speaking fundamental frequency (SFF), speaking frequency range, and mean speaking intensity for a group of trained male singers and a group of age-matched non-singers in three age ranges: 20 to 35 years old; 40 to 55 years old; and older than 65 years. Each subject was recorded as he read "The Rainbow Passage" and produced the vowel /a/ to the limits of his phonational frequency range. The data indicated that the mean SFF of the nonsingers was significantly lower among the middle-aged speakers than with the young or elderly. In contrast, the tenors exhibited no age-related SFF trends, and the young bass/baritones exhibited lower SFF levels than the middle-aged or elderly. The elderly nonsingers produced frequency ranges that were smaller than any other group. Finally, the young nonsingers used greater speech intensity than did the other groups.