Laryngeal Response to “Support” Instruction

The word “support” is often used by teachers, students, and voice scientists as if the term and mechanics were universally understood and accepted. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that instructions to support the tone result in an increased closed quotient. The tasks with straw phonation and the Theraband were included to provide context in which to imbed the requests for supported and unsupported tone. The initial study involved only sopranos, with subsequent studies planned to examine the responses of the lower voice categories. The rationale for the study was to posit that the use of the term is effective only if the instructors provide their own specific definitions. Instructions that involve the larynx directly are probably not warranted or necessary, but the teacher should know if increased vocal fold closure could result from “support the tone.” For some students, “more support” may result in blowing more air. The results of this study will help the teacher choose the most effective support strategy.

Fifteen to twenty healthy soprano students from the Voice/Opera Division of the University of Maryland School of Music participated in the study with IRB approval. The voice faculty encouraged their students to participate.

Using the electroglottograph (EGG) from VoceVista, the voice students were asked to sing three different vowels (/i/ /u/ /a/) on a three-note scale in a comfortable low range, middle range, and comfortable high range as a baseline training for the session. They were then directed to sing the same pitches with straw phonation in water with “small bubbles” and “big bubbles,” (no vowel), stretching a Theraband (medium weight, red), and with unsupported and supported tone with the aforementioned vowels. They were then directed to sing a short phrase of their choosing with unsupported and supported tone. No instructions were given involving dynamics, but the dynamic variances in each task were noted in the results. The measurement of primary interest was the closed quotient for each of the maneuvers. Upon completion of the above singing samples, each student was asked to write their brief definition of the word “support.”
Martha Randall, BM, MM
Retired Lecturer from the University of Maryland School of Music
Lori Şen, D.M.A, M.Ed.
Lecturer, Voice/Opera Division, University of Maryland School of Music
Voice Faculty, Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University