Collegiate singers are not always cognizant of their voice use – in rehearsal, lessons, teaching, or daily use. The Ambulatory Phonation Monitor (APM) has proven to be a staple in spoken voice health research but has recently proven successful in singing research in both solo voice (Schloneger & Hunter, 2017) and choral voice (Daughtery et al., 2011) contexts. This investigation aimed to observe the unique characteristics of vocal loading and students perceived vocal status in choral and lesson settings.

Eight undergraduate singers at a large midwestern university participated in this study. All participants were over 18 (M = 19.4) and signed an Internal Review Board (IRB) pre-approved consent form. The student singers were members of either a treble or SATB ensemble at their university and took applied lessons with the same voice teacher. Data collection took place over 6 weeks when students were simultaneously singing in choir rehearsals and applied lessons.

Participants wore Ambulatory Phonation Monitors (APM) during their regular hour-long choir rehearsal and voice lesson. Both data collections were to be completed within 48 hours to ensure a similar vocal status for each participant. Audio recordings of each lesson and rehearsal were captured to delineate between sung and spoken vocal loading events. From the ambulatory monitoring, standard vocal dose metrics such as phonation percentage, dose time, cycle dose, and distance dose were analyzed. Perceptual vocal status was measured using the Evaluation of the Ability to Sing Easily (EASE) (Phyland et al., 2013). The EASE was completed by the singer participants before and after each rehearsal and lesson. Scores from the EASE were compared to determine if there was a significant change in perceived vocal status following either event.

Initial comparisons between vocal loading data indicated a significant difference between solo and choral settings, with a high mean cycle and distance dose in applied lessons. Though vocal load was significantly higher in applied lessons, participant EASE scores were not significantly different from post-choral rehearsal scores.

Applied lesson teachers and choral educators should be aware of vocal load expectations and it's impact on their students perceived vocal status. Through this awareness, choral and vocal educators can have a more direct and positive impact on their students overall vocal health.