Vocal Fatigue in Collegiate Singers: An Exploratory Investigation Towards a New Assessment Protocol

The evaluation and monitoring of a collegiate singer’s voice is a challenging task given the myriad of demands imposed on their voices. The collegiate singer is at an elevated risk of developing vocal pathologies as compared to their non-singing counterparts (Bretl et al., 2023). This difficulty is magnified by an educators need to help care for multiple student voices, let alone an entire voice program. Individual assessment is an impractical option, so educators must rely on self-assessment protocols that can be easily disseminated and interpreted.In this investigation, I examined the relationship between two self-assessment protocols; one in the singing context (The Evaluation of the Ability to Sing Easily: EASE) and one from a non-singing context (The Vocal Fatigue Index: VFI) with the intent of identifying the most effective means to monitor the vocal status of collegiate singers. Participants (N = 123) completed a survey that included the VFI, EASE, perceptual evaluations of each protocol, and other demographic information. The findings of this study indicated that the EASE and VFI had a moderately low correlation (r = .404) suggesting that even though these protocols share many similar qualities, they do not measure the same outcomes. High rates of vocal fatigue were indicated by the VFI protocol (82%), while EASE scores implied overall healthy self-perceptions of vocal function. This discrepancy suggests that the VFI may be too sensitive a protocol for the singing context. The development of a new singing voice assessment protocol was recommended based upon the evidence garnered from this study in order to establish equity of voice care for all young and developing singers.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Kansas

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Devin, Zachary

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Grady, Melissa

• Music education
• Pedagogy
• Self Perception
• Singing Voice
• Vocal Assessment
• Vocal Fatigue
• Vocal Function

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright held by the author.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

http://dissertations.umi.com/ku:19332

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:kuscholarworks.ku.edu:1808/38746