Longitudinal Assessment of Singing Students

Abstract

Introduction: Singers have unique vocal demands, and if the voice is impaired there can be a negative impact on their quality of life. While a variety of options exist to assess vocal health, the utilization of cepstral peak prominence (CPP) has increased due to his reliability in some situations. However, it has not been utilized commonly in the singing population. This study sought to assess vocal health in singing students using noninvasive measures such as singing voice handicap index (SVHI) and consensus auditory perceptual evaluation of voice (CAPE-V) as well as CPP to provide preliminary information on this measure.

Methods: A prospective longitudinal study of singing students independent of year of training enrolled in a 2-credit voice lesson at an undergraduate School of Music was conducted. Non-invasive measures were used to evaluate the voice. All participants recorded the same spoken sentence at four equally spaced intervals throughout the semester using a ZOOM H4n Pro (two cardioid input microphone, Hauppauge, New Year). Participants completed SVHI at the time of each recording, and CAPE-V conducted by two speech language pathologists trained in voice. CPP was determined using running speech samples.

Results: A total of 23 singers completed the study (11 male, 12 female). There was a significant difference in SVHI at the first recording compared to the final recording (10.6 ± 4.6 vs 9.3 ± 5.9, P= 0.008). Similarly, there was a significant difference in CPP at the first recording compared to the final recording (9 ± 3 vs 9.4 ± 1.1, P < 0.001). However, no significant difference was seen with CAPE-V.

Conclusion: Our results are similar to previous studies. There was no evidence in decline in objective and subjective vocal quality utilizing the measure included in our study.

Keywords: Cepstral peak prominence; Consensus auditory-perceptual evaluation of voice; Singer; Singing voice handicap index.