Practical Methods for Aging Female Voices in Choirs, PART I
Introduction to Part I
When I was 50, my husband and I attended an alumnae weekend at our college. One of the features of the weekend was the alumnae touring choir under the direction of our beloved director, John “Jack” Russell, who was retiring. I spent the weekend in rehearsals with many other voices of all ages, including dear life-long friends, preparing to sing a service of music at the College Chapel Sunday morning. My husband played baseball and swilled beer with the athletes all weekend and we came together for dinners and conversations with others.
I stood with friends, both men and women, who had stayed very active professionally or in community as singers. My class was the first class to have sung entirely under Director Russell’s long tenure. Some of us had trouble keeping up with the fast pace of the touring choir’s normal rehearsal patterns from long ago—all our music was rehearsed a cappella, at sight, including reading foreign languages while sight-singing. Some of us were having a bit of trouble reading music with bi-focals, or experienced a slower reflex time looking from score to conductor. I remember saying to my friends Vivian and Lynn—”you take that line, I’ll take this line and see you at the ‘fine.’ ” Some were reading music bent over their scores, choosing to mouth some phrases or singing on ‘la la la,’ a few were dealing with chronic pain or recent grief, while those in the more recent graduating classes whipped through with precision, assurance and gorgeous tone. (As usual, the 30 somethings thought they knew it all….) A few women freely exchanged the parts they sang to find a comfortable tessitura to sing in.
I write this two-part series as a singer, teacher, conductor and researcher interested in the special context of female singers traversing their midlife and post-menopausal biological changes. A singer’s voice - her highly individualized communications system - interacts with hormonal changes throughout her lifetime. Reproductive hormone receptors exist throughout the entire body: the larynx, the neuromuscular, respiratory and skeletal systems, connective tissues, the gut, the central nervous system and the brain. Knowing this, it should not be surprising that even subtle shifts in hormone levels can impact the singing voice. (Some studies suggest that there are no changes in the voice, but these studies were done with a small control group on the speaking voice, with no understanding of how speaking and singing have different requirements. )
Along with the hormonal changes of the menopausal transition, there is a gradual aging process and rich complex psycho-social challenges which women experience in individualized ways.
My experiences working with this demographic for over 40 years morphed into developing a practical manner of working with groups. These experiences have included—
Founding and conducting The Levine Women’s Chorus, which developed into two women’s choruses and an SATB chorus serving several locations in the Washington, DC area from 1995-2015. I also conducted Ceres, a woman’s chorus-in-residence at The Renwick Gallery of Art, for one year.
Teaching private and group voice classes for 2,000 individuals (teachers and singers) in this demographic, in person. This isn’t a social media number and actually doesn’t count internet presentations and offerings.
Being a long time former professional singer, a bi-lateral vocal fold paresis patient and now, experiences with my voice as a “senior” of age 66.
Working at the intersection of vocal pedagogy and vocal health for those with vocal pathology and/or injury as a singing voice specialist.
Co-authoring the acclaimed book Singing Through Change: Women’s Voices in Midlife, Menopause and Beyond, with Nancy Bos and Joanne Bozeman, which is the first published book to highlight the vetted research and women’s personal stories of the effects of biological changes on the singing voice.
It’s estimated that half of all midlife and post-menopausal women who sing will experience hormonal changes to their voices that can result in
laryngeal and vocal tract changes that can result in pitch accuracy and acoustic challanges
excessive throat dryness
changes in range
cognitive, inner ear and vision changes
Not all women have unsolvable vocal issues, or even experience them. However, the manner in which you work with them can have long-lasting and positive results!
I understand that some worship and community choral conductors may not have rehearsal time to use all the suggestions in this series. It’s relatively easy to get a pleasing choral sound from a select group of younger singers compared to obtaining a balanced and energetic choral sound from a group of non-auditioned , or marginally auditioned volunteer midlife to older adult singers’ group. However, it IS possible!
What follows are “tips,” all designed to improve your singers over time, and many can be used with men, too. A challenging aspect of working with volunteer choirs is the systematic insistence on doing the exercises needed to “prime the pump” for older singers. These exercises appear in Parts 2 and 3 of this series. Encourage them to add these exercises to their health and wellness routines, 4 times a week for about 10 minutes between rehearsals before practicing their music.
VITAL SINGING
The choirs I worked with weekly followed a model of a one-half hour voice class followed by a one-hour rehearsal. The voice class started with movement and body work, followed by vocal and choral warm-ups that used pitch patterns they would see in the music we rehearsed that day. I know many of you do this already but it does taking planning. The results are more than worth it in tonal quality, perception and understanding how their part fits into the whole.
I go over words and texts more slowly and more times than you can imagine. Articulation exercises and tongue twisters are a must. Pull out any pattern that makes the lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue and the facial muscles move. Allow at least 3 minutes to work on articulators in various ways. Nerve transmission in older singers is often slowed, and women can become guarded in expressing facial emotion. Do tongue twisters in any foreign language you are singing in. Singing in an unfamiliar language means that I chose a fairly repetitive text and give LOTS of lead time to learn it before a performance.
Aging singers may speak out to themselves during rehearsals. Many times they aren’t aware they are doing so. If it is disruptive, I speak with them privately. They can ask whoever sits next to them to gently put a hand on their shoulder if they start to speak or hum and are not aware of it. I have also needed to speak privately to individuals to make sure they have an extra pair of batteries for their hearing aides with them.
I have to repeat myself many times, and SLOW MY SPEECH WAY DOWN. Then I count off about 5 seconds to let them process it, and/or find their place in the music if we are reading written music. Sometimes I repeat the directive twice in a row, and remind them to mark their scores with pencils.
If they claim I did not tell them something, I resist the urge to scream. I make light of it, and repeat it again. I ask the person who made the claim to repeat back what he/she heard, smile with a twinkle in my eye, (or maybe a twitch….) and move on.
Many choral members, and maybe even you, are caring for children of all ages, grandchildren, and/or their own aging parents or partners. Many are recovering from surgeries, still working and/or suffering from chronic conditions. Compassion for all, including for yourself! One of my former choristers, age 83, had a lovely voice and frankly, acted like a space cadet. Turns out she was a retired nuclear engineer—and now I also understand that waning estrogen acts in highly individual ways to affect brain function. I currently remember her as a vital heroine.
I hope some of these ideas help and inspire you to find constructive ways to work your choral magic. We are at an important time in our culture, where it is time to embrace the experiences of the aging and recognize the love, intelligence and perseverance they embody. We are all made richer for these things.
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