ABSTRACT
Purpose
To describe the emission of upper high notes by professional sopranos by means of the auditory-perceptual evaluation of the singers’ voices and self-reports.
Methods
Five professional sopranos performed an excerpt from a Bellini opera which involved the emission of an upper high note. The auditory-perceptual evaluation was carried out by three speech-language therapists and three singing teachers, who considered brightness, loudness, metal quality, vibrato, breathiness, and resonance on a visual-analytical scale, based on each singer’s emission of high notes. After the recording, the singers were asked to answer a proprioceptive questionnaire on the physical sensations that they had as they emitted upper high notes. An inferential analysis of the data from the auditory-perceptual evaluation was conducted, and the singers’ self-reports were summarized and then orthographically transcribed.
Results
In the auditory-perceptual analysis, the emission of upper high notes was characterized according to the presence of brightness, loudness, metal quality, vibrato, and anterior resonance, as perceived by speech-language therapists and singing teachers. In the proprioceptive report, all singers reported laryngeal elevation and a need to use respiratory support in order to emit upper high notes.
Conclusion
Upper high notes are characterized by a bright vocal emission, enhanced loudness, with a metallic quality and vibrato, little or no breathiness, accompanied by a sensation of laryngeal elevation and a need for respiratory support.
Keywords:
Voice; Voice Quality; Singing; Voice Training; Self-Report
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