PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of the application of a Motor Coordination Development Program, based on Piret and Béziers, on the voice of lyric singers. METHODS: Five professional lyric singers performed an opera aria of their choice, which was filmed. Next, they answered a question regarding their proprioception when singing. They were submitted to the Motor Coordination Development Program for a month, after which each subject performed the same aria and answered the same question. The videos were sent to nine professional judges (three speech therapists, three physical therapists and three singing teachers), who carried auditory-perceptive and visual analyses of the singers' body and voice integration. After watching the two recordings, the subjects carried out another self-evaluation. RESULTS: In the judges' evaluation: the two sopranos, the mezzo-soprano and the bass improved their voice projection; the tenor improved the resonance, and the bass also improved the breathing; all subjects, except the bass, showed freer gestures after the program. According to the singers' report, the exercises guaranteed greater perception of the muscular tension when singing, and that allowed more control of gestures. CONCLUSION: According to the subjective analysis, the postural adjustments deriving from the execution of motor coordination exercises probable guaranteed greater opening of the thoracic cavity and improved the breathing conditions of the subjects while singing, which might have favored the verticalization of resonance and the projection of the voice.
Voice; Movement; Motor activity; Psychomotor performance
