Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Vocal Diseases
Introduction
Voice disease refers to the abnormal voice problems caused by the diseases of the
human throat and related organs. When the voice volume, tone, tone quality,
duration of sound and resonance are abnormal, it becomes becomes a voice disease.
Voice disorders are common among vocal students. For vocal workers, the vocal
cords are the most valuable musical instruments, because since singing is the most
natural ‘human voice’ as a special ‘musical instrument’. However, according to the
relevant data, voice students have a high proportion of voice disease.diseases.
Surveys have suggested indicated that as much as 87% of classical singing students
suffer from at least one symptom of vocal attrition. (Achey, M.A., & He, M.Z., & Akst,
L.M., 2016, p.193) 22% of Contemporary Music singing students began their
education in the high school, with vocal nodules. (Sielska-Badurek, E. M., & Sobol,
M., & Olszowska, K., & Niemczyk, K., 1995, p.1) Some students with a good voice
talent, after a period of campus life and study, will tends to have a voice functional
disorder. Some students will have a disease that lasts longer, even will have the
result of invalid treatment.leading to more serious problems. Of course, the reasons
are many, but the unscientific use of voice is one of the most important reasons. As
a result, the relevant studies point out that many voice students lack correct voice
training common sense. ‘Together, these findings suggest that singers view singing
teachers as the primary source of vocal health information and seek out medical
professionals only when a severe vocal health pathology has developed.’ (Latham, K.,
& Messing, B., & Bidlack, M., & Merritt, S., & Zhou, X., & Akst, L. M., 2017, p.251. e4)
Voice students tend to use the incorrect way to practice for a long time, causing
vocal cord congestion, pharynx, throat congestion, chronic pharyngitis and other
diseases appearto develop. ‘Singers are considered elite vocal performers among all
the professional voice users. A disruption in voice quality brings a negative impact on
to the performers' careers as well as on business' profits.’ (Pestana, P.M., & Vaz-
Freitas, S., & Manso, M. C., 2017, p.723) For a vocal worker, voice is vital and voice
disease should be treated realistically.
Some adverse factors affecting voice in singing will not only affect the quality of
vocal music teaching or performing, but also bring a very negative impact on the
voice, and the serious one will cause voice disease. Unscientific vocalization is one of
the important common causes of voice disease. The scientific way of vocalization is
to use the least amount of vocal energy to exert the maximum acoustic effect of
vocal organs so as to achieve the best artistic effect. If the scientific vocalization
method could be grasped, it could save the sound energy, reduce the load of vocal
cord, and get the ‘immune function’ that can prevent many vocal cord diseases. Even
some of the original diseases of the vocal cord can be self-healing and eradicated.
This study explored the significance of voice protection in singing for the
treatment of voice disease. The study is divided into four sections. The first section is
the acoustic analysis of voice and the function of voice, including some common
vocal diseases. The second section is the analysis of the causes of voice diseases,
from the two angles of physiology and psychology. The third section analyzes the
unhealthy factors that affect voice in singing, including the incorrect vocalization and
the excessively using theuse of the voice, as well as the bad habits. The forth section
points out the importance of voice protection in singing.
Psychological Causes
There are many several causes of voice diseases, which are generally classified into
two categories: voice diseases caused by incorrect vocalization; voice disease caused
by the failure to comply with the voice health system. Unscientific vocalization is the
main cause of voice disease.
There are many bad factors that affect the voice in the teaching and performing of
vocal music, mainly in the following aspects.
Bad Habits
Bad habits can also have an adverse effect on the voice. For example, it is difficult to
ensure the health of vocal performers without a scientific diet. Some vocal learners
often eat foods that stimulate their throats like chili and mustard, which can have a
very bad effectnegative effects on noise, which can affect the singing career; Some
vocal music learners are addicted to drinking and smoking, and the nicotine and
other harmful substances found in tobacco can directly stimulate the respiratory
tract, causing the singer's throat to dry, itchy, sputum and cough, and can cause the
vocal cord to show chronic inflammatory reaction, which causes the vocal cord to
become polymorphic, which in turn causes the voice to become dark and lose the
tone.
A singer's vocal health is complex and the way in which a singer cares for
and uses her voice and body on a daily basis encompasses many subjective
aspects of good vocal health. This includes proper hydration, avoiding
sources of irritation such as smoking or drugs, avoiding misuse or overuse
of the voice, and avoiding excessive struggle to produce a clear sound.
(Castelblanco, L., & Habib, M., & Stein, D. J., & de Quadros, A., & Cohen, S.
M., & Noordzij, J. P., 2014, p.612)
As mentioned above, according to the relevant research, unscientific singing and the
lack of voice health common sense are the main reasons of voice diseases.
Therefore, improvement in the vocal method should be adapted to treat voice
diseases.
Voice Protection
Some of the negative factors in vocal teaching and performing not only affect the
quality of vocal teaching and performing, but also have a very negative effect on the
voice. Therefore, to some extent, improvement of improve the methods of singing
has the vital significance for the treatment of voice diseases.
The role of scientific vocalization in voice protection
Because of the frequent use of voice, vocal workers tend to be more susceptible to
laryngitis, vocal cord edema, hyperplasia of the vocal cords , and nodules of the
vocal cords. These diseases often result in a dull or hoarse voice, which seriously
affects the work efficiency. The unscientific singing method is one of the important
causes of voice disease. When the bad stimulation caused by the wrong singing
method exceeds the adaptive capacity of the vocal organ, it may cause the injury of
local cell tissue. The incorrect method of vocalization will greatly waste the energy of
vocalization and damage the balance regulation of the vocal organs, which will cause
the vocal cords to develop continuously. Even with surgery or drug treatment, it is
difficult to cure and will inevitably relapse frequently. The scientific method of
vocalization is to use the most vocal energy to achieve the maximum acoustic effect
of the vocal organ , and to achieve the sound effect of the best artistic vocalization. If
one can master the scientific method of vocalization, one can save the sound energy
and reduce the load of the vocal cords and obtain the ‘immune function’ of many
vocal cord diseases, even if the original diseases of the vocal cords can be healed and
eradicated.
Voice Protection in Singing
As mentioned earlier, there are a number of undesirable factors in singing that can
damage the voice. Therefore,, being be careful to protect voice when practicing or
performing is essential. In general, there are several areas in particular that need to
be noted.
First, from a physiological standpoint:
(1) Controlling the time of practice and the intensity of singing. In vocal music, it Is
necessary to train the high notes, but it also takes time. Following the principle of
gradual, to be careful and not push too much when practicing. Vocal performers
should pay attention to the combination of work and rest, follow the rules of
voice training and avoid the acute or chronic damage of the sound. If the rule of
voice training is not followed, there may be serious injuries and obstacles to the
vocal cords, which may result in the generation of vocal disorder.
(2) Using correct vocalization and singing methods. Generally speaking, if the
vocalization method is not scientific, it is difficult to detect at first, but the timbre
will begin to become unrounded and gradually become hoarse, which may cause
voice disease in the long run. Therefore, if the singer feels uncomfortable with
the throat, it may indicate that there may be a problem in the singing method.
He/she should try to adjust the condition and method and then, during a certain
period of time, let the vocal cords to be rested. Singers should always be mindful
of their voice and make appropriate adjustments to their voice.
(3) Maintaining adequate rest time. Singers should maintain adequate sleep time,
because lack of sleep can make people's blood become more acidic, and muscles
tend to feel tired. The throat muscles are very small and sensitive . muscles, and
slightly fatigue can be reflected. In general, people who sleep less and suffer
from insomnia could not last longer in singing.
(4) To develop a good living habit. To form a regular habit, do not overeat, eat more
fruits and vegetables and other nutritional foods. Do not eat too much before
sing. Because when the food is too full, the free contraction of the diaphragm is
restricted, causing the breathing movement to be obstructed, thus affecting the
singing tone. Make it a good habit to exercise regularly. Sports are very
important to the singer. Exercise helps expand lung capacity and enhance muscle
elasticity, which is good for singers. In general, it is more likely that the regular
exerciser is more receptive to the singing method, especially the breathing
method, because it is easier to understand the expansion of the chest frame and
the strength of the muscle contractions in the breathing. Therefore, it is
necessary to develop the good habit of regular exercise, so that people can have
abundant energy and energy to sing and can also enhance immunity and resist
various diseases.
In the second place, from psychological perspective:
Keep a healthy mind. In the teaching and singing of vocal music, psychological
activities play a very important role. Human vocal organs, like other activities of the
human body, are subject to psychological control. When singing, excessive mental
burden and psychological stress can cause the disturbance of vocal organ activity
and affect the performance of the song. Therefore, in order to achieve the desired
effect of vocal music performance, vocal performers should maintain a good
psychological state. When singing performances, try to relax, in order to ease the
state into the vocal music performance, seeking the most suitable method to study.
In the daily accumulation of accumulation and training, gradually develop a sound
emotional, emotional and good psychological state. To be able to withstand the
challenges and the setbacks, to get over all the obstacles. Only when the
psychological regulation is good, can the singing method master better, as well as
obtain the higher singing level.
Summary
Voice diseases are common among vocal workers, so that voice protection is vital to
singers. If the throat is uncomfortable, it should be treated at the first time. As long
as taking early diagnosis and treatment, many voice diseases can be resolved or
controlled. The proper voice protection methods are very beneficial to the recovery
of the voice, because when the voice is fatigue and has diseases, the appropriate
methods of voice protection can play a good role in the health of voice.
Reference
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