Effects of Participation in a Structured Choral Program on the Voice of Older Adults.

The groups were small: sixteen less experienced singers and fifteen more experienced singers at two visits, and only twenty-one completed all three visits. All participants were already chorale singers, so the study compared levels of experience rather than singers with non-singers. Participants were relatively fit and had normal pulmonary function and self-rated speaking voice at baseline, leaving little room for improvement. Independent home practice was not verified, so dose of singing outside rehearsals is unknown. Singing accuracy testing did not include a warm-up, and many sessions were in the morning, which the authors link to poor reliability. The sample was not balanced for sex. The study did not include people with neurological or movement disorders or people who had voice care from an otolaryngologist or speech-language pathologist.

Do not read this as evidence that choral singing improves voice-related quality of life or treats voice disorders. The participants were healthy older adults without voice problems requiring speech-language pathology or otolaryngology care, and self-rated speaking voice and voice-related quality of life did not differ by experience.