A hefty, but accessible, book on voice science makes a difficult subject more approachable.
Those of us who pursue degrees and careers in music tend to enroll in a disproportionately high number of arts and humanities courses. Students studying vocal performance, for instance, have required classes in vocal pedagogy, diction, vocal repertoire and, obviously, applied lessons, besides additional courses in music theory and music history. Peripheral areas of study—such as world languages, literature, and poetry—also have direct applications for singers.
Because of these substantial prerequisites to graduation, there is often little room left within class schedules for deep exploration of the sciences. An unfortunate ramification of this is that it can leave the impression that science is of little value to artists and has no meaningful application to the process of learning how to sing. Secondarily, science courses and textbooks can feel unnecessarily intimidating to singers due to the lack of exposure to the subject. Science, however, can have a tremendous influence on pedagogy—and pedagogy greatly affects performance.
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Alison Behrman, author of Speech and Voice Science
Therefore, if a resource related to voice science is to be as singer friendly as possible, it will ideally strike a balance between presenting complicated information in an accessible way and connecting that information to the ways that singers understand and experience their voices. With the fourth edition of Speech and Voice Science (Plural Publishing, 2023), author and professor Alison Berhman has provided such a resource. Even though it is a substantial read, clocking in at more than 500 pages, one would be hard pressed to find a more comprehensive yet digestible resource on the topic.
Berhman is an associate professor in the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences at Lehman College/City University of New York. She describes her three professional roles—instructor, research scientist, and clinician—as being distinct yet interwoven. Although Speech and Voice Science is a textbook intended primarily for students in speech-language pathology, singers and voice teachers familiar with standard voice pedagogy texts will find many parallels.
For instance, there are chapters dedicated to breathing, phonation, vowels (including discussions of resonance and acoustics), consonants and prosody (relating to diction), and instrumentation (including a section on microphones that is useful for those who sing in contemporary commercial music styles). In each of these sections, singers and voice teachers will find familiar terms and concepts. Behrman’s text, however, presents a deeper dive into the basic science than most pedagogy texts.
An example can be found in chapter six, titled “Phonation I: Basic Voice Science.” The first third of the chapter covers anatomy, physiology, and neural innervation of the larynx. The middle third of the chapter presents theories of voice production, including the Bernoulli Effect and the Myoelastic-Aerodynamic theory, before delving into the biomechanics of vocal fold vibration, stress-strain properties of vocal fold tissues, and the physiology of motor control. The final portion of the chapter is dedicated to voice disorders.
The phonation chapters of most voice pedagogy texts present fairly thorough information on the anatomy and physiology of the larynx, but may only gloss over the other elements covered in Speech and Voice Science if they are addressed at all. For instance, Behrman includes the entire second chapter on phonation, titled “Phonation II: Measurement and Instrumentation,” which explores different methods for assessing the dynamics of vocal fold vibration. Although the chapter is perhaps more applicable to those in speech pathology or those who engage in voice research, there is still much of interest for singers and voice teachers, such as the voice range profile, stroboscopic and high-speed laryngeal imaging, and a brief discussion of vocal registers.
For the fourth edition of Speech and Voice Science (the first edition was published in 2007), Behrman includes both new information and new resources. Related to resources, there are numerous new illustrations (many in color) and an expanded guide on best practices for studying, which is useful for getting the most out of the book. There is also an accompanying workbook and a companion website. Related to content, there is additional information on motor learning theory, which is receiving greater attention in voice pedagogy circles, as well. Berhman also includes topics related to diversity, such as nonnative language differences and perception of speaker identity, including race, ethnicity, and gender. She refers to these sections as the most important additions to the volume, stating they were “long overdue for inclusion in teaching speech and voice science.”
The second most important change in this new edition, according to Behrman, is increased emphasis on clinical applications. In some chapters, these sections provide overviews of the material to demonstrate links between the basic science of voice production and the clinical practice of voice disorders. In other sections, she includes specific “clinical cases” to indicate how the topics covered in the chapters have been addressed with patients in the setting of a voice clinic.
Naturally, some chapters will hold more interest than others depending on the background an individual reader brings to the book. For instance, singers and voice teachers may feel that the sections on clinical applications are less relevant to the work that goes on in the voice studio. There is a case to be made, however, for building interdisciplinary knowledge. In fact, a foundational principle of the field of vocology is that all voice professionals stand to benefit when they have an understanding of what professionals in other voice-related disciplines do. As singing teachers, we have a direct interest in knowing what occurs in the voice clinic, which better equips us to play a meaningful role as part of an extended voice care team when our students develop voice disorders. And as singers, we can be more informed patients should we develop voice disorders ourselves.
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Berhman acknowledges in the preface how often her knowledge of principles of physics and physiology comes up in her interactions with patients in the clinic. She advocates for “clinical creativity,” knowing that “the answers for many of the clinical questions raised by speech-language pathologists can be found in the science of voice and speech production and perception…. In sum, a solid grounding in speech science makes a speech-language pathologist a better clinician.” It can be argued that a similar grounding in voice science will benefit singing teachers as we seek to creatively address the needs of our students and clients.
Used in both undergraduate and graduate courses, Speech and Voice Science is impressive for the sheer breadth of topics it covers. Equally impressive, however, is how it is touted as “highly readable” and “user friendly.” Thanks to Behrman’s efforts, the principles of voice science need not be considered inaccessible for curious singers and voice teachers.
