Several questions arise when considering this subject. What symptoms often arise that can create vocal difficulties? How should singers deal with these vocal changes, which can trigger low self-esteem?
This article reflects my own experiences in teaching female singers experiencing vocal issues related to menopause. You might be surprised to know how few professional singers are willing to breech the subject of menopause and how they have had to deal with it.
Shirley Verrett writes about the subject in her new book. Perhaps it is time to discuss this subject and share information in a broader forum, which could help younger female singers facing these difficulties in the future.
The Age Factor: Determining the Early Stages of Menopause
Symptoms of menopause can occur as early as your late 40s or as late as your mid-50s. Believe it or not, it is not over at 50, or 60, or 70. Working with singers who were still singing well in their 80s convinced me that correct vocalization is the most critical factor in recovery and in keeping the voice young.
As a male singer and teacher, it might seem presumptuous for me to be writing about the female voice and menopause. Consider, however, that there is little written on the subject, especially regarding how to vocalize healthily as the voice goes through physical changes. Correct vocalization can minimize the negative effects of menopause, just as exercise of any other part of the body can help during the aging process.
In my 30-year teaching career, I have taught many singers between the ages of 50 and 60 who were dealing with menopause. The emotional frustration can be overwhelming. I have found that working with singers during this time can be psychologically challenging for them. The instructor is working against the clock, trying to help the voice heal before the singer psychologically gives up. These singers need a lot of psychological support, and solid vocal tools that assist them to recover from the vocal confusion caused by hormonal changes.
Alan Lindquest once made a comparison between menopause and the changing boy’s voice—both situations deal with major hormonal changes in the body. These changes demand drastic adjustments in how the voice is vocalized. The following list outlines some of the vocal symptoms brought on by the menopausal process. Some singers may suffer from all of them, while others may only have one or two. This list is to help a singer verbalize the vocal difficulties brought on by this transition.
Vocal Symptoms of Menopause:
• Voice becomes dry, with less flexibility.
• High range suffers because the upper passaggio becomes difficult to negotiate (due to incorrect vocalization of the middle register).
• Break between the lower head voice and the chest register becomes larger and more difficult to negotiate.
• Low head voice loses color and can become weak.
• Voice becomes pushed due to registration imbalance.
• Larynx assumes a higher position in the middle voice, sometimes accompanied by a large hole in the voice where the cords have become bowed. This lack of proper adduction of the folds creates insecurity in this range.
• Chest voice becomes overly dark due to tongue pressure and the use of the thicker vocal cord mass, rather than the thin edges.
• General hardness of tone. Rigidity due to laryngeal muscle tension, often accompanied by a vocal wobble. The singer can also report a general feeling of thickness in the voice.
Case Studies
Case Study #1: Soprano—Approximately three years ago, a soprano who was 57 years of age came to my New York studio. She had sung as a coloratura soprano in her youth, developed vocal problems due to lack of healthy technique, and finally suffered a loss of high range from menopause.
She was a superb musician, and in parts of the middle and chest registers you could hear a beautiful color in her voice. However, this color did not continue as the singer went higher toward the upper passaggio and into the higher range. Her voice became strident, and there was a tremendous amount of tension in the base of the tongue. This was accompanied by an unusually high larynx position.
What had once been the most beautiful and effortless part of her voice had become difficult and challenging. She had lost the entire range above high C, was beginning to lose the high C and even the high B natural.
I immediately put her on Lindquest’s cuperto exercise. This is the tiny “u” vowel with the open-throat space behind it. We worked on decreasing the breath pressure and making sure that the cuperto “u” felt similar to an “ng.” In other words, the sound should be a pure tone without any breathiness.
Within weeks this singer began to rediscover the high B and C she had before menopause. This was extremely encouraging. She could not sustain these pitches in the full voice for about one year, but these notes began to function properly. She regained the slight register flip at the B natural, which took more weight out of the high notes. Because she was an incredible musician and loved repertoire so much, we began to work on Schubert songs. She had basically sung everything, which made it difficult to find new repertoire that had no old vocal habits. Often we were re-working old repertoire from the beginning: a frustrating yet necessary process.
Another much needed correction: tongue posture in the high range. Her tongue tip tended to lift up and back. This absolutely distorts healthy singing in the upper range. Working toward arching the tongue more and using some French nasal sound in the upper range, the root of the tongue began to release.
About nine months into the realignment process, this singer re-discovered her high C-sharp and D within the cuperto function. This marked the beginning of the release of her high range once again. Now, three years later, she can sustain the high D and E-flat within the cuperto function. Because the female voice drops slightly after the menopausal process, we are now working on lyric soprano repertoire. Today, this singer performs regularly and is enjoying singing once again. This is an example of how a singer can rediscover her upper range even after menopause.
Case Study #2: Mezzo Soprano—Approximately four years ago, a dramatic mezzo who had been through the vocal changes of menopause came to my studio. Although a full-time professional singer, she had lost her fullness of sound. Her larynx was extremely high and her tongue root extremely tense. She could no longer sustain upper passaggio notes because of the high larynx position.
This singer suffered greatly from feeling as though she had lost her voice completely. In actuality, she simply needed to re-train her voice to a healthier function.
Some of the early work was grueling and depressing for this singer. She had developed a vocal wobble and a shaking solar plexus. Her voice was driven and had lost most of its color. The pharyngeal wall was closed into the back of the tongue—the result was little resonance or ring in the voice.
Only in her mid-50s, she had lost much of her vocal identity because the voice was so closed down and dysfunctional. Of course, working with the psychological response is the most difficult aspect of this situation. In such a case, it is critical that the instructor be encouraging and supportive.
The cuperto function took no longer for this singer: approximately 18 months. Finding the cuperto function is dependent upon finding the thin-edge function of the vocal folds. This takes longer to discover for a dramatic voice. However, using the “ng” and the tiny “u” vowel in the lower range established a basis for taking this function higher later on in her training.
While I was teaching in Europe, this singer discovered the cuperto function in her higher range. When I returned, I was delighted to find that she could vocalize above the high C. Six months later, she could sustain these notes in the high range in full voice function.
Today, this singer has re-established her professional standing and has expanded one of the finest dramatic mezzo voices I have ever taught. What is exciting to observe is the psychological release that comes from releasing the voice. A singer’s identity is connected with the act of singing. When the voice is no longer healthy, this vocal self-esteem suffers. The ending for this singer was indeed a happy one.
Case Study #3: Mezzo-Soprano—While teaching in London, I had the opportunity to work with an excellent mezzo-soprano who is now 72. She has had a career as a music teacher and has carefully vocalized her voice through the years. I started her on exercises 4 and 5 (see list, below) to release any holding in the larynx. The yodel function makes the tongue release, allowing for more throat space to drop open.
The next exercise is designed to bring the head register as low as possible, blending the voice from the top downward. This singer was in good condition, in part because she never stopped vocalizing during the process of menopause. She also never pushed her voice with too much breath pressure, so the muscles were relatively flexible.
This is a critical point. When singers stop singing during menopause, the muscles literally atrophy from lack of proper exercise. The most important point for any singer is to keep vocalizing healthily during this process. Proper exercise is the only way to regain lost agility in the laryngeal muscles, making it possible for the singer to rediscover lost function.
Another important note: Doctors advised two of the case-study singers to discontinue hormone replacement therapy. Both singers were concerned with the negative effects on the voice. Surprisingly for both of them, through continuing a consistent and healthy vocal exercise routine they were able to continue making progress at regaining lost vocal function.
Critical Exercises for the Menopausal or Post-Menopausal Singer
Exercise No. 1:
1..2..3..2..1..2..3..2..1(breath) 8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1
ae……………………. u…………………
(Tongue out over the lower lip for the “ae” as in “apple” in the beginning three-tone scale. The low scale is done in chest register, and the descending scale is designed to bring head register down. Also, the descending scale should be done with a small “u” with jaw slightly down and back.)
Exercise No. 2:
5….5….5….5….5….5.…5….5….5…4….3….2….1
Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu
(Start sequence with two sets of sixteenth notes, then a descending five-tone scale on eighth notes. Start this exercise in the upper middle register and work downward in head voice.)
Exercise No. 3:
1..1..1..1..1..1..1..1..1..2..3..4..5..4..3..2..1
i…i..i…i..i…i..i…i..i..o..i…o..i..o…i..o..i
(Staccato “i” on the repeated beginning notes, then legato on the ascending five-tone scale. This exercise is designed to get to the thin edges of the vocal folds. Singer must imagine simply touching the finest point of the folds on the staccato section. Do this exercise in the middle register in head voice.)
Exercise No. 4:
1…….8…..1
ngah..u….ah
(One-octave yodel from chest voice to head voice allowing the voice to crack across the register break. This exercise must be immediately followed by exercise No. 5 in order to strengthen the cords in the middle register.)
Exercise No. 5:
5..3..1.
i…….
(Rounded ‘i’ vowel bringing head register as low as possible. This exercise should immediately follow exercise No. 4.)
These exercises have proven to be extremely helpful in reducing the effects of menopause. It is important to remember, however, that every exercise does not work for every singer. Anyone trying these exercises needs to be careful: Approach them with great concentration. Remember that the jaw needs to be slightly down and back. The back position of the jaw allows for a lower larynx position, a critical factor in the re-strengthening of the middle register. The vocal cords will not approximate correctly if the larynx is too high in the middle register.
