The Female Singing Voice
Edited by Filipa M.B. Lã, Ph.D., M.Mus; B.Sc; D.Mus.

Contributors: Milan R. Amin, Hayley Born, Ryan C. Branski, Valentina Cartei, S. Claudio, Rowena Cowley, Jane Davidson, Matthias Echternach, Norma Enns, Brian P. Gill, Mary J. Hawkshaw, David Howard, Sarah Khatcherian, William Ledger, Jaime Eaglin Moore, Dirk Mürbe, David Reby, Bernhard Richter, Stephen Robertson, Robert T. Sataloff, Johan Sundberg, Avanti Verma, Graham Welch, May Wong.

Long overdue, this is the first truly comprehensive book to cover the female singing voice. Filipa Lã, a singer, teacher and university professor, has invited some of the world’s authorities in voice and singing pedagogy and practice to contribute their collective knowledge on all issues related to training female voices, particularly within clinical and performing contexts.

Divided into four main sections, the book provides a brief overview of the evolution of sexual dimorphism in human voice. Moreover, it presents in detail the female vocal apparatus and implications in vocal training, including breathing, voice source, articulation and resonance and brain control. The second section examines the impacts of the reproductive endocrine system on voice production and training. An overview of the complexity underlying the endocrine female system is discussed, followed by the impacts of puberty, menstrual cycle, pregnancy and aging and the menopause. The third section focuses on voice perception, assessment and classification, and concludes with the choice of appropriate repertoire. The final section provides practical information on building up and maintaining a healthy vocal instrument, including practice routines, the use of pedagogical tools to develop specific abilities, and features to take into account in the care of the female voice.

This coverage of the theoretical and practical aspects of anatomy, physiology, aerodynamics, biomechanics, acoustics and psychoacoustics of the female voice which are key elements to its training, development and maintenance, combines to provide a truly practical resource, for singers, actresses, voice teachers, vocal coaches, voice students, laryngologists and speech pathologists – as well as students of singing and vocal pedagogy.

Contents

Section one: Particularities of the female vocal apparatus

1. The evolution of sexual dimorphism in human voice, David Reby and Valentina Cartei

2. Practical considerations of the female breathing system in vocal performance, Johan Sundberg

3. Female voice acoustics, Johan Sundberg

4. The assessment of the female voice in speech and singing: important considerations

Section two: Developmental and cyclical hormonal variations on female voices: implications for vocal training and performance

5. The underlying complexity of the female reproductive endocrine system, William Ledger and May Wong

6. The female voice at puberty, Graham Welch

7. The menstrual cycle and oral contraception, Filipa M. B. Lã

8. Auditory female voice control, Dirk Mürbe

9. Pregnancy and the voice, Filipa M. B. Lã, and Johan Sundberg

10. Menopausal voice and aging: preventive and therapeutic strategies, Jaime Eaglin Moore, Mary J. Hawkshaw, and Robert T. Sataloff

Section three: Characterizing female vocal performance

11. Female vocal registers, Matthias Echternach

12. Female voice classification, Filipa M. B. Lã and Johan Sundberg

13. Choosing repertoire: A world of possible choices, Brian P. Gill and Filipa M. B. Lã

14. The female choir voice, David Howard

15. Female attitudes towards music making, Jane Davidson

16. Training the female voice: Effective and affective strategies, Sarah Khatcherian Milo and Filipa Lã

 Section four: The development and maintenance of a healthy instrument

17. Discussing a vocal daily practice regime for female professional voices, Stephen Robertson

18. The care of the female voice, Milan Amin

19. Managing career demands, Bernhard Richter

Index.

2019. 400 pp approx. ISBN 978-1-909082-19-9.  Paperback. 254x178mm (7x10")

Approx Price £50.00

Approx Web Price £39.95

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About the Editor

Dr. Lã is a Music Assistant Professor at the Department of Communication and Arts at Aveiro University, where she is responsible for Teaching Singing, Singing Pedagogy, Music Psychology Education and Musician’s Medicine courses. Her main research interests have been the effects of sex steroid hormones on aspects of voice production in female opera singers, developing singing performance optimization strategies, and voice function and acoustics. She gained Researcher’s Award from the “Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research (2005)”, from the “European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (2007)”, and from “The Voice Foundation (2011)”. As a singer, she has performed several singing recitals, oratorio and opera roles in Portugal, Spain, Australia and in the U.K. Dr. Lã was a founding member of “Opera Norte”, in Portugal, the “Associação Portuguesa de Artes Performativas” and the “Asociación de Ciencias del Habla”, Spain.