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Speaking of Voice: “Coaching Vocal Athletes ” by Leon Thurman and Van Lawrence

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(This vocal pedagogy commentary is excerpted from the Choral Journal article, “Voice Care for Vocal Athletes in Training” by Leon Thurman and Van Lawrence. Share YOUR vocal expertise by writing a future installment of “Speaking of Voice.”  Contact Scott Dorsey, .)
 
       The "coach" of singing vocal athletes, whether the singers are soloists or members of an ensemble, has just as important a responsibility as the sports coach for conditioning and training. Yes, singing was developed by human beings because it enabled the sharing of human experiences that language could not. But it is muscles, membranes, nerves, cartilages and bones that do the actual work of singing, and all of the voice's parts respond to use just like other muscles, etc., in the body. There is one major difference: the intrinsic muscles of the larynx have few of the kind of nerve receptors that allow the user to sense their spatial location. That accounts for the difference in the degree of sensitivity between, for example, one's larynx and one's fingers.
       The development of good singing technique is a very involved process which takes time and persistence. Even with the most expert "coach" and in a one-to-one relationship it is problematic, but the sensitive and informed choral conductor can help singers develop a remarkable degree of mastery. Learning to sing well is roughly analogous to learning to play piano without being able to see or sense what the important small muscles of your left hand are doing.
       In singing, more than in sports, conditioning and training are more intimately mixed. Conditioning voices and using them with efficient skill should be inextricably intertwined. Among other things, proper conditioning means that if singers are expected to sing high pitch and/or loud volume (the two most strenuous uses of voice (for one to three hours after a three-month or even one-week layoff, they should be gradually conditioned for that degree of strenuous use. If they are expected to sing for five to seven hours in one day (choir, ensemble and musical rehearsal in one day; or a choral festival; plus normal conversation), they should be gradually conditioned for that amount of use. Individual differences in the capacity to endure strenuous vocal use do exist, but rehearsal techniques and procedures should consider those with lesser capacity.
 
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  1. Thank you, Scott, for “reprinting” this excerpt from the May, 1980, issue of CJ. I re-read the whole article that I hadn’t read for many years, maybe decades. Interesting to read “where Van and I were” almost 25 years ago.
     
    A note on the writing of the article: The late Dr. Van Lawrence, M.D., practiced in Houston TX where he also was Company Physician for the Houston Grand Opera. Van also was a leader within The Voice Foundation that was started in the late 1970s by Dr. James Gould, Dr. Robert Sataloff (both otolaryngologists), and others. Before The Journal of Voice began publication in 1987, Van edited the Transcripts of the annual symposia that the Foundation presented (and still does) for ENT docs, voice scientists, speech pathologists, singing and speaking teachers, and choral conductors.
     
    I met Van after a presentation he gave at the 1979 national convention of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) in Houston. We had a long conversation during which I expressed my strong desire to do what I could to share needed perspectives about efficient voice use and vocal health with fellow choral conductors. During that conversation, he agreed to co-author an article for submission to Choral Journal. I wrote a version of the article, sent it to him, and he made suggestions and “accuratized” my inaccuracies. After two more exchanges, we both were comfortable with what had been written.
     
    Before I submitted the article, I told Van that I wanted to list his name first. I told him that if my name was listed first, I feared that my choral conductor colleagues would think I was “gettin’ too big for my britches!” To put my name before an ENT doctor, especially one with his voice credentials, would be the height of arrogance. He said, “No” to my request, and told me that the custom in the journal-publishing world was that the name of the author who did the most work on an article always went first, and that was me. I pleaded, but he insisted, and I gave in but with trepidations. I tried not to egotistically promote myself, I did, but Van’s higher power wouldn’t let me go second.
     
    The great Van Lawrence “took me under his wing” and educated me fairly deeply about vocal health and voice protection. [The article may have been the first CJ article to use the expression “vocal health” (not sure) and the concept is now in the profession’s common parlance.] Van became a dear friend and we had many conversations on our favorite topic over the years. He invited me to stay in his home (met his lovely wife Camilla) when he agreed to make a videotape of my layrnx and vocal folds behaving efficiently and inefficiently when speaking and singing. I showed excerpts from it when I gave presentations at VoiceCare Network summer courses and at various conventions and conferences.
     
    Van was diagnosed with melanoma in the late 1980s, and passed away in 1989. I still remember with great affection his wry dry wit, his knowing, passionate face, and his mellow expressive voice. I owe him sooooo much.
     
    Thank you for indulging my memory telling.

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