Is There a Difference Between the Immediate Effect of Vocal Warm-Up and Continuous Singing on Aerodynamic, Acoustic,...

To verify whether there are differences in the immediate effects of two different types of intervention (structured vocal warm-up and continuous singing) on aerodynamic, acoustic, and self-assessment measures in popular singers, also evaluating how individual characteristics, such as symptoms and vocal handicap, time of singing experience, age, and gender, modulate responses to interventions.

Thirty singers participated in the study. All participants completed self-assessment protocols and underwent laryngeal videostroboscopy during the initial assessment. All the singers underwent two interventions (continuous singing for 20 minutes and vocal warm-up for 20 minutes), with a minimum interval of 24 hours between them. They had their voices recorded and answered the Brazilian version of the Evaluation of the Ability to Sing Easily (EASE) immediately before and after the intervention. We extracted acoustic and aerodynamic measurements.

Baseline measures were comparable between conditions. Vocal warm-up significantly improved EASE scores (P < 0.001) and harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR; P = 0.044), whereas continuous singing increased mean airflow rate (MFR; P = 0.035). Repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed significant main effects for condition and time on EASE scores (R² = 0.54). Regarding individual characteristics, experienced singers and those with more severe initial symptoms showed greater improvement. We also observed a significant gender-by-condition interaction for jitter (P = 0.041): women showed greater reductions after warm-up, whereas men showed lower values after continuous singing.

Structured vocal warm-up and continuous singing produced distinct immediate effects. Warm-up improved self-perception and acoustic quality (HNR), while continuous singing impacted aerodynamics (MFR). Crucially, individual factors (including experience level, vocal symptoms, and gender) significantly modulated these outcomes, underscoring the importance of tailoring vocal interventions to specific singer profiles.