What You Need To Know About Vocal Nodules

Vocal nodules are calluses that form on the lips of the vocal folds because of persistent contact abuse. The nodules disrupt the movement and vibration of the vocal folds during singing (and speaking). The deeper cause of vocal nodules is weak and uncoordinated muscular action in the larynx (and a constricted pharynx), which prevents the vocal musculature from managing efficiently the stresses of voice production.

For singers, the inability to observe directly the actual functioning of their vocal apparatus, and the lack of sensations during singing, have caused not a little mischief, not the least of which is that singers often do significant damage to their vocal apparatus without being aware of it.

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Voice Teaching Regimens In Conflict

Although formal vocal studies in the Western world before the 20th century focused largely on the operatic voice, they inspired many modern approaches to non-operatic singing instruction as well. It is for this reason that we will spend a little time exploring the operatic singing traditions of old.

Eighteenth century Italy produced some of the most spectacular singers (operatic) of all time—a remarkable accomplishment when we consider that the famous singers and singing teachers of that era did not possess an accurate scientific understanding of how the human voice is biomechanically produced. They lacked, in short, the necessary knowledge that would permit them to base their vocal regimens on sound scientific principles.

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The Information Age

The basic problem of any culture centers on issues of information and knowledge, and more to the point, how to acquire the right information and knowledge. Information is the accumulation of facts of experience, and knowledge is the understanding that is gained from organizing these facts, seeing their meaningful relationships, and inferring their significance. The ultimate purpose of culture, then, is to pass to human beings, through whatever means available, the information and knowledge that will ensure their survival and potential for reproduction, as well as to provide a world of meaning in which they can think and act productively and harmoniously with other human beings. Each generation is responsible for gathering the right facts and gaining necessary understanding in order to promote cultural life. This is no easy task.

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What The Italian Singing Masters Didn't Say Pt. 2

Another formidable obstacle to overcome in trying to tease out of the masters their method(s) of voice training is in interpreting a number of their key concepts. For instance, it’s not at all clear what the differences are between what they called “voce di petto”—chest voice; “voce di testa”—head voice; and “voce finta”—falsetto voice. The latter two concepts, in particular, have created centuries-long debates of the most heated kind. Here, once again, the blame for this situation has to be laid at the feet of the masters, for they did not carefully define what each term meant.

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What The Italian Singing Masters Didn't Say Pt. 1

As far as what the Italian masters taught, we could read their famous treatises. In many cases, musical scales were introduced to illustrate what the correct musical movements of the voice should be during the execution of the vocal feats. The masters also laid-out the rules and principles that promoted good singing technique, such as the importance of learning appropriate breath expulsion when emitting a tone, smiling when singing, and insuring that the throat and mouth are in harmony with each other at all times (e.g. Mancini).

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