Vocal warm-up increases phonation threshold pressure in soprano singers at high pitch

Vocal warm-up is thought to optimize singing performance. We compared effects of short-term, submaximal, vocal warm-up exercise with those of vocal rest on the soprano voice (n = 10, ages 19-21 years). Dependent variables were the minimum subglottic air pressure required for vocal fold oscillation to occur (phonation threshold pressure, P-th), and the maximum and minimum phonation fundamental frequency. Warm-up increased P-th for high pitch phonation (p = 0.033), but not for comfortable (p = 0.297) or low (p = 0.087) pitch phonation. No significant difference in the maximum phonation frequency (p = 0.193) or minimum frequency (p = 0.222) was observed. An elevated P-th at controlled high pitch, but an unchanging maximum and minimum frequency production suggests that short-term vocal exercise may increase the viscosity of the vocal fold and thus serve to stabilize the high voice.