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Changes in the male voice at puberty

Article  in  Archives of Disease in Childhood · December 1997

DOI: 10.1136/adc.77.5.445 · Source: PubMed

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Archives of Disease in Childhood 1997;77:445–447 445

Changes in the male voice at puberty

M L L Harries, J M Walker, D M Williams, S Hawkins, I A Hughes

Abstract pitch of speech, or speaking fundamental

The changes in the male voice in relation frequency, is often used as an indicator of voice
to the biological characteristics of puberty development and, indirectly, male hormone
were assessed longitudinally in 26 boys. activity.2 The maximum change in the male
Speaking and singing fundamental fre- voice takes place at puberty.3
quencies were analysed in relation to the Clinical assessment of the stages of puberty
Voice Clinic, Royal is usually performed by the Tanner
Sussex County
Tanner staging of puberty, saliva testo-
Hospital, Brighton sterone levels, and the Cooksey classification of stages G1–G5.4 In the musical
M L L Harries classification of voice analysis. There were world, Cooksey et al defined a six stage pattern
abrupt changes in voice characteristics of pubertal voice development (C staging)
Department of between Tanner stages G3 and G4 and based on the singing range and tessitura (most
Paediatrics, St Mary’s
more gradually from stages C3 to C5 of comfortable modal singing voice range).5
Hospital, Portsmouth Studies of the singing voice of boys during
J M Walker Cooksey. Although testosterone concen-
trations were not predictive of the puberty confirm this classification to be valid
Department of changes, there was a correlation with tes- and reliable.6
Linguistics, University tis volume. Voice fundamental frequencies The relation between the Cooksey
of Cambridge classification of voice development and the
S Hawkins
were seen to change abruptly in late
Tanner staging of pubertal development has
puberty, in contrast with previous studies.
not previously been systematically examined.
Department of There is a good correlation between the
There is a common misconception among par-
Paediatrics, University Tanner and Cooksey methods of
of Cambridge ents that puberty has started in boys only when
classification during male puberty.
D M Williams the voice has ‘broken’. This study investigated
(Arch Dis Child 1997;77:445–447)
I A Hughes the characteristics of the male speaking and
Keywords: fundamental voice frequency; puberty;
singing voice in relation to other biological
Correspondence to: changes occurring at puberty.
Professor I A Hughes, testosterone
Department of Paediatrics,
Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Box Subjects and methods
116, Hills Road, Cambridge
The maturation of the human voice as a func- Twenty six boys from a local school in
CB2 2QQ.
tion of age is characterised by changes in pitch, Cambridge were studied. All were 13–14 years
Accepted 15 July 1997 loudness, and a variety of tone qualities.1 The of age at the first recording. Permission was
obtained from the headmaster and parents, and
250 250 approval for the study was granted by the
A B Cambridge local ethics committee. Boys were
Speaking fundamental

assessed on five occasions at three monthly

200 intervals over a 12 month period. Recordings at
frequency (Hz)

200
each visit were divided into the following three
150 broad categories.

150 PUBERTAL ASSESSMENT

100 This included measurement of standing height,
weight, pubertal stage by Tanner’s
classification, and measurement of testis vol-
50 100
G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 ume using the Prader orchidometer.
G status C status
SALIVARY TESTOSTERONE PROFILE
300 300 This was performed by collecting three sepa-
C D rate 5 ml samples of saliva at 2000 h the night
before, 0800 h on the day of recording, and at
Singing fundamental

250 250 the time of recording (between 1000 and 1600

frequency (Hz)

h). Saliva testosterone concentrations were

200 200
determined by immunoassay; the assay sensi-
tivity was 9 pmol.7 An average of the three
readings was taken to minimise daily variation
150 150 and the value was converted to a log correlate
for analysis because of a non-Gaussian distri-
bution.
100 100
G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6
G status C status ACOUSTIC AND MUSICAL RECORDINGS
Human tissue is a moderately good conductor
Figure 1 Relation between the stages of puberty and (A, B) speaking fundamental
frequency and (C, D) singing fundamental frequency. G and C refer to Tanner and of electricity and behaves like a resistor for
Cooksey staging, respectively. which Ohm’s law applies. This concept forms
446 Harries, Walker, Williams, Hawkins, Hughes

A y = 0.916x + 1.245
300 y = –111.573LOG(x) + 416.433 6
r = 0.762

Singing fundamental frequency (Hz)

r = 0.505
250

200
4

C status
150

100
2

50

0
0 100 200 300 400 0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Testosterone level (pmol/l)
G status
B Figure 3 Relation between the Tanner and Cooksey
300 y = –5.649x + 248.855
classification systems of puberty.
Singing fundamental frequency (Hz)

r = 0.884
250
laryngograph electrodes were strapped in posi-
tion to give the best signal, which was continu-
200 ally monitored on an oscilloscope during the
recording and recorded on uniaxial, chromic,
150 high bias Sony recording tape.
None of the boys was a chorister. Each boy
spoke his name and then read the phonetically
100
recognised passages ‘The rainbow passage’ and
‘Arthur the rat’. He was then asked to sing a
50 comfortable note within his modal range and
to ascend and descend the musical scale from
0 this baseline without entering the falsetto or
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
vocal fry registers. Lastly, each boy sang the
Testicular volume (ml) tune to ‘Happy birthday’ at a comfortable
pitch. Modal register was assessed using laryn-
C gography by comparing the recorded sung
400 y = 5.475x + 64.898
r = 0.510 notes with those of a tuned piano keyboard.9
The following measurements were performed
Testosterone level (pmol/l)

at each recording: the mean speaking funda-

300 mental frequency; the mean singing fundamen-
tal frequency of modal voice; and the speaking
and singing ranges of the voice.
200
ATTENDANCE
The attendance rate was 94% throughout the
study. Laryngoscopy was performed at each
100
visit to confirm that the vocal folds were
healthy.

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Results
Testicular volume (ml) Weight and height generally increased between
Figure 2 Relations between singing fundamental assessments at various stages, but the diVer-
frequency and (A) testosterone levels and (B) testicular ences were not statistically significant other
volume. (C) Relation between testosterone levels and than for weight between stages C4 and C5
testicular volume.
(data not shown). Figure 1 summarises the
changes which occurred in the acoustic param-
the basis of electrolaryngography.8 During cord eters studied. The speaking and singing funda-
abduction, air acts as an electrical resistor and mental frequencies showed a relatively large
current flow across the larynx is at a minimum. and significant change between Tanner stages
In cord adduction, the contact area allows a G3 and G4, whereas there was a more gradual
current to flow, thereby increasing the electrical change during stages C3, C4, and C5 accord-
signal across the larynx. The method is ing to the Cooksey voice classification.
non-invasive and does not require sedation. Figure 2 shows the relations between testo-
Acoustic recordings were performed in a sterone concentrations, testis volume, and
sound treated audiology booth using a laryngo- singing fundamental frequency. The correla-
graph (portable laryngograph processor) and tions were poor, except for a clear relation
the measurements were analysed on an IBM between testis volume and singing fundamen-
PC/AT computer with a PCLX system. The tal frequency.
 Changes in the male voice at puberty 447

Figure 3 compares the G and C stages deter-

mined during each assessment. There was a Key messages
more gradual index of progression through x Voice ‘breaking’ is a late event in male
puberty according to the C staging, where the puberty
larger diVerence between stages G3 and G4 x Changes in voice fundamental frequen-
(see fig 1) is minimised by the use of six rather cies correlate with testis volume, but not
than five stages. testosterone levels
Discussion x There is a clear relation between the
Previous studies of the male voice have Tanner stages and a Cooksey musical
correlated voice changes with chronological classification during male puberty
age rather than with pubertal stage.10 11 The
range in the age of onset and the tempo of
pubertal development in these studies were confirms the Cooksey system as valid for
extreme, whereas the present study compared monitoring an individual subject longitudinally
boys at the same pubertal stage. The data indi- through puberty.
cate that the maximum vocal change occurs
between stages G3 and G4 and not towards the We thank the Tenovus Cancer Research Centre, CardiV for
beginning of puberty as implied in previous measuring salivary testosterone concentrations. Margaret
studies.12 13 Nevertheless, the use of acoustic Griffiths, Jane Beckinsale, Andrew Slater, and Thomas Baer
provided assistance for this study.
parameters and the Cooksey classification
indicates that measurable changes are taking 1 Hollien H, Jackson B. Normative data of the speaking
place earlier in puberty before the development fundamental frequency characteristics of young adult
males. Journal of Phonetics 1973;1:117-20.
of overt voice ‘breaking’. 2 Pederson MF, Moller S, Krabbe S, et al. A multivariate sta-
Anthropometric changes are considerable at tistical analysis of voice phenomena related to puberty in
choir boys. Folia Phoniatica 1985;37:271-8.
the time of male puberty. Changes also occur in 3 Vuorenkoski V, Lenko HL, Tjerlund P, et al. Fundamental
the organs of phonation.14 These include an voice frequency during normal and abnormal growth, and
after androgen treatment. Arch Dis Child 1978;53:201-9.
increase in breathing capacity and an increase 4 Tanner JM. Growth at adolescence. Oxford: Blackwell Scien-
in neck length and width, which leads to a rela- tific, 1962.
5 Cooksey JM, Becket RL, Wiseman R. A longitudinal inves-
tive descent of the larynx, and subsequent tigation of selected vocal, physiologic and acoustic factors
enlargement of the vocal tract and resonatory associated with voice maturation in the junior high school
male adolescent. Proceedings of a research symposium on the
system. Growth of the paranasal sinuses and male adolescent voice. Vol 1. BuValo: State University of
nasal turbinates, with atrophy of the tonsils and New York, BuValo Press, 1984: 4-60.
6 Barresi AL, Bless D. The relation of selected aerodynamic
the adenoids, also aVects vocal quality. In variables to the perception of tessitura pitches in the
natural speech, however, perceived male voice adolescent changing voice. Proceedings of a research
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quality depends on how the vocal cords vibrate, BuValo: State University of New York, BuValo Press, 1984:
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7 Butler GE, Walker RF, Walker RV, et al. Salivary
specific vocal tract resonance is less testosterone levels and the progress of puberty in the
important.15 normal boy. Clin Endocrinol 1989;30:587-96.
8 Fourcin AJ. Electrolaryngographic assessment of phonatory
There was no relation in this study between function. Journal of Phonetics 1987;14:435-42.
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form? Voice 1993;2:15-39.
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Logoped Phoniatr. Basle: Karger, 1976: 486-90.
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surprising as testis size is dependent more on in boys and girls in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Ann Hum Biol
1981;8:211-9.
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