Description
Vocal pitch is closely related to fundamental frequency (Fo). Often measured in Hertz (Hz), Fo represents the number of times the vocal folds vibrate per second during voiced speech (Titze, et al, 2015). The term normative pitch refers to the average pitch range within a specific group, such as males or females, and provides a baseline for defining a “typical voice” (Holmberg, Hillman, and Perkell, 1989). Person-centered care is key to evidence-based practice, ensuring that speech-language pathologists provide clinical services that are research-driven and tailored to the unique needs of everyone. Despite this emphasis, much of the normative data used for the evaluation and treatment of individuals with voice disorders has been derived from relatively homogeneous populations limiting the applicability of these norms across different populations. The present study seeks to address this gap by examining average vocal pitch among African Americans. These findings will expand the normative database available to clinicians enhancing the accuracy and cultural relevance of voice disorder assessment and intervention (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, n.d.; Coleman et al., 2022; Nygren, et al., 2025).
Twenty participants, aged 18-65, will be recruited from the Hampton University community using convenience sampling. Professional voice users and people who smoke, have upper respiratory infections or chronic illnesses will be excluded. Participants will be asked to produce a series of five monophthong vowels (/ɑ, ɝ, I, ɔ, and u/; a quick pitch glide on /a/ low to high, count from 1 to 10; and the greeting ‘Hello, I am from …’. Participants will also be asked to read the Rainbow Passage. PRAAT will be used to analyze vocal pitch. This data will serve as pilot data for this study to refine data collection and analyses that can be later used to add to the clinical database for assessment and intervention purposes.