Developing a Healthy Relationship with the Voice Part 2

Getting to Know Our Vocal Cords

And Why It Is Important To Stretch Through The Entire Range of Our Voices

The range of the voice, simply put, means how how high we can vocalize or sing and how low we can vocalize or sing. The range is that whole area from high to low. For people who have not had any vocal training, that range may seem fairly limited. However, with the right kind of training or exercises, almost every voice can be expanded. In fact, sometimes just learning how to relax and release the tension in the throat and jaw can free the voice in surprising ways.

THE JOY OF YAWNING!

If there is tension or constriction in the throat, that may cause the larnyx to be squeezed and lifted into a higher than normal position. The vocal cords are located within the larnyx so if there is tension, that means the vocal cords cannot stretch and vibrate in the way they are meant to. Just learning how to release and drop the larnyx can free up the voice which adds more vocal range. We will be exploring more about how to do that but in the meantime, yawning -- like we did in Part 1 -- is a wonderful way of releasing tension and dropping the larynx into a more relaxed position.
















THE RANGE OF THE VOICE

If you sing in a choir, you have likely had your voice classified as soprano or baritone or whatever classifications there may be. Even if you are not in a choir, you still probably have some preconceived idea that you have a low voice or a high voice. Just for now, it would be great if you could let go of labeling or pre-judging your voice in any way. If you are thinking of yourself as someone who has a low voice, then you probably are not stretching out your vocal cords into your high range or head voice. You may be thinking that you don't even have a high range. And vice versa for those who think their voices are high and they cannot drop down into the lower voice. The truth is, most of us have a much greater vocal range than we may think. It is all a matter of releasing tension and taking the time to explore and exercise whatever part of the voice we may feel weak or lacking in.

** Note: From my personal story: Initially, when I began my serious vocal exploration 10 years ago, the first singing teacher I went to labelled me as a Soprano and he raised the key of all the songs I wanted to sing since I could not drop down into any lower notes. I sang totally in my head or high voice. At that point I did not even know I had a chest (or low) voice. But my voice felt and sounded weak and strained in that high range. I couldn't get any volume or loudness in my voice no matter how hard this teacher pushed me to sing louder. Any attempt to sing louder just made my throat constrict and my voice crack and sound "froggy". So I searched for, and found, a vocal coach who had more knowledge and understanding of the vocal cords and how the voice actually works. I was thrilled to discover that I did have a low voice and the main reason my voice had previously been trapped in that high and unstable place was a combination of tension and simply not knowing how to access that low chest voice. The vocal exercises he gave me began to unleash a great deal of previously stored up tension and it felt totally freeing and powerful to sing, speak or vocalize in my low voice. Now I love the feeling and sound that emerges from my chest voice. 

High Voice     Low Voice

So -- the news is, we all have a low voice and we all have a high voice (providing there is no physical issue with the vocal cords) and for maximum vocal health, we need to stretch the vocal cords from low to high. When we are in our low voice, the vocal cords are thicker and more compressed. As we stretch into the higher part of our vocal range, the vocal cords stretch and thin out. If you think about lifting weights at a gym, you don't want to just keep lifting heavier and heavier weights without balancing your workout with some stretching and flexibility exercises. If your muscles are being contracted all the time with no stretching, they will eventually weaken. That is comparable to being in the low voice all the time and never stretching the vocal cords out by singing or vocalizing in the high part of your range. . Conversely, if all you ever do is stretch and work on flexibility with no weight training, your muscles and joints will become overstretched, weak and prone to injury. That would be similar to being in the high voice all the time and having the vocal cords constantly thinned and stretched out. The vocal cords need the strength and compression that comes from vocalizing (singing, speaking, doing scales or other exercises) in the chest register or lower part of the voice.. They also need the flexibility and stretching that comes from being in the high vocal register.

Note: A little bit of vocabulary! Vocal range refers to how high one can sing or vocalize and how low one can sing or vocalize. The range is that whole area of the voice from high to low (or low to high).
Vocal register refers to the various areas of the vocal range. The higher part of the voice is usually referred to as the head register or head voice. Higher than the head register is the whistle register (very challenging to do and hard on the vocal cords). The lower part of the voice is referred to as the chest register or chest voice. Below chest voice is Vocal Fry -- another register that can also be hard on the vocal cords if over done. In between the head register and the chest register is the mix or middle voice, also known as the bridge (between high voice and low voice).

The Muscles that Control the Vocal Cords

There are two main muscles that control the vocal cords. The Thyroarytenoid (TA) muscle controls the lower part of the voice and the Cricothyroid  (CT) muscle controls the higher part of the voice. As our voices transition from low to high, these two muscles work together as the TA muscle gradually hands over control to the CT muscle. That is the place in the voice that is commonly called the Bridge or the Mix Voice. Some singers refer to it as "the crack" (not a term I like) because for many people, it takes a lot of training to learn how to cross this bridge smoothly. So -- not to worry if your voice makes some weird sounds as you move from low to high or high to low. That is pretty normal. It is very important to work both muscles in the vocal cords -- just as in weight training -- if you work your biceps, you need to balance that out by also working your triceps (the front of the upper arm and the back of the upper arm).

More in part three about why this work of accessing our whole vocal range in a gentle and healthy way is very important -- not just for our voices, but also for our bodies and nervous system.

Til then -- love and cherish your voice. And make some happy sounds!!

Barbara