Voice 101 page 7
learning to sing better
As with any instrument, the range of pitches or notes your vocal cords are capable of producing is limited to the length of your vocal cords. Different length cords produce different pitches or notes. Only a cord long enough to produce a low note is capable of producing a low note. This idea is easy to understand if you can picture the inside of a grand piano.
A grand piano is essentially a big box with strings or cords of various lengths stretched out inside. The body or box of a grand piano is not just a simple square or rectangle, but has a characteristic wavy curve on one end. This design is due to the length of the cords laid out inside; there is one cord for every note or key on a piano. When you play a key on a piano a hammer or mallet strikes the corresponding cord inside the box, causing the cord to vibrate and produce sound. Lower notes on a piano correspond to very long cords, while higher notes on a piano correspond to shorter cords. There is no way to naturally produce a low bass note on a piano when playing a short cord (high note on the keyboard). Those short little cords just can't produce a lower sound.
Similarly, your vocal cords have a set length and will only be able to produce a certain range of pitches or notes. You can learn to use the full length of your vocal cords with practice. This takes exercising your voice (usually through vocal warm-up exercises and scales) to learn how to use all your muscles to produce the maximum range of notes your vocal cords are capable of. With time and patience you will probably be able to add a few notes that are a bit too low and a few notes that are a bit too high for you in the beginning but you will find a physical limit to your range, particularly on the low end of the scale.
As well as the actual physical structure of your vocal cords, your voice can be affected by several disorders of the larynx. Larynx disorders interfere with the proper functioning of the vocal cords, and the most common symptom is hoarseness. Ill health or straining the voice can produce temporary hoarseness that usually clears up with rest. Persistent hoarseness may be caused by the growth of polyps or singer's nodes, both of which need medical attention.
When the sound of your voice has been produced by the passage of air from your lungs (controlled by your abdominal and middle back muscles) causing your vocal cords to vibrate, it is finally shaped and modified by your mouth (tongue, palate, teeth, and lips).
SHAPING THE SOUND - THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR MOUTH
Shaping the sound from your vocal cords involves your entire mouth - tongue, palate, teeth, and lips. Damage to any part of your mouth will affect your ability to shape sound, however, many people who have suffered damage to their mouths (lost teeth, split lips, cleft palate) learn to adequately compensate for their altered mouth shape and can be quite well understood.
No matter what shape your mouth is in you can tighten and tone the actions of your tongue, palate, teeth, and lips with an old tried and true method: tongue twisters.
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