A Beginner’s Guide to the Anatomy of the Voice

No matter the level of singing you consider yourself to have, I think it is important to learn about the anatomy of the voice.

It helps to understand on a human, biological level exactly what is happening when you are/are not singing- it can help you to understand others’ voices as well.

This will be a beginner’s guide/starter kit into the world of the voice.

I would like to note that in this article I will be mostly focusing on what is happening in the head and throat, I will not be delving into what is happening with the chest down as extensively, but I will touch on this subject.

It is important to know that singing would not be possible without the help of the chest, lungs, back, abdomen and diaphragm.

Vocabulary

Before describing how the different muscles and pieces interact with each other, I’ll start by describing what each of these things are, and their general function in the body.

Larynx

A hollow, muscular organ that creates a passageway from the mouth to the lungs. The larynx contains the:

• Epiglottis: A flap of cartilage behind the root of the tongue. This covers the opening of the windpipe when swallowing.
• Thyroid cartilage: Commonly known as the “Adam’s Apple.” It is important to note that everyone has this (female and male), while it is more prominent in men, women still have them as well. This is a shield- shaped structure that forms the anterior and lateral walls of the larynx.
• Vocal folds: Folds of membranous tissue that slant inwards from the sides of the larynx to form a small slit across the glottis in the throat. Their edges vibrate when air passes through, which produces the voice.
• Cricoid Cartilage: a crucial structural foundation for the larynx.

Hard Palate

The bony front part of the palate (the roof of your mouth)

Soft Palate

The soft tissue at the back of the roof of the mouth. When raised, it forms a seal between the mouth and the nasal cavity. During swallowing, this action prevents food from entering the nose.

Cricothyroid Muscle

Attached to the front side of the thyroid cartilage and outer sides of the cricoid cartilage.

Arytenoid Cartilage

Two cartilages attached to the back of the cricoid cartilage. Responsible for your vocal folds opening and closing.

Thyroarytenoid Muscle

Muscle within the vocal fold, attached to the front of the thyroid cartilage and the back of the arytenoid cartilages.

Mucosa

Inner lining of some organs and body cavities.

Trachea

Commonly known as the windpipe. Extends from the larynx to the bronchial tubes, bringing air too and from the lungs.

Uvula

That little dangly thing in the back of your throat. It helps prevent food and drink from entering the nasal cavity when swallowing. It lubricates the throat with saliva production, and also is responsible for some specific speech sounds. (yeah, that little thing is actually super important!)

Esophagus

A long muscular tube that helps transport food and drink from the mouth to the stomach.

Bronchial Tubes

Commonly known as the Bronchi, they filter warm and humidify air, which protects the lungs with mucus.

Diaphragm

The primary muscle of respiration. It’s a dome shaped skeletal muscle that separates the heart and lungs from the abdominal cavity. The diaphragm actually moves involuntarily (like the heart pumps on its own). When you hiccup, it’s actually your diaphragm spasming !

Abdominal Cavity

Where your liver, stomach, large intestine, small intestine, liver, digestive and reproductive organs, and kidneys are located.

What Happens When We Sing? How Does Everything Come Together?

Air comes out of the lungs, through the trachea and into the larynx.

The vocal cords touch and then are forced apart by air pressure from the lungs, and this produces sound, which is called phonation.

That’s all singing really is!

When singing higher pitches our vocal cords vibrate faster, and when we sing lower our vocal cords vibrate slower.

This is why I really don’t like the vocabulary that we use when singing; “High notes” and “low notes”.

This gives a false notion that we are moving our voice up and down, when really we are technically just producing different levels of pressure.

In Farsi, they say “thick notes” and “thin notes”.

These would be my preferred choice of words.

When our vocal cords vibrate slower, the actual folds become shorter and thicker- more loose.

When they vibrate faster they are longer, thinner and tighter.

Think of the strings on a guitar, the low E string is thick and tied just a bit looser, and the higher E string, which is thinner and tighter.

This is much better imagery for singing.

Because we say “high note” and “low note”, this causes an association in our mind that physiologically we are using our throat to go up and down to hit notes.

When we sing and our larynx is raised too high, this can actually cause us to strain and create tightness in our throat that can have negative implications on our vocal cords.

Our larynx raises and lowers naturally, but ever so slightly.

For more healthy singing, we should try our best to keep the larynx lowered as much as possible – to maintain comfort.

When the larynx is raised too high, this can lead to a choking sensation: the tongue is not relaxed and there is overall tension surrounding the vocal folds, which makes a “squeezed” sound.

So How Do We Control Pitch?

The main muscle used when singing higher is the cricothyroid muscle.

This muscle contracts and pulls the thyroid muscle down and forward on its hinge, pulling them away from the arytenoid cartilage.

This then pulls the vocal folds in a way that makes them longer and thinner.

So, when there is air pressure coming up pushing through the folds, it creates a higher frequency.

The main muscle when singing lower is the thyroarytenoid muscle, which scrunches the vocal folds up by pulling the arytenoid end of the vocal cords closer to the thyroid end.

While the thyroarytenoid muscle is contracting it becomes firm.

This causes the mucosa that is covering the vocal folds to become looser, which is why they then vibrate slower and create a lower frequency.

Connecting the Dots

To maintain a relaxed feeling in our throat, this is where using the rest of our body comes in.

Singing does not only include mechanisms in our throat.

Vocalising comfortably is about trying to feel relaxed in the throat, neck, and jaw, while having an engaged core.

Singing should never hurt, it should feel like a sigh or a yawn.

When one yawns, the larynx is lowered and relaxed, as the soft palette raises
and creates room for vocal resonance.

Breathing deep and low (meaning that you allow the lungs to fill completely and your stomach to expand) into the body is important when engaging the core.

Many times, the phrase “take a deep breath” causes singers to raise their shoulders and chest – this creates tension on the neck and further disrupts singing.

I like to say that learning how to sing is like learning yoga for a beginner.

You can’t do a split on your first try, and balance takes time to internalise.

We learn how to slowly stretch our vocal chords, and manipulate our voices and resonances in new ways as well.

It can be very helpful to physically see exactly what is happening in your body and throat when singing.

Try to sing or speak and see if you can imagine which muscles are moving.

Put your hand on your neck and feel how with every word or note, it can shift. Get to know your body and your voice in a new way.

Citations:

• Anatomy for Vocalist
• Anatomy of the Voice
• Glossary of Singing Voice Terminology
• University of Minnesota – Physiology