VOICE

Isn’t it wonderful when you turn on the radio and hear the voice of your favourite singer, or when you answer the phone and the voice of your loved one speaks? That pleasure of hearing a large part of our own identity, the identity of someone we love! Or even the uneasy feeling of hearing the voice of someone you don’t actually like?

Have you ever thought about how interesting it is that you can identify voices instantly?

Each of us has a unique voice. Your voice identifies you as uniquely as your fingerprints. Even though some people sound very similar, no two voices are identical. But why is that? Because many factors work together to create the voice. It starts at the bottom of the lungs, where air is exhaled to create a flow of air down the trachea and across the larynx, which we can call the voice box. Stretched horizontally across the larynx are the vocal folds, formerly called the vocal cords. When air flows over them, they vibrate very, very quickly to produce sound. The higher the rate of vibration, the higher the pitch. The pitch of your voice is determined by the tension and also the length of your vocal folds.

The vocal folds themselves only produce what we call a buzzing sound. This buzzing sound is then altered by the body parts between the vocal folds and the outside world (throat, nose, mouth, tongue, palate) which act as a resonating chamber and transform the buzzing sound into our unique human voice. Knowing that these body parts are unique to each person, we can understand what gives each person a unique vocal sound. Furthermore, these parts can change over the years and even from day to day, so your voice can also change over time and even from day to day!

We can also notice a change in the sound of our voice when we have a cold. The raspy voice that is common with colds is caused by the vocal folds swelling due to the cold virus. Coughing can also cause irritation. Also reflux.

Emotions can also play a role in changing your voice. When you are excited, nervous or anxious, the muscles around the larynx often tighten, causing increased tension in the vocal folds. This increased tension leads to the higher pitch we often hear in our voice when we are excited or even stressed.

So let’s take good care of this unique instrument within us. When we understand it, we can use it in so many pleasurable ways! It helps us to be more and more ourselves.