Hello Friends!
Do you enjoy singing? Or humming along to a tune on the radio? Singing is such a natural, organic process- honestly we do it as babies just by making sounds that we sustain for a few seconds. Sometimes as we grow older we lose confidence that we can sing “good enough” and many stop singing around others because of their insecurities. How sad is that! The vocal cords you have – your instrument – is unique to you! No one else in the world has the exact same one as you have. And though there are things we can learn to train our voices, so much of learning how to sing is about developing confidence that our instrument (as well as our perspective and feelings – that comes out too!) is worth sharing.
Today I thought I’d share just a few quick thoughts about our vocal cords!
One of the tricky things about singing is that though our vocal chords are where the sound originates, our vocal chords are pretty sensitive and we can easily require too much of them- and create strain. One of the ways to not strain them is to learn about the diaphram, ribcage, and belly breathing- all which I can share in another post. It takes practice to coordinate that system effectively, but if you want to get good at singing, that’s a big part of the work. Anyhow…today we’re focused on the vocal cords.
Have you ever seen a video of what the vocal cords look like when you’re singing? I saw this for the first time when I was studying Speech Therapy at BYU and it was FASCINATING to me. This video is looking down on the vocal cords- a small tube with a camera on the end is going through this individual’s mouth and is pointed down the throat looking down on the vocal cords. Note that the vocal cords are moving in slow motion here- they vibrate so quickly it’s hard to see what’s happening if it’s in full speed! Pay attention to how the vocal cords are different when the note is low verses when the note is high.
Isn’t that fascinating?! Did you notice what happened when the tone was lower? The vocal cords became more relaxed and shorter! When the note was higher what happened? The vocal cords were stretched and elongated, creating a higher sound.
Also notice that the vocal cords are quite moist in this video. They are partially made up of mucosal tissue (also ligament and muscle) and need good hydration to have good flexibility and low friction when vibrating. What that means in simple terms? Drink lots of water!
The amazing thing is that we do not directly control what is happening with our vocal cords. An amazing Creator set it all up so that we could enjoy singing without all the technical knowledge of how to turn on this muscle or stretch this ligament. Our breath sets it into motion and we can enjoy expressing ourselves through our unique sound.
More thoughts on this at some point in the future.
Until then, enjoy the vocal cords you were gifted. They are amazing!
Love
Laur
