Understanding the Vocal Apparatus and Voice Training

The Vocal Instrument

Similarly, we call the parts of our body that produce our voice the vocal apparatus.

There are three processes involved:

Respiration

For the voice to make sound, there must be an adequate flow of air when we breathe: during inhalation and during exhalation.

Between the lungs and the digestive system, there is a muscle called the diaphragm. It helps to push the air out when we exhale.

Complete Breathing

When singing, we must try to fill the entire lung space. First, we fill the lower part and then the upper part.

The Production of Sound

Pushed by the diaphragm, air flows from the lungs to the larynx. The larynx has two small tendons called the vocal cords. These tense and vibrate as the air passes, producing sound.

Amplification in the Resonators

These are basically the facial cavities (the hollow space in our face and head) and the chest (the thoracic cavity).

Voice Training

Training can transform a mediocre voice into quite a good one.

The first step is to determine the voice’s tessitura (the set of notes the person’s voice can emit without difficulty and with timbral quality).

Genres like opera or zarzuela require very powerful voices with a wide tessitura. These singers use the vocal apparatus and the resonating chambers to the best of their abilities to project their voice as much as possible.

Types of Voices

The simplest and most common classification divides male and female singers. Each gender has subdivisions from the lowest to the highest vocal range:

• Female: Soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto.
• Male: Tenor, baritone, bass.

Children’s voices are called trebles and they have a tessitura similar to women. During adolescence, the voice changes or breaks.

Some men manage to sing with the tessitura of a woman using the falsetto register of their voice. These singers are called countertenors.

Vocal Groupings

The most characteristic vocal formation is the choir:

• Chamber choirs: Small groups of voices.
• Mixed choir: Choirs with both men and women’s voices.