Explanation
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The human voice Your voice is your very own personal musical instrument. It can be defined as ‘the sounds you produce through your mouth’.
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Human voices produce sound using three main parts—the lungs, the vocal cords and the pharynx (throat). Other parts of the body used include the tongue, the jaw, the teeth, the lips, facial muscles and the hard and soft palates on the roof of the mouth. Lungs The voice is powered by air. When you breathe, a column of air passes up from your lungs, through the trachea (windpipe) and is forced over and through your vocal cords. The lungs control the loudness or softness of sound. When more air is forced through the vocal cords, the louder the sounds produced will be, for example when yelling or screaming. When less air is forced through the lungs, softer sounds are produced, such as whispering.
Other parts of the body Finally, the sound is ‘chopped up’ into different sounds by the tongue, jaw, teeth, lips, facial muscles and the hard and soft palates on the roof of the mouth. The type of sounds produced will depend on the mouth and nasal cavity. This is why some people can sing well and others can’t!
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The pharynx The pharynx (throat) is connected to the larynx and divides into two sections—one going to the mouth and the other to the nose. The sound from the vibrating vocal cords passes up through the throat before going through the mouth and nasal cavity and being produced as sound.
Humans can use their voices to produce an amazing variety of sounds, from whispers to shouts and from humming to opera singing! How many ways do you use your voice every day?
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Vocal cords The two vocal cords are folds of tissue that stretch across a cavity called the voice box (larynx) in your throat. The air makes the vocal cords vibrate, like windchimes, creating sound. You can see how this works by holding two of your fingers together in front of your mouth. Blow air through your fingers as you move them around. You should be able to hear faint sounds. If you place your hand halfway down the front of your neck and speak, you will also be able to feel your vocal cords vibrating.
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nasal cavity
pharynx
The thickness and length of individual larynx vocal cords produce different pitches when they vibrate—just like the strings on a guitar. Men usually have lower voices than women vocal cords because their vocal cords are generally longer and thicker.
lips tongue
trachea lungs
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