Human Voice

The lips, tongue, nasal passage, and size of the larynx affect the pitch of a voice. Males generally have larger larynxes and thicker vocal cords than females. For that reason, a female usually has a higher pitched voice.

Girls and boys have basically the same size vocal cords until boys reach puberty. The larynx then becomes larger and the vocal cords become thicker, leading to a lowering of the male's voice at puberty. The vocal cords are also related to the pitch of the sound a person makes.

The Respiratory System

Singing involves the use of the respiratory system of the body. The respiratory system is made up of the many parts that are important elements in the process of singing or playing a musical instrument. The main function of the respiratory system is to bring oxygen into the body and get rid of carbon dioxide and other gases.

Pitch

The pitch of a sound refers to the highness or lowness of a tone. A sound can have a high or low pitch. A low-pitched sound has a lower frequency than a high-pitched sound. Stretching the vocal cords produces a higher- pitched sound, and relaxing the vocal cords produces a lower-pitched sound.

Vocal Music

There are four types of vocal music including songs, choral music, operas, and oratorios.

Types ofvocal

Yodeling is often used in country and western music and is another example of the use of the voice as an instrument. Whistling, vocalese (a jazz genre of singing words to an originally all instrumental tune), doo-wap (upbeat vocals using nonsense syllables sung in harmony), and beatboxing (creating beats and rhythms vocally) are other examples of the human voice used as a musical instrument.

Choral music often involves several instrumental or vocal parts. Choral music is mostly written for four voices. The voice ranges are soprano, alto, tenor, and bass (highest to lowest).

An opera is a drama that is set to music. It features both vocal and instrumental music and uses a stage, costumes, and scenery.

The Respiratory System 2

The action of inhaling and exhaling, called breathing, is assisted by the ribs, rib muscles, and the diaphragm (a large muscle in the chest area). When the rib muscles and the diaphragm contract, or get shorter, air rushes into the lungs because of air pressure. When these muscles relax, air is forced out by the change of lung size and pressure within the lung and chest cavity. Breathing is an important aspect of singing.

How is Sound Created?

The creation of sound begins when air is forced from the lungs through the larynx. The vocal cords form an opening shaped like a V that lets the air into the larynx. The vocal cords and muscles narrow the opening in the larynx as a person speaks or sings. Air vibrates against the surface of the throat and mouth and also causes the vocal cords to vibrate. Once again, without vibration there is no sound.

octave

The letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G are used to identify the notes. These letters are repeated on the eighth note. A singer's vocal range is determined by the span of pitch that a person can sing. Most trained singers have a range of three or more octaves, while an untrained singer has a range of about 1.5 octaves.

Every musical instrument, including the human voice, produces sound through vibration. Without vibration there is no pitch created or any notes played. Vibration is an important element in the act of speaking or singing.

The vocal cords are the primary source of sound in human beings. The vocal cords are actually two tissues that are stretched across the voice box (larynx). The vocal cords are located on either side of an opening in the windpipe (trachea). The larynx has muscles that relax and stretch the vocal cords.

The highest classification for a male voice is tenor, followed by baritone, and bass as the lowest. The most common classifications for voices are mezzo-soprano for women and baritone for men.

These classifications also determine the range of tones a singer can reach

Voice Ranges

Voice ranges are classified by pitch from highest to lowest. The highest classification for a female voice is soprano, followed by mezzo-soprano and contralto as the lowest. Contralto is sometimes referred to as alto.

Voice instrumental music

a class of singing in which the mouth produces timbre (quality given to a sound by its overtones) and rhythm without using words. Music compositions have been created without any words that feature the human voice. Some of this music involves the use of improvisation where singers create sounds or words as they sing the song. Some ancient civilizations used chants as improvisation.

Tone

any sound made by a singer or on a musical instrument. These tones, also called notes, are arranged on a scale in a rising or falling pitch.

Solo vocalists

sing a capella (without the accompaniment of an instrument) or accompanied by one or more musical instruments.

Scat

the use of nonsense sounds and nonsense words that are spoken or sung rapidly to music. Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong were two famous scat singers.the use of nonsense sounds and nonsense words that are spoken or sung rapidly to music.