Various methods can help you make your voice either deeper or more high-pitched . This may involve doing vocal exercisesworking with a voice coachor having surgery. It may depend on the specific change you wish to make.
Your voice has the ability to commandsootheand entertain. But if you don’t like the way it soundsit may affect your confidence to do those things.
The way you sound is just as important as the words you say. While not everyone who wants to change their voice can become a Grammy Award-winning singerthere are steps you can take to improve the overall soundtonetextureand quality of your voice.
Keep reading to learn about what determines the sound and texture of your voiceand what you can do to change it.
The sound and texture of your voice are determined by multiple factors.
Heredity
Heredity is one factor. You may have noticed that people within the same family often have voices that sound similar. That’s because the larynxwhich contains the vocal cordshas uncountable physical variationsjust like every other part of your anatomy.
Gender
Gender also plays a role. From birthboys develop larger vocal cords than girls do. At pubertytestosterone acts to enlarge the larynx.
The vocal cords also lengthen and thicken as you agegenerating a deeper resonance and vibration. That’s why male voices lower and deepen at pubertywhile female voices remain relatively high.
Hormones and weight
Hormones and their impact on weight can also affect how you sound. Men with obesity produce an overabundance of estrogencausing their voices to raise. On the other handwomen with obesity produce an overabundance of testosteronewhich may deepen their voices.
Being overweight may also affect breath controlmaking the voice sound raspy or breathless. Being underweightin reversemay also affect your voice by reducing your endurance and making your vocal cords more prone to injury.
Height
Height also influences the sound of your voice. Taller people tend to have larger lower airways and lungscausing them to have deeper voices than shorter people.
Structural anomalies
Structural anomaliessuch as a deviated septum or cleft palatecan affect the way you soundas can your languagedictionand accent.
Your ageemotional stateoverall healthand the cleanliness of the air you breathe can also alter the pitchtimbresoundand texture of your voice.
The first step to changing your voice is to decide what about your voice you don’t like. Is it too nasal? Do you have an accent you don’t like? Are you a breathy speaker?
Consider what about your voice is displeasing to you. This will make it easier to figure out how to change it.
Work with a speech therapist
If you have a speech disorderworking with a speech therapist will help. Speech disorders can include difficulties with articulationsuch as lispingor difficulties with fluencysuch as stuttering.
Hire a vocal coach
If you wish to make your voice more powerfuleliminate an accentor improve the overall quality of your speaking voiceworking with a vocal coacheither in person or onlinecan help.
A voice coach will help you learn how to shape vowels and consonants differently and isolate various elements of speech. They’ll also help you focus on the following:
There are a number of surgical procedures that can lower or raise the pitch of your voice. They include:
Voice feminization surgery. Your voice can be altered surgically so that it no longer makes low pitched sounds. This is called voice feminization surgery or feminization laryngoplasty. During voice feminization surgerythe voice box is made smaller and the vocal cords are shortened. Trans women sometimes undergo this procedure.
Laser vocal cord tuning. This procedure uses a laser to tighten the vocal cordswhich helps raise pitch. It may also be used to shrink smokers’ polypswhich will also raise pitch.
Pitch lowering surgery. This procedure lowers pitch by loosening the vocal cordsor by rearranging soft tissue to add mass to the vocal cords.
If you want to be your own vocal coachthere are voice exercises you can do at home. Firstyou need to know how your voice actually sounds.
Firstmake a recording of your voice
Your voice may sound different to you than it does to everyone else. That’s because when you speakyour voice travels simultaneously through the air and your skull.
The sound your voice makes is transmitted into your eardrums via airwhere it vibrates three tiny bones: the malleusincusand stapes. It then travels to your cochlea andultimatelyto your brain.
While this is happeningthe vibrations from your vocal cords propel sound directly to the cochlea. That’s why you may not recognize the way your voice sounds when you hear it on a recording. For that reasonit makes sense to record your voice first.
To identify the differences in your speaking patternsexperts recommend recording your voice in multiple scenariossuch as:
speaking to a friend
reading a book to a child
giving a business presentation
Read up on vocal training
Evidence shows that you can manipulate your voice to have more accurate pitch. There are many booksincluding audiobooks on vocal trainingwhich include warmup exercises and tips. A good one to try is “Set Your Voice Free” by Roger Love with Donna Frazierwhich you can find online.
Relax your voice using vocal exercises
Some vocal warmups and exercises you can use to relax your voice include:
humming
lip buzzing
tongue trills
loosening your jaw by opening your mouth widethen gently closing it
yawning
deep breathing
gently massaging your throat to loosen tense muscles
Practice throwing your voice
It’ll also help to practice throwing your voiceor speaking from another part of your bodysuch as your:
diaphragm
throat
mouth and nose
Try emulating a voice you like
You may find that it helps to emulate a voice you like. To do thismake sure to listen carefully to the enunciationtonepitchand timbre of that voice.
When you speak or singthe process that creates your voice starts with your lungs. If your lung capacity is diminishedyour voice may sound weak.
Your ribsdiaphragmand abdominal muscles provide physical power to force air out of the lungs and into the trachea and larynxwhich holds your vocal cords.
The air flows between your vocal cordsmaking them vibrate. Your voicelike all soundis energy made by vibrating air particles. Your pitch is determined by the number of vibrations your vocal cords make. This is referred to as frequency. Fewer vibrations generate a lower pitch. More vibrations generate a higher pitch.
The vibrations propel the particles of air to continue traveling to your mouth and sinuseswhere your voice acquires resonancetoneand the uniqueness of your own particular sound. If your sinuses are cloggedyour voice may acquire a nasal tone at this point in the process.
If you don’t like the way your voice soundsthere are several ways to change it. These include at-home vocal exercisesemulating a voice you likeworking with a voice coachand surgery.
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