Anatomy of the Voice

In compiling basic anatomical information on the voice, the first question that arises is what to include. In this book I have identified five basic systems that are responsible for vocal production:

The first, and in many ways the most basic part of the voice, is the respiratory system. Although sound is produced in the larynx, this would not be possible without the flow of air from the lungs. This airflow provides a necessary power source to set the vocal cords into motion to produce sound. In Chapter One we’ll look at the anatomy of breathing.

Chapter Two examines the second system, the larynx, which is the most immediate physical structure pertaining to the voice. Its role in vocal production and its highly specialized functions are so important that it merits a key place in a basic anatomical reference on the voice. The larynx forms the housing for the vocal folds that vibrate to make sound, bringing them together when we want to speak or sing, and pulling them apart when we breathe normally. Though the intricate design of the larynx does not lend itself to easy comprehension of its function, when we break down its component parts and look at them in turn, it begins to make sense.

The larynx itself is suspended within a network of muscles—sometimes called the extrinsic muscles of the larynx—that move the structure when we swallow and help it to function. These constitute the third system we will examine. Although the role of these muscles in swallowing is well understood, their role in vocalization has been largely misunderstood and underestimated. We’ll look at the function of these muscles in Chapter Three.

The fourth basic system is the vocal tract, which is made up mainly of the pharynx but also includes the oral cavity and the position of the larynx. It is here that we break up the sounds coming from the larynx into speech. It is also here that the sound from the vibrating vocal folds is augmented. Because the vocal tract is not fixed in shape but can be altered by how we use the different structures such as the mouth, tongue, and palate, it forms a crucial part of vocal training. We’ll look at these elements in detail in Chapter Four.

Because the face also occupies a practical role in vocal training, I have included a fifth chapter describing the muscles of the face as they relate to vocal placement. Here I have also included the jaw, since it naturally belongs in this section.

In the final chapter we will look at the function and evolution of the larynx in particular, and the voice in general. Because the larynx is so complex, it is nearly impossible to appreciate why it is the way it is without having some sense of how it evolved, which in turn helps to make some of its features more understandable.