Vocal Chords (Vocal Flaps)

During voice lessons, we talk about vocal chords (vocal flaps) a lot. Why you ask? Because these are one of the main instruments that shape our voice.

For example, think of a glass of water as your vocal chords. The more water that is in your glass, the higher the sound will be. The less water, the lower the sound.

Also, the shape of the glass (vocal chords) will affect the sound as well. A bigger and rounder glass will have a more full sound, while a smaller glass wont be as full, but will be able to travel farther in a room.

Watch this video as a example:


Now, let's see what vocal chords actually look like. WARNING!!!! They're not pretty and I've had students that have been queasy while looking at them, so if you feel that you might go down this path, just look at the picture. 

{Image taken fromWikipedia}

What I want to you watch for:

1) Correct singing is when the vocal chords look like they are flapping. 

2) The lower the pitch, the less the flapping. Higher the pitch, more flapping. 

In order to have healthy and properly used vocal chords, you want the folds to be flapping. Often when I've had singers come in they try to "open up" their throat. This causes the sound to be more muffled and not as full. Why? Because the vocal chords are unable to shape the air that is coming up and is instead creating a motion like if you were to put a bowl over your moth and tried to sing.  Two things to think about then, while you are singing:  1) Try to do nothing with your throat. This will stress it out and cause the vocal chords to not work properly.  2) Imagine your throat and mouth are like a trumpet player. The air flows through the trumpet (your throat), your mouth (soft pallet, tongue, lips, etc) are what shape the sound. Good Luck!