Voice Health – How to have a good voice?

  One of the hottest topics this summer should be the show “The Voice of China”, from the blind auditions to the finals, the only winning factor the show boasts is the quality of the students’ voices. The four mentors have chosen students who undoubtedly have solid singing skills, distinctive voice quality and singing style in line with today’s popular trends. While praising these great voices, many of us have the same hope: How can I have such a good voice?  First of all, let’s understand how our voices are created.  The production of human voice depends on the synergy of the vocal organs, namely the vocal tract (power organ, vibrating organ, resonating organ, and sound organ) and the respiratory and nervous systems. When pronouncing the voice, under the power of the respiratory organs, the airflow vibrates the vocal cords to produce the initial sound, and then the sound becomes round and pleasant through the coordination of the thoracic and nasal cavities and other resonating organs. Therefore, changes in any of the above can cause imperfections or abnormalities in the voice.  Except for a very few people who are born with abnormal development, most people are born with a natural, healthy voice. However, in our daily life, there are many people who have voice problems. Ticket sellers, teachers, telephone operators, entertainers, etc. are often prone to voice fatigue, hoarseness and other problems. This is mainly due to improper pronunciation methods or excessive use of the voice.  How to strengthen voice health care and correct bad pronunciation habits and methods?  The correct way of pronunciation can protect the vocal cords from damage. When pronouncing, you can adjust your breathing and pronunciation under the guidance of professionals, making full use of the resonance of the chest cavity, larynx cavity, oropharynx cavity, nasal cavity and skull, and gradually progressing through the auditory reflex to achieve the best pronunciation effect. Here we advocate the use of abdominal breathing to pronounce, men’s breathing is mostly of this type, while women are mostly chest breathing, the majority of female friends may wish to refer to the yoga breathing, abdominal protrusion when inhaling, abdominal recovery when exhaling, with abdominal muscles to drive breathing and pronunciation, which is the basis of correct vocalization. Secondly, pay attention to the relaxation of the shoulders, neck and facial muscles when pronouncing. People who are prone to fatigue in pronunciation can massage their neck and shoulder muscles before speaking or singing, especially the muscles on both sides of the laryngeal nodes in front of the neck; some of the friends who are prone to pronounce “tight” can try to press the laryngeal nodes with one thumb and the finger of one hand when speaking to lower the position of the laryngeal nodes, which may have unexpected effects. We always encounter exciting things in life, I believe many friends will intentionally or unintentionally increase the volume to express their excitement, here we recommend that we must pay attention to control the volume of speech, “loud” may be a way to express your heart, but it is harmful to our vocal cords! Loud, high-pitched speech will not only increase the strength and frequency of the collision between the vocal cords, but also will make the vocal cords in the process of pronunciation overly elongated, more likely to produce fatigue. In daily work and life, it is not recommended to speak for a long time, properly listen to the ideas of others, both for mutual communication between friends, but also for the protection of their own vocal cords, at the same time, many times a small amount of water can keep the mucous membrane of the throat moist, is a good habit to maintain the vocal cords. Especially in autumn, the weather is dry and sandy, the vocal cords are more likely to lose moisture, so drinking more water becomes very necessary.  Some friends are used to clear their throat frequently, smoke and drink alcohol, and some people often have acid reflux and heartburn, hiccups and other phenomena, which can cause damage to the vocal cords. Therefore, proper adjustment and correction of bad habits, reduction of smoking and alcohol, avoiding spicy and other irritating foods, as well as active treatment of corresponding diseases can effectively protect our vocal organs.