Vocal cords are two strips of muscle that vibrate when you breathe in and out. So what separates the deep-voiced folks from the high-pitched ones? Turns out, it’s all about the anatomy of the vocal tract or vocal cords. What Makes Your Voice Deeper?Įveryone’s got a voice, but not everyone’s got a deep voice. Once your thicker vocal cords are nice and relaxed, they’ll be able to vibrate more slowly, resulting in a deeper voice. The tension in our vocal cords can cause them to vibrate at a higher frequency, resulting in a higher-pitched voice. Second, focus on relaxing your vocal cords. Just take slower, deeper breaths from your belly rather than your chest. This requires some practice, but it will come naturally once you get it. You’ll need to breathe from your diaphragm to get a deeper voice. This constricts the vocal cords, resulting in a higher-pitched voice. When we’re anxious or nervous, our breathing quickens and becomes shallower. You may have the deep, powerful voice you’ve always desired if you’re prepared to work.įirst, focus on your breathing. Remember, these tips won’t work overnight – you’ll need to put in some time and practice if you want to see results. Luckily, you may take a few easy steps to deepen your voice permanently. How to Make Your Voice Deeper Permanently?Įveryone wants a good voice tone that sounds commanding and irresistible. Many speech therapists and other professionals can help you achieve the deep voice you’re looking for. 27-36.If you’re still having trouble deepening your voice, consider seeking a voice coach, vocal coach, speech coach, or speech therapist.
“The Value of Vocal Function Exercises in the Practice Regimen of Singers.” Journal of Voice, Vol. Sabol, Julianna Wrycza, Lee, Linda, and Stemple, Joseph C. “Efficacy of Vocal Function Exercises as a Method of Improving Voice Production.” Journal of Voice, Vol. Stemple, Joseph C., Lee, Linda, D’Amico, Beth, and Pickup, Betsy (1994). You can also read more about the exercises in these articles: You can see an excerpt, where he demonstrates the inside vowel here. Stemple has produced a training DVD on them. Vocal Function Exercises were developed by speech pathologist Joseph Stemple and colleagues. In the coming weeks, I will be offering up some movement meditations I use to keep myself engaged with these exercises, but if there are particular things you’re curious about, perhaps I can shed some light!
If you don’t know the meaning of any of these things, or feel like you’d like to refine your understanding from a body in mind perspective, please drop me a line with your questions (scroll down and click on the envelope icon at the bottom of the page for my email). Singers with a certain kind of training will know what I mean by certain terms used in this essay, such as forward placement, onsets, and glottal stops. It’s nice to keep track of your progress, so make sure you download your Vocal Function Tracker. With daily practice, you’ll be able to increase the amount of time you hold the long tones. You will probably find that you can hold some notes much longer than others. Once you’re able to hold the note for the entire 30 seconds, there’s no need to repeat it. If you can’t hold the note that long (and chances are, you won’t be able to at first), don’t fret! Sing it again. With this and all subsequent exercises, aim for a clean onset, without glottal stops.The goal is to sustain the tone without breaks for as long as possible, aiming for at least 30 seconds. Sing as lightly as possible with a focused (not breathy) tone, “forward” without being overly nasal. Sing the vowel sound as in “tree” on the F above middle C for women, below middle C for men. With IPA, there are rules, and if you forget them, you can look them up.
My system was inconsistent and unreliable. Back in the dark ages, before I learned the IPA, I would scribble pronunciation notations in my music, only to go back later and wonder what nuanced shade of vowel I’d meant. This alphabet was developed by linguists for their own nefarious purposes, and has been adopted by many singers because it is so darn useful. What’s with the vowels in brackets? Square brackets around a letter indicate it should be pronounced according to the rules of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Once you get the hang of it, once-daily will do you fine.
When you’re first starting out with these exercises, you should aim to do them twice a day. You will need: a stopwatch (I use my phone), a writing implement, a Vocal Function Tracker so you can record your progress (download a PDF here), and most importantly, your voice! The entire sequence takes about ten minutes.