So You Want to Discuss Phonation...

Phonation is the function of making sounds with the body to communicate. To discuss phonation, we first need to talk about all the major players on how phonation happens: the lungs, the larynx, and the pharyngal space. These three parts of the body, with assistance from many others, create a power, source and filter relationship to allow vocal communication from the body. The lungs are the power that open to allow air to enter the body, the larynx allows the air to pass through in various ways to create the source, and the pharyngal space is a filter for which air moves back out of the body to communicate. 

In order for phonation to happen for singing, there are various factors that are a part of the function. Amount of air intake, laryngal position, vocal folds, positioning of the chin, tongue tension, jaw placement, soft pallet location are some of the many ways that phonation can be affected. Let's take a deeper dive into one of these as it relates to phonation, vocal folds. 

The vocal folds are located inside of your larynx. The folds sit over the trachea and open and close from the back in a V shape within the vocal tract. Shown in the picture on the right, when breathing the vocal folds are open and apart. When you phonate, the folds are brought together starting from the middle of the V and pressed together. As the air flow continues to push from under the vocal folds, the folds vibrate and that is how the sound is produced. Depending on what kind of sound a singer wants to produce is a direct result of how the folds will vibrate. If a singer wants a breathy tone, the folds will not come close, to allow more air to flow through. As we continue to experiment with our own sound, the vocal folds help a singer produce their own unique sound. 




 

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