When people start learning how to sing they often don’t really stop to think about how their vocal cords work to make sound. While it isn’t essential to know about it, since once you learn to sing well it becomes a natural action, rather than something you think about, it is still good information to have.

For starters let’s think of a bass or a Banjo. Unlike a guitar that uses combinations of strings to create notes, the Bass and Banjo use tuning that makes each string sound a whole note when struck. This is why they are generally played only hitting one string at a time. They might be played very fast sometimes, but generally only one string is being plucked or struck at a time.

Now lets think of the strings. On a bass they are fat, on a banjo they are thin. Fat strings make a low sound, while thin strings make high sounds. The vocal cords work the same way.

Your vocal cords are two mucus membranes that change in size to produce different sounds, they are the singers “strings”. That is why taking care of your voice is so important. If something messes up you can’t just buy a new voice the way a guitar player can get a new set of strings.

Okay, so if your vocal cords are the strings of your instrument, then your chest and head are the amplification chambers. An amplification chamber is what helps gives the vibrations we hear as sounds, depth, tone, and quality.

A good example is any acoustic string instrument like a hollow body guitar, or violin. Stradivarius violins are widely accepted as the best sounding violins ever made, no one knows why. There is something about the body of those violins that makes them sound like no other, no matter how many times the strings are changed.

The same can be true of people. People can just be born with great singing voices. Someone can spend the same amount of time learning to sing, but like a violin player without a Stradivarius, they just don’t sound quite as good. A combination of the right sized vocal cords, and the right composition of their body to go with them, just produces a person with a naturally great voice.

Now I am not saying this to discourage, merely to make sure you understand it.

As you practice you will learn to direct which parts of your body are being used in your singing. The chest for deeper singing, the head for higher. Your natural singing voice will lay somewhere in the middle, right around where your speaking voice rests. You will learn what muscles to keep relaxed and which ones to tighten up.

I will leave you with a pair of thoughts.

First that keeping a good straight back is a good idea, and singing in the car, although fun, is not the best place to properly judge how you sound.

Second, there are some things a guide cannot help you with when it comes to singing, but even those things are easier with a few pointers and tips.

Author Bio: I have written a review on a superb singing guide, you need to click this link and read it: Singorama Review – Stupid Name, Excellent Singing Guide

Category: Education
Keywords: how do the vocal cords work,how do you sing,how does singing work,vocal cords,vocal cords sing