Vocal pedagogy

Contact information Frances Ascott ENT Dept Manchester Royal Infirmary 0161 276 4215 (voicemail) frances.ascott@cmft.nhs.uk

Vocal pedagogy The method and practice of

teaching In order that you can effectively teach

students in singing you need to understand the mechanism. It is no longer acceptable to teach purely “by ear” although your musical skills, interpretation, tuning and many more shills are also required. The first part of this course is dealing with the physical aspect of voice production. Valuable for you as singers and as a teachers of singing

Opportunity for Questions As we go along At the end of sessions Make an appointment/arrangement At end of course

A Functional Approach to Voice Production

Anatomy

Cycle of voice production

course Anatomy and physiology of these

systems Function

Useful terminology in anatomy

Larynx

Main functions of the larynx Respiration

Acts as a valve to regulate airflow

Protection/swallowing Closes during swallow to prevent

aspiration by action of epiglottis and up and forward movement

Thoracic fixation Closure of upper airway temporarily to

increase abdominal pressure

Position of larynx

Larynx

The larynx sits at the top of the windpipe/trachea

It sits in front of the hypopharynx

Laryngeal cartilages Cartilages

1 x thyroid 1 x cricoid 2 x arytenoid 1 x epiglottis 2 x corniculate 2 x cuneiform 2 x triticea

Bone hyoid

Larynx from front

Thyroid cartilage

Thyroid cartilage Thyroid cartilage is the largest cartilage Made of 2 quadrangular plates called

thyroid lamina. Each plate has 2 surfaces :Inner & outer

4 Borders : Upper,Lower,anterior,posterior

Anterior border Anterior borders unites at an angle or approximately 90° in men and 120° in women Thyroid prominence (Adams apple) separated by Thyroid notch

Posterior borders :Prolonged upwards & downwards called Sup. & Inf. Horns or Cornu

Superior horn connects to the hyoid bone Lateral thyrohyoid ligament

Inferior horn is connected to the cricoid cartilage by Cricothyroid joint in a facet at the medial surface for cricoid arch

Ossification or calcification of the thyroid cartilage begins early at around 20 years starting posteriorly and inferiorly

Thyroid cartilage

Thyroid cartilage Halfway between the thyroid notch

and the inferior border is a slight depression which marks the level of the vocal cords.

The cartilage is covered in perichondrium and on the inner surface this is covered my mucosal membrane

Cricoid cartilage

Cricoid cartilage This a signet ring in shape It is the only full ring of cartilage in

the airway The posterior lamina may be up to

30mm in height The cricoid arch at the front can be

as little as a few mm in height. Because it is thin it tens to ossify/calcify later

Cricoid cartilage Internal dimension vary a lot Women average 11.6mm range

8.9-17mm Men average 15mm range from

11-21mm The distance between the

Cricothyroid joint facets also varies

Arytenoid cartilages

Arytenoid cartilages 2 Pyramidal cartilages sit on top of

the wide, posterior facet of the cricoid cartilage

They begin to ossify around 30 years of age.

They are capable of complex movement coming together in the midline and revolve over the cricoid

Corniculate and Cuneiform and Triticea cartilages Sitting on the top of the apex of the

arytenoids are the Corniculate cartilages. These help with the rigidity of the aryepiglottic folds

The cuneiform cartilages in the aryepiglottic folds help with epiglottic movement in swallowing

The Triticeal cartilages are within the thyrohyoid ligament and can be mistaken on x-ray for a foreign body

Epiglottis

Position of the epiglottis

Epiglottis Arises on the inner surface of the

thyroid cartilage above the insertion of the vocal cords.

Ligaments attach from the epiglottis to the hyoid bone, the thyroid cartilage, and the base of the tongue.

Attachment via ligaments rather than joints allows the epiglottic to move passively in tandem with these structures

It is quite soft and flexible

Intrinsic muscles of the larynx The muscle within the larynx have

three main purposes Changing the tension of the vocal

folds Opening Closing the vocal folds

They may be described as abductor, adductor, tensor and relaxer

Intrinsic muscles superior and sagittal views

Intrinsic muscles anterior and posterior views

Abductor muscle (opening) Posterior cricoarytenoid PCA Traditionally credited as the only

abductor Paired muscle from the posterior surface

of the cricoid cartilage and inserts onto the muscular process of the arytenoids

Pulls back on the muscular process swinging the front ends away from each other so opening the glottis for respiration

Posterior Cricoarytenoid

Abductors and adductors

Adductor muscles Lateral cricoarytenoid Interarytenoid muscles

Lateral cricoartenoid Plays the most active role in the

protection of the airway through closure

It regulates medial compression May have some abductory abilities

Inter-arytenoid muscles Transverse muscle is unpaired Obliques are paired Transverse pulls arytenoids

horizontally together

Movement or arytenoids

Adductors 1

Adductors 2

Relaxer Muscle The thyro-arytenoid is the main

pitch lowering muscle. Contraction shortens the muscle lowering the pitch

Also contraction straightens and closes the vocal folds

It forms the bulk of the vocal cord It has 2 distinct muscle bands

Medial Thyroarytenoid (vocalis) Lateral Thyroarytenoid

(thromuscularis)

Thyro-arytenoid muscles Note when the muscle is

contracted and also opposed by other muscles this will result in an increase in tension so it may also be described as a tensor

Check diagram to see muscle bands making up the vocal fold

Thyro-arytenoid muscles

Thyro-arytenoid muscles

Tensor muscles The paired crico-thyroid muscles

which have two distinct parts pulling in slightly different directions

By closing the cricothyroid at the front the vocal folds are elongated and stretched increasing tension and pitch

Cricothyroid muscles

Action of cricothtroid

Cricothyroid muscles

Aryepiglottic muscles Sometimes describes as a sphincter Not easily fit into one of above

categories but still intrinsic laryngeal muscle

These muscle are continuation of oblique arytenoid muscle to epiglottis.

Pulls epiglottis down during swallow. Control not understood

Aryepiglottic muscles

Intrinsic membranes and ligaments Then form important structure to the

larynx. Conus elasticus is cone shaped below

the vocal folds. In the anterior midline it forms the

cricothyroid ligament which then divided to form vocal ligament (from the anterior inner surface of the thyroid cartilage back to the arytenoids. This is part of the vocal fold.

Membranes and ligament Posterior/coronal

Intrinsic membranes and ligaments The quadragular membrane form the

side walls of the laryngeal vestibule above the vocal folds

The inferior border forms the ventricular ligament in the ventricular folds (or false vocal folds)

The ventricular folds move largely passively. The mechanism is not entirely understood. Ideally they should be retracted to allow maximum freedom for vocal cord vibration

Extrinsic muscles Titze 1994

Laryngeal Elevators Elevators

Digastric Stylohyoid Mylohyoid Geniohyoid Thyrohyoid Hyoglossus Genioglossus muscles

Laryngeal depressors

Sternohyoid Omohyoid

Muscles which raise the larynx are called elevators

Elevation often goes with increase in pitch but the larynx can raise independent of pitch. There will be an acoustic change.

Opera quality require a fairly low position where as belt require a high setting.

References Obert and Chicurel (2005) Geography of

the Voice. Pub Estill voice training systems

Perkins and Kent (1986) Textbook of Functional Anatomy of Speech, Language and Hearing. Pub Taylor and Francis

Sataloff (2006) Vocal Health and Pedagogy. Vol 1 Pub. Plural

Further viewing www.anatomyzone.com via You

Tube