Olivia Wormald

Speech Anatomy Revision

Power = Breath
Need head/neck/lumbar/spine alignment
Air = sound (Respiratory system controls and creates air pressure)
Two types of breathing:
Normal breathing = tidal breathing
Breathing During Voicing:

 Deeper breaths are required

 Control provided by posture and respiratory muscles: diaphragm
 Expands on in-breath, out on out-breaths
Its important that the diaphragm is flexible, released abdominal muscles and spine is aligned

80% of volume change is the diaphragm – 20% is the lungs

Muscle build –

 Outside: external oblique

 Six pack: Internal oblique and rectus abdominus (causes constriction)
 Transversus abdominus – the only muscle you need for voicing (relax the rest)
Diaphragm down + Intercostal up/out = stops clavicular breathing and gives pharynx
space – exhale is passive, weight of ribs pushes air out and pressure on guts is released
When is good breathing compromised (compromising clear resonant sound):

 Non-instinctive breathing patterns (clavicular breathing)

 Tension in the upper body
 Bad posture (leaning forwards, twisted/slouching, chest collapsed, head jutting
forward) which leads to less space for the diaphragm to move down allowing air
Spine Sections
Cervical (6) 4 C Curves – allowing the
body to give when we jump
(supports head and neck)
Thoracic (12)
Sacrum is connected the
Holds ribs the hips – it is the base and
Lumbar (5) solid part which is why
posture is so important for
Carries weight of body the voice. ‘Stand out of
your hips’
Sacrum and Coccyx
Coccyx provides
attachments for ligaments
and muscles to the pelvic
flaw
 Olivia Wormald

1. Hyoid bone (only bone)

2. Epiglottis – to stop food
going down to the lungs
3. True Vocal Folds
4. False Vocal Folds
5. Thyroid Cartilage
6. Cricoid Cartilage
7. Trachea – wind pipe
8. Crico-Thyroid Muscles

Three main purposes of the Larynx:

1) Close the passage to the

lungs when swallowing
2) Build up pressure to cough
3) Core pressure and stability
for strenuous activity
4) Voice (side purpose)

The Vocal Folds

They vibrate up to 800 times per second.

Bernoulli Principle – as air passes through a constriction the velocity is increased drawing
the folds together.
Vocal fold contact = source of voice
Everything else just resonates and shapes that sound so contact is everything to get good
clear tone.
Olivia Wormald

Aim Method
Raise Pitch Lengthen vocal folds (more tilt)
Lower Pitch Shorten vocal folds (less tilt)
Get louder Higher air pressure
Thicker vocal folds
Get softer Lower air pressure
Thinner vocal folds

Constriction
If you force or push breath out you constrict. If there is too much muscle involvement the
false vocal folds with close and this affects the air passage and vibration of the true folds
giving a strained sound.
Less effort involved in pushing out breath the better, it allows the false vocal folds to be
released.
Fold Structure

Epithelium – The outer layer of the

larynx has to be flexible and able to
move independently as it allows
faster vibration (mucosal wave)
The lamina propria is a loose layer of
tissue which connects the epithelium
to the vocalis muscle in turn allowing
the folds to vibrate and create sound
Epiglottis – Stops food/liquid going
down the wrong way (or down the
trachea)

Power, Source and Filter

Power Source Filter

Lungs Larynx Mouth/Nose
Diaphragm Vocal folds specifically Pharynx

Filter: the upper vocal tract (amplifies the sound when there is bigger space – soft palette)

 Squeezy tube: changes shape giving resonant frequencies

 Different formant patterns give different vowels and projection
Olivia Wormald

Pharynx is also known as vocal

tract
Back of palate = soft palate
More space at the back of the
mouth = more harmonics and
resonance.
When you narrow epiglottis you
get two spaces = twang
Nasality: low open soft palate
Nasalised sound: mid/ajar (bonne)
Oral: high closed soft palate (ee/i:)

Tongue has 8 muscle groups to give snake-like agility to make vowels - hydrostat
Consonants are made by a combination of tongue and lips – can’t have tongue root tension.
PERFECT VOICING:
1) Full vocal fold closure
2) Thick vocal fold setting
3) More space (raise soft palate)
4) Bit of twang

Height of tongue changes

vowels.

Vowel trapezium!!!!

Sleeping kittens slept at Aunty

Lottie’s awful footed futon
under her umbrella.

Wow, I say, their toilet flows

pure beer.

The voice is powered by the air pressure in the lungs. The sounds source is the vocal folds
vibrating as air passes through. The upper vocal tract amplifies and filters this into sounds
that communicate language and emotion