Voice is the sound produced in the larynx by the vibration of the vocal folds (vocal cords). Certain speech sounds are voiced by this vibration. The human voice conveys information about the speaker through paralinguistic features such as: pitch, loudness, resonance, quality and flexibility. Speakers vary these paralinguistic to infuse…
Question: I am really impressed with your site, but was wondering if you had any good references to obtain normative comparison for things such as jitter, shimmer, noise to harmonic ratio, and fundamental frequency. My Reply: It is difficult…
Common voice difficulties include colds and laryngitis, and vocal misuse. Voice disorders persist over time and are characterized as organic, psychogenic or functional.
Why is diaphragmatic breathing important for my voice? Good breathing patterns are essential for producing a strong, effective and efficient voice. People with voice difficulties often use shallow, inefficient ways of breathing. Because of this, they can run out of breath when talking.
Hard attack The phrase ‘Annie ate an apple’ is often used by voice therapists to test for what is known as hard attack. This is when the vocal folds are brought together with too much force. It is typically heard on vowel sounds and is caused by…
Three concerns Effective voice production involves at least three things: an appropriate breathing technique to provide the air support required to produce speech (diaphragmatic breathing) easy onset of the vibration of the vocal folds when speaking projecting the voice effortlessly without any strain…
That happens to me! Indicate the extent to which the following statements apply to you. Use a scale of 1 – 5, where 1 = ‘never’ and 5 = ‘every time I use my voice’. My voice is hoarse / husky / rough / croaky My voice…
Question As part of a study we are asking speech therapists what they think the purpose of some functional assessment tasks are. The two I am investigating are:…
