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YOUR VOCAL HEALTH:
Shock Treatment
Say these words: “always,
ice,
button, curtain, out, Coke, nap.” If you are like most people, you will be able to feel the
slight sensation of clearing your throat on the underlined letters. Perhaps to you it feels like a tiny grunt. It happens typically on words that begin with a vowel,
or have a “t’n” between syllables, or end with the plosives “t, k and p.” The phenomenon is
known as glottalization (glottal attack or glottal stop) and over time, can cause glottal fry or shock, damaging to the vocal
folds.
Let me explain the mechanism:
When beginning to speak a word beginning with a vowel, the vocal folds begin in a closed position and we use a attack
of strongly supported air (pressure) to separate them and create the
vibration for the first sound of the word. At the end of
a word, we may bring the vocal folds together (cutting off our stream of air) to produce the last sound, instead of using
the tongue or lips to make it. Now, lots of people speak this way and we can
understand the words themselves, so why should we care how the sound
is made?
Because
every time you use the glottis (the space between the vocal chords) to begin or end a sound, the pressure needed to do so
is like a little fist punching through the delicate vocal folds.
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Over time the “shock” of those pressure waves produces hoarseness, reduction of your higher range notes and a permanent deepening of the voice. The tendency to glottalize is part of most people’s everyday
speech, so it is important that you begin to change those daily habits. It
takes time and attention, but renders immediate and long-term benefits.
1) Download the practice page at the
link at the bottom of the page.
2) On
words beginning with vowels, begin each word as if there were an “h” before it, supporting the sound with your
diaphragm. Continue until you can remove the “h” and begin
from the relaxed, open position and supported breath position.
3) Practice word endings by closing
the final sound on a tongue tap or closed lips followed by the last bit
of your exhalation.
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Glottal Exercises
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