Resonant Voice Therapy (RVT) is a set of techniques designed to optimize vocal acoustic output for easier and healthier phonation, serving as an effective remedy against various voice disorders.
RVT may include techniques and strategies designed to manage nasal resonance, and shape sounds with desired gender expressions.
Resonant voice exercises include lip trills and straw phonation.
Nose and Mouth Resonance Points
Voice therapy to enhance resonance and projection enhances your ability to produce a clear, powerful, and rich-sounding voice that is well-balanced and free from strain. Vocal resonance refers to vibration of sound waves created by vocal fold muscles located within your larynx (voice box). Resonators within your mouth, nose, and throat contribute towards shaping this resonating vibration to give your tone quality its distinctive tone quality.
Your sound waves bounce off resonating areas within your nasal cavity, oral cavity and pharynx (voice box), acting like filters to shape what others hear as vibrations. Factors such as size of nasal cavities/glottis/glottis position of tongue/velopharyngeal valve closure all impact how your voice sounds.
At your voice consultation with an SLP, the clinician will listen to and ask where you feel your voice as you speak. Some patients may recognize immediately while others need additional explanation as to how their voice functions. Once this information has been presented to them, they’ll then provide several vocal resonance exercises based on where the patient feels their voice.
SLPs typically begin their vocal resonance exercises by assessing nasal and mouth resonant frequencies, with patients asked to hum while gently exhaling through their nose while making sound as though blowing air from their nose. Furthermore, patients should try and leave space between their roof of mouth and their tongue (without cupping it) when making sounds with these exercises.
After assessing nasal and mouth resonant frequencies, SLP will then move on to assessing pharyngeal and chest resonant frequencies by encouraging patients to yawn and swallow before asking them to speak low whisper so they can assess how their voice sounds; additionally they will check behind the throat and tongue to see if their breath remains within these spaces.
Pharyngeal Resonance Points
Just as pebbles bouncing off of a cave wall affect their sound, so does the way your vocal cords create theirs when speaking or singing depend on the shape of their airway they leave through. Your throat, mouth and nasal cavities, as well as any closure to your pharynx act as resonators to filter and shape what sound comes out – acting like filters to filter and shape sounds you create – similar to having an equalizer on a stereo, resonance effects how others hear your voice as well as how your own ears hear it.
Pharyngeal resonance differs from chest resonance in that it uses the body’s lower cavities as its source for sound resonators, such as chest cavities or skull. Instead, pharyngeal resonance uses the pharynx itself as an amplifier of sound for clearer and deeper resonance – essential for singers in higher registers to project without strain on the voice.
As such, it is vitally important that vocal resonance exercises be undertaken regularly in order to maintain healthy resonators in your throat, nose and mouth. A simple lip trill can strengthen diaphragm muscles and improve vocal resonance; tongue twisters or low note humming also helps improve voice quality and resonance. Utilizing the pharyngeal resonance point may also help you improve consonant clarity while decreasing breathiness.
Improved pharyngeal resonance can not only provide you with a richer tone, but can also extend the amount of time you can sing for longer by naturally amplifying sounds while reducing force going into your vocal cords.
One of the more frequent mistakes voice instructors and choir directors make when instructing students is encouraging them to open their mouths very wide when speaking or singing, in the mistaken belief that doing so will enable louder and easier singing due to increased space for resonation in their pharynx and larynx. Unfortunately, however, this technique actually narrows pharyngeal cavity while tightening submandibular muscles that press downward on larynx.
As much as it’s important to avoid exerting too much pressure on the pharynx, as overdoing it can lead to tension in both neck and upper back areas, practicing your pharyngeal resonance can help build up stronger muscles for resonation and become an integral component of successful speech production. For optimal resonator development try opening your mouth like you’re trying to yawn while swallowing simultaneously; repeat this 10 times to build up stronger pharyngeal muscles and develop stronger resonance systems.
Chest Resonance Points
While your chest, throat, mouth and nasal cavities all play an essential part in voice quality, the dominant resonance determines your overall vocal tone. To find your personal resonance it is best to speak or hum at different pitches and pay attention to where vibrations in the body feel strongest. A trained speech-language pathologist can assist in finding one that suits who you are best.
Proactive vocal resonance not only helps prevent strain on vocal folds, but it can also increase vocal range and power, clarity, projection, clarity of pitch, range and range, clarity and projection. By exploring all the resonating chambers in your body and learning how to shift and enhance resonance you can strengthen your voice while increasing its ability to be heard in noisy environments.
Many of the same techniques that assist those suffering from articulation disorders or voice disorders like cleft palate and velopharyngeal insufficiency also address resonance. This includes breathing and tongue movements as well as exercises designed to stimulate or decrease resonance characteristics of an individual – for instance transgender voice training usually includes altering these resonant characteristics so clients can produce feminine or androgynous sounds without altering articulation accuracy.
To activate pharyngeal resonance, sing scales or vowels with relaxed breath while singing scales or vowels. This will enable you to access the brightness that this type of resonance offers, making lower notes easier to produce more efficiently. However, too much pharyngeal resonance may result in muffled sounds with throaty qualities, possibly due to VPI or vocal fold enlargement as well as blockages such as deviated septums or stenotic larynxes.
Producing a “yawn-sigh” is an easy and effective way to activate laryngeal resonance, as it involves inhaling deeply through your nose while exhaling through your mouth. This exercise helps warm vocal cords while warming them further in any comfortable place – from bathroom mirrors or home to public places such as music lessons. Many singing teachers recommend it because of its ability to stimulate velum muscles and increase resonant frequencies.
Throat Resonance Points
Resonant Voice Therapy (RVT) is an innovative and effective technique used to enhance vocal quality, reduce strain on vocal folds and promote overall vocal health. Most commonly utilized by professional singers and actors, RVT can benefit anyone looking to produce a clearer, stronger and healthier-sounding voice. RVT promotes forward resonance in lower registers as well as emphasise a balanced amount of nasal and oral sound energy – this allows greater volume, power and pitch while improving clarity and pitch. Furthermore, RVT has also been proven effective in decreasing frequency/severity/ severity of nodules/polyps by reducing strain on vocal folds – this method also decreases frequency/severity/ severity/various other factors.
Your vocal resonance is the energy behind creating sound in your body, shaping everything from volume to clarity of your voice. Without optimal resonance production, voices often sound breathy or muffled while too much resonance may make hearing difficult or harsh. An SLP will evaluate your vocal tract for optimal resonant characteristics by listening for where they sense most energy coming from in terms of throat resonance, mouth resonance or elsewhere?
SLPs will assist in manipulating your articulators (lips, tongue and jaw) to achieve optimal resonant qualities for singing. This may involve altering tongue posture, lip tension or oral cavity configuration; also helping with learning how to synchronize vocal cord vibrations with airflow to minimize strain; using gentle onset techniques which teach people how to initiate phonation gradually and gently which encourage efficient vocal production without excessive muscle contractions.
Many exercises involve humming, which aims to explore vibrations within your mask resonance system and is an easy and effective way to warm up and engage your voice system. Other techniques may include changing pitch to find one that promotes vocal resonance or using straw phonation for back pressure regulation of airflow while stimulating balanced vocal cord vibrations.
