Focusing forward and using easy phonation in conversation can help those with weak, straining, or hoarse voices build strength and clarity while simultaneously relieving vocal strain, making speech easier and less tiresome.
Humming on a comfortable pitch should produce vibrations throughout your nose, mouth, and lips – an indicator that you have successfully activated your resonance system! This is also an effective way to warm up and stretch out your resonance system.
Nose and Mouth Resonance Points
Resonant voice therapy (RVT) is a set of vocal training techniques used to generate vibrations in front of the mouth and nose, shifting voice power away from vocal folds and towards front of body for reduced strain on them. RVT can help treat various voice disorders including muscle tension dysphonia and vocal fold nodules.
RVT seeks to establish a balanced oral-nasal resonance through exercises like the Humming Exercise. This practice helps warm up resonance systems by producing an M sound while feeling its vibrations in mouth, tongue, lips and nose – this simple sound serves as a great indicator of how successfully patients have warmed up their resonance system.
Voice resonators include the larynx, pharynx and nasal cavity. Of these three primary resonators in your voice are three primary resonators: larynx, pharynx and nasal cavity. Of the three, pharynx is the largest and can change shape with tongue, throat and jaw movements while being sensitive enough to alter timbre changes with even minimal changes in position and movement; nasal cavity however has less sensitive resonance capabilities while still capable of changing shape with tongue movement while being responsive enough to altering movement caused by tongue and palate movements compared to its counterpart.
To activate their nasal resonator, have your client open their mouth wide while saying, “Ahh.” They should feel a sensation beneath their fingers which indicates activation of their pharyngeal resonance point. Other exercises to try include “the humming exercise” and the “yawn-and-swallow.”
Resonant voice therapy aims to achieve a balanced oral-nasal timbre in an effortless fashion, so that once accomplished your client should begin to recognize and utilize his or her resonant voice in their conversation. You can assist this development by modeling both resonant and un-resonant words, phrases, sentences as well as encouraging negative practice wherein voice drops back into throat to see if any sound comes back out again.
Pharyngeal Resonance Points
The pharynx is the area at the back of your throat which allows for resonance of high-frequency sounds not produced by vocal cords, as well as aiding transition from chest register to head register smoothly. Without proper pharyngeal resonance, your voice may sound nasal or crybaby; with guidance from an experienced singing mentor, this break can be eliminated completely.
Humming is the best way to identify your pharyngeal resonance. Try humming at various pitches and paying attention to any vibrations in your body as you hum. Once you have that down pat, gradually shift into open vowels such as “ee” or “ay”, which engage your pharyngeal resonance naturally and gradually add singing scales while practicing clear and resonant singing voice techniques.
Lip trills, which involve blowing air through your lips while maintaining a steady flow of breath, will produce a buzzing or tickling sensation in the front of your face, helping support breath support while relieving strain on vocal folds. Finally, RVT pitch glides are useful if you are experiencing vocal fry, which causes breathy sounding huskiness when switching from chest voice to head voice transitioning smoothly can be more challenging when dealing with vocal fry as it requires inner edge of vocal folds to thin out and vibrate at higher pitches; RVT can assist here as well.
Ideal resonant voice therapy should produce an effortless, easy and light singing voice with a vibration or buzz in front of your mouth, nose, teeth, lips and facial bones. Voiced and voiceless sounds should come out at words, phrases and sentences levels without tension and throat dropping into voiceless sounds – this is called easy phonation; and your singing mentor will begin working with you on this during practice resonant voice therapy sessions by first showing the sensation and then having you repeat after them.
Chest Resonance Points
Resonance is the vibration of sound waves which strengthens its volume and quality. Your voice’s resonance comes from within your throat and mouth acoustics known as resonators or vocal chambers which amplify initial weak soundwaves produced by vocal cords into what we hear and use for singing or speaking.
Resonant speech and singing sound fuller, richer, and more vibrant than non-resonant voices. If used effectively, resonance can also increase vocal endurance, agility, breath support, range, power sense authenticity and public speaking confidence.
One of the best ways to develop and sustain a resonant voice is through daily vocal exercises that encompass both chest and nasal resonance. My favorite exercise is called “mum,” which combines consonant G with open throat vowel “ug” for maximum chest resonance without tension or strain.
Siren exercises focus on shifting the larynx with unvoiced sounds like “shh.” To avoid injuries to your voice and impede singing career recovery, start out slowly and safely; it is wise not to overstretch yourself when performing this exercise.
Utilizing appropriate resonant voice training techniques can be helpful in treating many common vocal issues, including weak, hoarse, or strained voices, lack of clarity or projection, poor stamina, limited range and other concerns. Furthermore, it’s crucial that any medical issues contributing to vocal difficulties be assessed and treated accordingly.
Vocal warm-up exercises should also become part of your daily routine, and the more consistently you perform these exercises, the faster you’ll see improvements in your ability to produce resonant sound. Doing these exercises regularly will also help build vocal endurance and agility while building up a healthy voice that will last for years. If your results don’t match what you were hoping for, consult a professional vocal coach about what needs to change.
Tongue Resonance Points
Uncommonly neglected, the tongue plays a significant role in vocal resonance. Patients can harness its potential in resonant voice therapy. Tongue resonance techniques optimize vocal tract resonances and help relieve strain on vocal folds; furthermore they enhance quality of voice production, increase stamina/amplitude/pitch clarity/quality ratio with guidance of speech-language pathologist/coach and regular practice to unleash its power of resonant voice therapy.
Resonant voice therapy involves SLPs using different exercises to assess how well the voice responds. These exercises aim to stimulate muscles in the larynx and create vibrations in specific areas of the tongue. Furthermore, SLPs will listen closely to how their client sounds when speaking aloud; paying particular attention to tone, pitch and overall quality in order to identify which muscles need strengthening, stretching or toning down.
SLPs use several techniques of resonant voice therapy to optimize voice health, including vocal placement exercises and breathing exercises as part of this approach. They may also use resonant humming for maximum benefit from this therapy approach. Ultimately, these approaches help individuals strengthen their vocal health while increasing clarity and projection while raising their presence both personally and professionally.
One of the most effective resonant voice therapy techniques, known as the Y-Buzz technique, involves saying the words y and then an easy vowel together in order to produce a buzzy sensation on the palatal and alveolar ridge areas. This practice promotes kinesthetic awareness of vocal folds as it helps them form a holistic voice with effective strength and flexibility.
Resonant voice therapy techniques can help those experiencing hoarseness, weak, or breathy voices regain control of their voices through optimizing vocal tract resonances and decreasing strain, as well as providing increased clarity and confidence when speaking regularly.
Resonant voice therapy is an innovative approach to treating vocal disorders and improving voice quality. Its strategies are grounded in voice production research, making this treatment applicable for professional speakers, singers, as well as everyday communicators.
