Learn to Sing: The Vocal Tract

The vocal tract is the resonator or filter of our three-part system (phonation, respiration, resonation).

The vocal tract is comprised of the pharynx and mouth. The nasal cavities are also part of the vocal tract but do not play a large role in resonation. Sensations felt in the nasal cavities and “mask” are a result of sympathetic vibration.

Our vocal tract is a soft-walled tube, open at the mouth and closed at the larynx. It’s called a quarter-wave resonator (the primary resonance or standing wave frequency is four times as long as the vocal tract). This tube can form many different shapes as we move the lips, tongue, jaw and soft palate.

THE SOURCE FILTER CONCEPT

Phonation can be viewed as a source-filter system. The energy or power source is the lungs providing air pressure, controlled by the muscles of respiration (appoggio). The sound source/oscillator/vibrator is the vibrating vocal folds. The filter/resonator is the vocal tract that selectively boosts or damps partials (harmonics) generated by the vibrating vocal folds.

Stored energy in the vocal tract feeds back to the vocal folds and assists vibration through inertive reactance.

A SCIENCE-BASED APPROACH TO RESONANCE

In previous blogs we discussed the many subjective perceptions of resonance described by singers and teachers. Many of these perceptions have little to do with what is actually occurring during phonation.

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