Why voices crack

When you breathe, your vocal cords relax against the walls of the larynx and completely open to allow air to get in and out of your lungs. When you speak, though, your vocal cords close together by stretching across the larynx.

Air from your lungs is then forced out between your vocal cords, causing them to vibrate and produce the tone of your voice. When you lower your voice, your vocal cords are relaxed and more floppy. When you make your voice higher, your vocal cords tighten. You can notice this difference in how they feel as you adjust your speech.

As your larynx grows, your vocal cords grow longer and thicker. Also, your facial bones begin to grow. Cavities in the sinuses, the nose, and the back of the throat grow bigger, creating more space in the face that gives your voice more room to echo. All of these factors cause your voice to get deeper. Think of a guitar. When a thin string is plucked, it vibrates and produces a high-sounding tone.

We are all familiar with the embarrassing voice changes that plague teens during puberty, however voice cracks can happen to any speaker, regardless of age or gender, and it can be just as embarrassing as an adult. This undesirable vocal behavior can occur for various reasons, and within my practice I have found that understanding the cause is always integral to finding the solution. If you struggle with a voice that is unreliable and cracks without warning, keep reading to learn some of the possible explanations, as well as strategies to develop a stronger, more consistent voice.

To understand what is happening when your voice breaks, you must first understand how your voice works. Additionally, to move pitch and volume, the muscles in your larynx will tighten and loosen to raise or lower the tone your voice produces.

When the vocal folds are stretched thin, the pitch will be higher, and when the folds are loosened, the pitch becomes lower. Picture the strings on a guitar for example.

Thicker, looser strings will vibrate at a lower frequency, whereas a tight, thin string will produce a high-pitched tone. A voice crack occurs in speech when there is an interruption in the air that creates vibration of the vocal folds. Puberty — As boys and girls go through puberty, their larynx moves down, their vocal folds thicken, and the muscles around the larynx grow in size as well.

If we try hitting a high note or low note that we usually cannot sing comfortably then most likely our voice will crack. This one is simple. When we are nervous or anxious our vocal cords tend to tense up and our control level shoots down, leading to lots of voice cracks when singing. Another simple one. When we are singing and we try too hard, we tend to cause stress and strain on our vocal cords.

This one is a bit more dangerous because not only will our voices crack more often but we can cause damage if we are pushing our vocal cords beyond their limit. NEVER force out notes. NEVER force yourself to hit high or low notes. Now you know what causes cracks, but how do you get help with your voice cracking?

About the Author: Emmanuel M. Learn more about Emmanuel here! Browse Subjects. Performing Arts Lessons Acting Dance. Sign in. Get 14 Days Free Try it Free. Vocal Warm-Ups Vocal warm-ups are necessary before singing so that your vocal cords are nice and flexible.

My Own Warm-Ups I have a couple of vocal warm-ups that I do that help me much more than chromatic scales. Singing Outside Your Range We all have unique vocal ranges — some of us can sing only one octave, others up to six octaves. Anxiety This one is simple. These voices boxes have thicker folds as well. But, prior to puberty, boys and girls both have similarly small larynxes with thin cords. Sex hormones released from the pituitary gland during puberty — notably that old devil testosterone — cause the larynx to grow and vocal folds to thicken and strengthen, deepening the voices.

None of this is unhealthy. You bet. Since their voices are higher naturally, the change is barely noticeable.