How to deepen your voice quickly and permanently at home

Rough voice - what is it like?

When we talk about a rough voice, we mean low in pitch. Even those who are far from skilled at playing musical instruments can imagine guitar strings: the thickest string sounds lower than the rest, the thinnest one sounds higher.

Voice pitch is usually classified according to singing voices. Men's are divided into:

bass – the lowest;
baritone – medium;
tenor is the highest.

Women's have their own classification:

contralto – the lowest;
mezzo-soprano – average;
soprano - high.

During childhood, both girls and boys speak in almost the same high-pitched voice, and their singing or speech is difficult to distinguish. During the process of hormonal changes, the teenager’s voice changes, and at this time the first differences appear. In boys, this period is called voice brittleness or age-related mutation. The chords become thicker, and the voice becomes rougher, i.e. lower. Sometimes there may be jumps in sound from rough to shrill.

By about the age of 18, the timbre in young men is fixed. With age, it becomes a little lower, but these changes are not so noticeable. In girls, the timbre also decreases over time. This difference is especially noticeable in older people.

What affects timbre?

Voice timbre is a fickle concept. It can change, which is especially typical for the fair half of humanity. It is influenced by:

mood;
psychological condition;
health;
degree of fatigue.

In the presence of these negative factors, the voice becomes monotonous and loses its brightness. This is caused by tension in the upper back. Even physically a person can feel heaviness. What the voice will be like ultimately determines the individual structure of the organs: the size and shape of the trachea, the volume of the resonator. No less important is how tightly the ligaments close when a person makes a particular sound. Tonality depends not only on the listed fundamental features. During certain periods, the voice can be changed:

colds, respiratory diseases - he becomes hoarse and low;
age - rough tones appear over time;
smoking and drinking alcohol - since harmful substances irritate the receptors, the voice becomes hoarse, its range narrows;
psychological tension.

Most factors are temporary and disappear after recovery or giving up bad habits.

Who needs to correct their voice?

In general, the voice, like everything else, is a matter of taste. Some people like more brutal notes, others are attracted to ringing, high-pitched voices.

As a rule, those whose professional or other activities involve influencing the public have to work on their timbre: presenters, teachers, journalists, trainers, managers, businessmen.

There are also those who by nature have a timbre that, it would seem, does not quite correspond to their appearance. For example, imagine a broad-shouldered, two-meter man with a thick beard and an unnaturally thin, shrill voice. Most likely, he has heard from others more than once about this dissonance and experienced discomfort.

It is believed that a low, deep timbre gives the impression of confidence, calm, restraint, and firmness. Some scientists explain this from an evolutionary point of view: a rough voice was associated with strength and large size of its owner, and therefore aroused respect and some fear.

If you work with a microphone and you are not satisfied with your own sound, if your voice causes discomfort to others or you are unable to control it well, if you simply want to improve the functioning of the vocal apparatus, below you will find many techniques and recommendations that will help make the timbre lower and more pleasant for hearing.

Attention! If you are a teenager whose voice is currently going through a period of mutation, you need to do the exercises in a gentle manner. Don't overstrain your ligaments! Allow your body to adjust itself at a pace that is comfortable for it. Give preference to breathing exercises, work with articulation and diction.

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Preparation

In preparation for surgery to change the voice, it is necessary to diagnose the condition of the ligaments. The examination, as a rule, includes, in addition to interviewing the patient, the following manipulations:

Inspecting the larynx using a mirror or frontal reflector.
Using local anesthesia, the ligaments are examined through an optical flexible fiber that is inserted through the nose.
Performing laryngoscopy. In this case, we are talking about a visual examination of the human larynx using a special mirror and endoscopes. The doctor pays attention to the shape, and in addition, to the color of the surface and the peculiarity of the neoplasm, if any.
Carrying out stroboscopy. With its help, ligament movements are detected in combination with static areas and undesirable changes in vibrations. This is done thanks to light pulses directed at them. This procedure is necessary to identify dysfunction of the speech organs, scars or other formations.

Sometimes, for a more accurate diagnosis, a computed tomography scan is prescribed, a tumor biopsy is performed, and so on. How does vocal cord surgery work to change your voice? Read more about this.

Methods and exercises for low sound

Here I will give three main areas in which you should begin to act. This is training the vocal folds, working with breathing and articulation. First things first.

Vocal fold training

The vocal fold is a mucous membrane made up of vocal cords and muscles. These muscles, like regular muscles in the body, can be trained and pumped up. And the thicker the muscles become, the lower the voice.

What you can do for this:

Talk a lot. It doesn’t matter who is in front of you: an attentively listening colleague or an indoor cactus. Talk about how your day went, read poems, news aloud, repeat phrases after TV show hosts, etc. You can turn on the “nonsense generator” and for 10 minutes say everything that comes to mind about some subject. Even if the words are incoherent, illogical, stupid, allow yourself to say them.
Think out loud. You need to talk silently, to yourself, but straining your vocal folds in the same way as would happen during a normal conversation. In this way, you can read books or simply think about something, saying words in your mind.
Sing and shout. This helps warm up the ligaments and makes them more elastic and pliable. You can find audio recordings of vocalists with a low timbre and try to sing along as close to the original as possible. As for screaming, in order not to embarrass your neighbors, you can use a pillow and scream into it.
Growl. Start growling at extremely low tones, gradually increasing the pitch to a safe, comfortable limit. Then lower your voice again and raise it again.

Breath work

I suggest several exercises:

Stand with a straight back, take a slow breath and at the same time raise your arms, first to the sides and then up. Hold your hands and breath for a few seconds, and then sharply lean forward with a noisy exhalation, lowering your hands. Perform 2-3 approaches daily.
The starting position is the same: standing with a straight back, hands at your sides. Lean forward, bending your back and taking a sharp, short, noisy breath. Now straighten up smoothly, allowing the air to slowly escape from your lungs. Take 10 breaths, then take a 5-minute break and return to the starting position. The number of approaches can be gradually increased.
Take a deep yawn and try to say something as you exhale.

Breathing exercises by A. N. Strelnikova are very popular. Today it is taught by Alexandra Nikolaevna’s student, Dr. Mikhail Shchetinin. I recommend watching his video tutorial.

Here are some more tips:

Breathe with diaphragmatic breathing. That is, with the stomach, so that the shoulders and chest remain in their places, and only the stomach moves.
Speak English. This language is much more gentle on the vocal apparatus than Russian, so it will be easier to get used to proper breathing during a conversation.
Speak more slowly. During fast speech, the ligaments become tense and the tone automatically becomes higher.
Watch your posture. It is necessary that the head and back are straight. The sound directly depends on the position of the larynx.

Articulation gymnastics

This type of exercise is aimed at those organs that are involved in the formation of sounds: tongue, lips, cheeks, lower jaw.

Here are some examples of such exercises:

Press your chin to your chest and make the “ee-and-i” sound low, gradually raising your head, but without stopping the sound.
Close your lips tightly, pull them forward, and then stretch them into a wide smile.
Alternately raise and lower your upper and lower lips, exposing your teeth.
Stick out your tongue and try to “draw” different numbers or letters with it.
Move your lower jaw back and forth, and then open your mouth as wide as possible.
Regularly pronounce the following sounds loudly and clearly: G, K, HA, O, U, M, N. They help open the back of the throat and lower the larynx best.

You can find even more articulation exercises in a separate article.

YouTube channels

Sometimes a good theory must be supported by practice. In voice production, it is also very important to clearly understand what is required of you. Therefore, I have prepared several YouTube channels where you will see lessons on vocals and speech training. You will understand how to breathe using the example of a video with a teacher, and learn other vocal nuances.

Vocal Academy
John Kalligan
Vocal Zen / Vocal Lessons
Nikolai Fokeev Vocal School / Vocal Lessons
Voice Workshop of Sergei Vostretsov

Advice from a phoniatrist

Experts who study voice pathologies, as well as methods of correction, prevention and treatment of various voice disorders, claim that there are many people who produce sounds incorrectly. Moreover, the person himself, due to habit, cannot always realize that he speaks in a voice that is unnatural for his physiology.

How to fix it? Doctors give several recommendations:

Some diseases affect the voice. These are not only the obvious sore throats and colds, but also chronic diseases of the nervous and cardiac systems, spine, lungs, mental disorders, and sexual ailments. Before training the vocal muscles, you need to make sure that the body is ready for such loads.
Monitor your hormonal levels. The condition of the ligaments is affected by the amount of testosterone: if the level of this hormone is below normal, the voice becomes thinner.
The larynx is located at the level of 4–6 cervical vertebrae. Considering that there are only 7 of them, it is not difficult to guess what impact they have on voice quality. Watch the position of your neck: during a conversation, it should be relaxed and straight.
If you smoke, quit the habit for at least a couple of days. Due to the fact that cigarette smoke causes aseptic inflammation of the folds, the voice actually becomes lower, but the result is hoarseness, not a velvety timbre.
To determine your real voice, you can use this test. Close your teeth and lips, take a deep breath and begin to exhale slowly and evenly with the sound “mmmm”, then lowering and then raising the pitch. At the same time, clasp your throat with your palm as high as possible towards the chin. You should feel at what pitch of the voice your palm will vibrate the most. This sound is your real voice.
Sometimes high notes in the voice are observed in moments of great excitement and tension. To feel more confident when communicating, you can enroll in public speaking courses.
Another option is to contact a vocal teacher who will help correct defects and develop an even voice.

I recommend reading the tips for improving your diction. In the article you will even find a ready-made lesson program for the week.

Voice types

The tone of speech can reveal a person's true mood and psychological state. Being in a calm mood, there is no need to monitor the manner of conversation and the interlocutor has no doubts about the emotional stability of the opponent. However, not everyone is able to hide internal problems. In addition to the voice, facial expressions and body movements can reveal anxiety and anxiety. Types of timbre are divided depending on the age and gender of a person:

male - baritone, bass, tenor;
female - mezzo-soprano, soprano, contralto;
children's - viola and treble.

The listed definitions are used primarily for professional purposes. In a simpler classification, sounds are divided into: soft, cold, hard, hard, weak, strong, etc. Moreover, one person can master several types of tones, and real professionals can reproduce absolutely everything. This is facilitated by special exercises.

Radical measures

Those who are completely desperate and are ready for the most drastic changes may consider the possibility of surgical intervention.

An operation to change the timbre of the voice is called glottoplasty. It is performed under anesthesia. Biogel is injected into the patient's vocal folds. After the procedure, a voice rest regimen is prescribed for 7–10 days.

Men with high-pitched voices and women with rough, low-pitched timbres turn to glottoplasty.

Despite the fact that this method will help to quickly and permanently correct timbre distortions, we should not forget that this is a surgical intervention that can have consequences. Weigh the pros and cons before deciding to take such a radical step.

Indications for intervention

So, when is voice change surgery considered appropriate? A similar operation takes place in the following cases:

If desired, change the pitch of your own voice in order to find the most attractive sound data.
Presence of hoarse timbre.
The presence of paralysis of the ligaments, as well as the occurrence of polyps and singing injuries on them.
Damage to tissue, which reduces the aesthetic appeal of the sound timbre.
The desire to correct the voice in order to be able to play as many notes as possible.
Carrying out treatment of excess loads.

Ear for music

Why develop it? Without an ear for music, it is impossible to grasp the motive or sing the correct verse or chorus. That is why it is necessary to develop hearing. Here are some exercises that will help with this:

You will need a musical instrument or an appropriate application on your phone. With its help, you need to reproduce: “do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si-do”, while singing them, trying to hit the notes. Play scales from the very beginning to the end, and then in reverse order: “do-si-la-sol-fa-mi-re-do.” In one approach, this action needs to be done about 30 times in order to remember and feel each note.
An exercise called "Echo". It is suitable not only for adults, but also for children. Listen to the song and then try to reproduce it yourself. Do it out loud. You can learn line by line. Repeat not only the words correctly, but also the motive. Don't move on to the next one until you get the previous one right. This is done in order to hit each note clearly and correctly.
Musical notation. Learn to read notes, compare their sound with the melody of the song. Then this will help the ear for music begin to develop faster, and the reproduction of sounds will become more meaningful and understandable.
Sing intervals. To complete this exercise you will need a musical instrument. An interval is the distance between two notes. For example, “do-re”, “do-mi”, “do-fa”, “do-sol”, “do-la”, “do-si”. Climb up the note “steps” and then go down them.
Singing adjacent notes, for example, “do-re”, “do-si-do”.
Studying the classics. When we strive to succeed at something, we become more interested in that subject. Interest in the classics will arise just when learning the basics of singing. It happens that a complex chord is much easier to remember if you memorize the motive in which it is contained.

How to Improve Speech Clarity

If during a conversation you often have to repeat the same words, and the interlocutor does not understand you, then we can conclude that your speech is unclear. This needs to be fixed. Here are exercises that will help you:

You can't rush during a conversation. Control your breathing. When you take a breath, start speaking. Exhale slowly while doing this. Then breathing will occur in unison with speech. This will cause you to take your time.
Take your time when speaking. During public speaking, many people speak quickly and haltingly. To prevent this from happening, take a short break and calm down. Then continue the conversation.
Swallow excess saliva in your mouth. Its remnants prevent us from pronouncing the letters “k” and “s”. It is important to remember that you should not swallow saliva in the middle of a sentence, as it will come out unsaid.
Think about everything you want to say. Clearly spoken words are as important as the message you want to convey to people.
Rehearse. If you have to give a speech, anxiety may prevent you from saying what you intended. You may also begin to speak confusingly, jumping from one topic to another. Rehearsing will help you overcome these difficulties.
Repeat those words that seem difficult to you. Learn to pronounce them correctly. Then you won’t have an “accidental” reservation in the company.