Shaping your voice: Lighten brighten: pitch and resonance

How pitch and resonance work together

A higher pitched voice can be associated with a more feminine voice, whereas a low pitched voice can be associated with a more masculine voice. However, it is not simply the pitch of your voice which determines how you sound. Where your resonance is will also play a significant part in how your voice is perceived by yourself and others. 
As discussed earlier, resonance is the term used to describe the vibrations you feel in your body and face when you produce voice. You may feel more vibration and hear more sound in your mouth and throat, which is often associated with a more feminine voice, or you may feel more vibration and hear more sound in your chest, which is often associated with a more masculine voice.
These activities will guide you through moving your pitch and resonance to a place which feels more authentic to you.

Please note:
If you develop pain/discomfort/ unintended vocal changes (e.g. hoarseness) while doing an activity please discontinue. This might be a sign you are going too quickly. Please refer to our voice care advice and take some time to make sure you are looking after your voice as best you can. When your voice is feeling better you may wish to try again.

If you are looking to lighten and brighten your voice:

Activity 1

Bringing your resonance up and forward:

1.    Breathe in through your nose and then gently hum on a comfortable pitch. Think about where you feel the vibrations. 

2.    Do the same thing again but this time aim your voice forward as you hum and see if you can get your lips to tingle. If you are finding it difficult to feel this sensation, you can try one of the following:

•    Smile! (Look back at the section on ‘Tuning-in to your resonance’)
•    Let some air out of your nose before you start humming – it may sound like ‘hhhmmm’.
•    Imagine you are “throwing” your voice onto the ground in front of you – you should feel more airflow through your nose, and more vibration in the face. 
•    Smile and produce a quiet hum – slowly increase the volume until you feel a tingle on the lips. 

3.    Once you feel comfortable that your resonance is up and forward, you can try adding in another sound. Keep smiling as you do as this helps to keep the resonance up and forward. Try these:

•    mmmmmmmeeeeeeeeee
•    mmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaa
•    mmmmmmmooooooooo

4.    Again, when you feel comfortable, you can then move on to short words starting with ‘m’. Here are some as an example, but feel free to think up your own. When you first practice, elongate the ‘m’ sound at the start to help you tune-in to where your resonance is. 

•    Meany, many, maybe, meet, misty, merry, mini, Mary, magic, mystic 

It is important to recognise and identify where your resonance is when you speak. You may recognise this from the vibrations you feel, or from the sound you hear. Make sure you take your time working through this activity, and do not try and move on too fast. Ask yourself – can you hear or feel when your resonance has “dropped”? Can you bring your resonance back up?

Raising your pitch safely

Activity 2 

Pitch and resonance go hand in hand. Remember to keep your resonance up and forward, feeling vibrations in your face, lips and nose. Keep your resonance here as you work through the next activity. You may be able to speak in a higher pitch for a short period of time, but feel it does not sound genuine, and maybe cartoony. That is because your pitch is high but your resonance remains low. 
Before you practice this activity, do some gentle pitch glides (see activity on ‘Tuning into your pitch’) to help warm-up your voice and voice-box (larynx). 

1. Breathe in through your nose then hum gently in your natural speaking pitch. Repeat a few times and make sure your resonance is in the right place. 
2. When you feel confident your resonance is in the right place, hum at a slightly higher pitch than your natural speaking pitch (don’t go too high too fast!) You should feel a small raise in your voice-box (larynx) as you do this. See if you can produce a smooth sound at this pitch.
3. Next add in a smile and imagine raising your voice box, see if your pitch raises with this. 
4. Next, using that slightly higher pitched hum count to five (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) then breathe normally. Can you keep your pitch and resonance in the right place as you count? Practice this a few times – it might be helpful to record yourself also. 
5. Then, once you feel comfortable, try counting to twenty, using the pattern below:
   Please note: Raising your pitch can be encouraged by shortening the space between your lips and voice box. To achieve this, smile and imagine raising your voice box in your throat. 

Please note:

Raising your pitch can be encouraged by shortening the space between your lips and voice box. To achieve this, smile and imagine raising your voice box in your throat. 

This process can take time, and requires a lot of concentration, so please be patient with yourself!

When you feel comfortable with your newly-placed pitch and resonance, you may then want to move onto the “Shaping your intonation activities”, which will support you to play around with different pitches, or the progression activities which will help you to build stamina in your voice.