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124 TRAINING THE SINGING VOICE
important part as an acoustical agent when once It passes the point wherer the glottal vibrations have been Induced. He writes: "For efficient phona-tion. It Is necessary that the lungs should hold a considerable volume o£ air and that this air should be expelled through the trachea at an accurately controlled rate and pressure." [p. 439] Such breathing "Is best carried out by a combined lower thoracic and diaphragmatic mechanism. . „ . Pure clavicular breathing Is acknowledged to b€ wrong.** [p. $go] (See also Chapter III.)
Structural aspects. For simplification, the larynx or voice box Is reduced to five basic structural elements. These are described as: 1) a. ring-shaped (cricoid) cartilage; 2) a pair of small ladle-shaped (arytenoid) cartilages; $) a shield-shaped (thyroid) cartilage; 4) a pair of vocal cords (thyro-arytmoid muscles or folds); and 5) a U-shaped (kyoid) bone* These five structural units are so situated and Interjoined with connecting tissues that together they provide rigidity and mobility to the valving parts of the larynx, and patency and direction to the breathing channel for purposes of respiration and phonation.
1) The cricoid cartilage provides an anchorage for the entire laryngeal mechanism. Icing a relatively stationary base for the more mobile thyroid and arytenoid cartilages that rest upon it. It Is firmly attached to the windpipe (trachea), forming, in fact, Its uppermost ring. "It is of great importance In maintaining patency of the air tract at the larynx." [p. 466]
2) The arytenoid cartilages provide posterior points of attachment for the vocal cords (thyro-arytenoid muscles). The arytenoids rest upon Individual convex facets of the cricoid cartilage and are capable of a rotary and sliding motion "so that each arytenoid can be shifted towards or away from its fellow, and can also rotate about a vertical axis.** [p. 450] Thus the arytenoids serve as tiny regulators of the length and tension of the vocal cords and they can also regulate the opening and closing of the glottis during phonation, respiration and deglutition. During pho-nation, fixation of the arytenoids is maintained as part of the cord-tensing action, by means of tiny groups of laryngeal muscles.
$) The thyroid cartilage also rests on the cricoid cartilage and Is articulated with the latter by means of a pivot joint, making possible a sight arc-Eke rocking movement. The anterior ends of the vocal cords converge to a common point of attachment in the thyroid cartilage, just behind the prominent bulge that Is commonly known as the Adam's Apple.
4) The meal cords (a pair) form the outer vibrating edges of the thyroarytenoid muscles or folds. They overhang the entrance of the trachea |
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