| By :
Tatiana Bandurina
At some point of time in teenage, every child, boy or girl, faces the question: Why and how does my voice change? Not all music teachers have the detailed answer to questions on voice changes; they just say that it's all a part of puberty. Voice changes are actually a result of growth of the vocal chords during puberty, a process called as mutation. Mutation is quicker and lesser in girls as compared to boys. In girls, the vocal chords grow to only one sixth more than their previous length. This is why changes in girls' voice are not very noticeable. On the other hand, the mutation process in boys is quite slow and prominent. Their vocal chords grow by as much as one third of their previous length! During mutation, the throat cartilage, also called as Adam's apple, grows in size and protrudes out. Therefore, the voice of boys becomes lower than that of girls. We'll explain these voice changes in greater detail later with a vivid example. The interesting thing is that you can make out the timbre of adult boys' voice just by looking at their Adam's apple even before they speak. Bigger the Adam's apple, more is the bass. Flatter the Adam's apple, more is the tenor. Coping with voice changes is quite difficult for teenage boys and occasionally you'll find them slipping into a high-pitched voice. The vocal chords, still developing, sometimes slip back to their "childish" past especially when the boy wants to say something loudly. This often makes them the butt of jokes in school, especially for giggly girls and boys who will later have a tenor (high-pitched) voice. You, dear parents, must support your boy during such times. First understand through the following exercise how voice changes take place: 1. Take a guitar. Imagine the fingerboard to be divided into three parts. 2. Press a string down anywhere in the first part (near the head). Now play the string and listen to the sound attentively. 3. Now, remove your pressed fingers and play the string again. Listen closely. 4. Repeat this process a few times to compare the two different sounds. So what did you notice? When you use the entire string instead of the shorter string, the sound is much lower. This is exactly what happens with the vocal chords of your son! His voice changes into a lower one because his vocal chords grow in length. It's only that the process is spread over a long two years. The first thing you can do to support your son during this time is to speak in a lower tone yourself. This will calm him down. Secondly, don't let him sing or speak in a loud voice by any means. Encourage him to sing or speak very quietly and softly. Thirdly, if he is a music talent and has been learning singing for many years, you need to give his voice special care under the guidance of his music teacher. Lastly, be a responsible parent and keep things under control. Your son probably does not give enough respect to his own voice changes, which can damage his singing potential. Be vigilant enough to follow the instructions of the music teacher.
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