Speak as closely as possible to your natural pitch-that means stop trying to mess with your voice to sound lower, she says. Using your voice regularly and properly can keep your larynx in the best possible shape too, says Kate Emerich, M.S., a voice pathologist and singing voice specialist in Denver. Related: What and When you Should Eat to Build Muscle This also strengthens the muscles that support your voice, Hunter says. What to do about your voice change: Hitting the gym helps you build or maintain muscle, which helps offset the muscle loss caused by sarcopenia. The shift occurs gradually, but becomes most noticeable by the time men reach their 60s, according to his research, which analyzed 50 years of a leader’s speeches. Think of the difference between a ukulele and a stand-up bass: In general, the bigger the instrument, the lower the sound it produces, Hunter says. Your vocal folds aren’t spared from this shrinkage, Hunter says.Īs the muscle fibers within the folds become less bulky, your voice sounds higher.
Each is about the width of a fingernail, made mostly of muscle, and lined with mucous membranes.Īfter about age 30, you start to lose muscle mass all over your body, a phenomenon called sarcopenia. Johns, M.D., director of the USC Voice Center in Los Angeles.
Your larynx contains two vocal cords-or as experts call them, vocal folds-that vibrate about 120 times per second to produce sound, says Michael M.