Voice is a natural ability of a person to make a variety of sounds, which is extremely important for the implementation of full-fledged communication in society. All babies are born with thin voices, but over time, the features of their sound change. And this is especially noticeable in boys, since there is a significant difference between the male and female voices. And today we are talking about how voice breaking occurs in boys, we will consider its symptoms, and also answer the question: how to speed up this process, and how long it normally lasts.

Human anatomy experts claim that the height of our voice is determined by the thickness of the vocal cords. In girls, they are thinner, so their voice sounds higher, and in boys they are thicker, respectively, and their voice is lower. Ligaments increase in size and also become thicker in both sexes. But in girls they change only twice, and in boys by almost seventy percent. And this process of change is precisely what is called breaking the voice.

It is worth noting that the processes of voice breaking in boys proceed according to approximately the same scenario. But the age of onset of such changes may vary. Sometimes the voice breaks as early as the age of twelve, and sometimes fifteen-year-olds do not yet see such changes. Symptoms depend on the period of the mutation.

So, in the pre-mutation period, the body of a teenager is only preparing for the upcoming restructuring, involving all organs and systems. At the same time, the boy's voice acquires a more hoarse sound. Readers of "Popular about Health" may pay attention to the occurrence of hoarseness, itching and a slight cough.

However, it is worth noting that when practicing vocals, such changes may manifest themselves somewhat differently, due to the training of the ligaments. So, the child in this case may have difficulty in trying to hit high notes. In addition, he may be disturbed by pain in the larynx that occurs when practicing vocals. In this case, the teacher may notice "dirt" in the sound.

Then comes the period of direct breaking of the voice. At the same time, the larynx naturally swells, and active synthesis of mucus is possible. Such changes contribute to the attachment of all kinds of inflammatory processes. If parents look into a teenager's mouth, they can see the reddened vocal cords with their own eyes. In this state, the child's voice needs rest, increased stress can cause underdevelopment of the vocal cords. It is extremely important to protect yourself from all kinds of colds, acute respiratory infections and SARS. After all, their accession is fraught with violations of voice breaking and even inhibition of this process. In such a situation, the boy may have the sound of a tenor for all the years of his life.

After the breakage of the voice itself, the so-called post-mutation period begins. And its course depends on many factors, ranging from nationality and ending with genetic or physiological characteristics. This stage can last a different amount of time. As practice shows, towards the end of the formation of already completely “his” voice, the child begins to periodically complain that his vocal cords quickly get tired. However, parents may notice that voice differences no longer occur, the sound becomes stable.

The duration of this period is quite individual. It can take from two to four months to complete all the stages described above. But quite often this period can increase up to six months.

Doctors strongly do not recommend interfering with the natural processes of changing the vocal cords. Parents should have information on how to help the formation of the voice and how to prevent the occurrence of various problems.

So, first of all, load limiting plays an extremely important role. Excessive loads on the changing vocal cords are fraught with the formation of nodules, and this in turn leads to the development of hoarseness. It is possible that such a defect will pass by itself, but in some cases even surgical assistance is necessary to correct it.

During the period of breaking the voice, it is worth remembering the increased likelihood of the child developing various acute respiratory infections and acute respiratory viral infections. Diseases can disrupt or delay the process of changing the vocal cords. Therefore, it is extremely important to maintain a healthy lifestyle, strengthen immunity and activate the body's defenses. In the event that the child’s voice does not break for a long time, you need to consult with a phoniatrist.

Parents must necessarily explain to the teenager that the sound obtained as a result of breaking the voice will be unique, and its sound features are predetermined by nature. Quite often, children try to copy some heroes, and such attempts during the period of vocal cord change can lead to the fact that the changing areas are overloaded, and the breaking process is disrupted.

Therefore, both parents and teenagers should be patient and let nature take its toll. The period of breaking the voice does not last so long.

Approximately at the age of 13-14, the entire body of the boy begins to grow rapidly under the influence of increased activity of the endocrine glands; puberty begins. The growth of organs and tissues in most cases proceeds unevenly. It depends on the predominance of one or another endocrine gland in the body. So, for example, the rapid growth of the bone skeleton (tall stature, long limbs) is associated with a disorder in the boy's activity of the pituitary gland (cerebral appendage); slow skeletal growth is caused by abnormal thyroid function. As a result of the growth of the skull bones in height (dolichocephalic, long-headed), the depth and height of the hard palate increase. This creates certain conditions for voice formation, different from those when the boy has a more rounded shape (brachiocephalic, round-headed). This structure of the skull corresponds to a different form of the hard palate; it will be flatter, shallower. "The soft tissues of the extension vocal tube - the tongue, the soft palate - during the mutation period can also significantly change their configuration, which will undoubtedly affect sound production."

In boys, clear, conspicuous, anatomical changes in the laryngeal skeleton occur. The laryngeal cartilages, and especially the easily visible thyroid cartilage, rapidly increase in size, the anterior angle of the larynx begins to bulge forward, forming a bulge on the front of the neck (Adam's apple). All other parts of the larynx also grow rapidly at this time and in a short time reach their significant size, characteristic of the male larynx. The largest difference between the size of men's and women'slarynx is expressed in the size of the anterior-posterior size. In this regard, boys in adolescence show enhanced and rapid growth. So at 12-13 years old, the length of their vocal cords is 13-14 mm; in the period of maturation of the vocal apparatus, the length of the ligaments increases by 6-8 mm, and by the age of 25 reaches a length of 24-25 mm.

The male larynx in adolescence increases by as much as two-thirds, and the female only by half.

The vocal folds increase in length by one and a half to two times, as a result of which the voice can drop by an octave. The law of Pythagoras applies here, according to which the length and thickness of the strings are inversely proportional to the height of the sound they emit. This is a change in the range of the boy's voice due to the growth of the vocal cords -another proof that the myoelastic (muscle-elastic) theory of sound production, based on physical (acoustic) laws, has an equal right to coexist with the neurochronaxic theory.

On the issue of the onset of a voice mutation in boys, which usually coincides with the onset of puberty, the data of special literature differ somewhat among different authors, which is apparently explained by the unequal time of onset.sexual maturity in different climates. Thus, in the northern regions, the mutation occurs relatively late, but proceeds more abruptly, while in the more southern countries, where the period of puberty begins early, the phenomena of voice mutation appear much earlier.

In our climate, the mutation in boys occurs between the ages of 15 and 19, but there are cases of earlier maturation of the voice (at 13-14 years old and even earlier)

Changes in the vocal apparatus of boys, in parallel with a strong growth of the larynx, are expressed in a decrease in the range of the voice and in a change in its timbre. The voice changes from treble or alto to tenor, baritone or bass.

Although there are separate observations that the treble most often turns into a bass, and the alto into a tenor or baritone, however, patterns in this matter have not yet been established.

The transition from a boy's voice to an adult's is usually more or less abrupt. The voice during a fracture drops by almost an octave. While hearing and will strive to maintain the pitch of the child's voice, the vocal cords, due to the changed dimensions (increase in length, width and thickness), produce much lower sounds. Therefore, the voice in the period of mutation in boys is unstable, breaks down and reveals the most unexpected transitions from low to high tones (as they say, the voice "kiks", "jumps").

Mutation period, i.e. the period of complete transition from child to male can last from several weeks (4 - 6), months (3 - 6), up to 2 - 3, and sometimes up to 5 years. Most often it lasts about one year.

The change in singing and speaking voices does not always occur simultaneously: sometimes one is late, sometimes the other.

After the change of voice, the larynx continues to grow; the voice, however, changes little further. It's only evolving yet in regards to strengthand completeness of the range (in men - up to about the 30th year).

The forms of the mutation in boys are very diverse.

So, there are cases when the voice changes very slowly, almost imperceptibly both for themselves and for those around them; only occasionally there is a slight hoarseness and fatigue of the voice. With this form of mutation, elements of male sound are desirable both in speech and in singing.

In other cases (which occurs most often) in boys, when singing and even in speech, they suddenly begin to break down; at the same time, notes of a bass timbre suddenly appear, often of a rough, barking character, suddenly jumping to a fistula.

Further, there is such a form of mutation, when the soft voice of the boy suddenly takes on a rough character; there is a sharp hoarseness of the voice, sometimes reaching complete silence. When the hoarseness disappears after a relatively short period of time, the boy (young man) has a fully formed male voice.

In the literature, cases of exceptionally rapid voice changes are noted: a boy who spoke in a child's voice the day before, the next day already detects the voice of an adult man.

When a mutation occurs in boys, in the case of a fast process, the voice immediately becomes lower (approximately an octave), and when it proceeds slowly, it gradually decreases.

Communication of all changes inthe vocal apparatus with the sexual development of boys is so close that any reasons that interfere with the puberty of the boy are enough for the development of the larynx and voice to slow down significantly or even stop altogether. Thus, there are observations that in boys who were ill a lot in childhood, who are physically poorly developed, puberty is significantly delayed, and at the same time, the vocal apparatus also lags far behind in development compared to its growth in healthy children, remaining at the stage of development of the children's larynx; in this case, the voice may remain infantile (underdeveloped, childish) even in an adult.

The forms of the abnormal course of the mutation are very diverse. They can be the result of a number of reasons that cause certain disorders in the physical or mental sphere of children, and sometimes in both areas.

So, mutational disorders include:

Protracted mutation when the change of voice lasts for many years (3-5-7 and even more).

stubborn falsetto caused by a violation of coordination in the work of the vocal and anterior muscles of the larynx, when the activity of the latter prevails; with this form of mutational disorder, the young man develops a very high, unpleasant, squeaky voice. Disorders of coordination in some cases are expressed so sharply that speech is accompanied by convulsive contractions of the external muscles of the larynx.

Acute mutation accompanied by such violent phenomena in the administration of the voice that the young men completely refuse to talk and communicate with others.

Masked disorders in the mutational period . There are still no visible phenomena of mutation in the voice; the voice still sounds like a child. At the same time, the young man has coughing fits that cannot be explained by anything.

According to some authors, this phenomenon may be caused by too long a stay in the choir of boys who already show signs of an upcoming or onset mutation, but who, however, continue to sing in a purely childish voice. On the other hand, such phenomena can be caused by the long singing of boys "to the voice of an adult man." In both cases, there is undoubtedly a sharp overstrain of the vocal apparatus, which causes an uncontrollable reflex cough in boys (teenagers).

premature mutation when boys at 11, 12 and even at 10 years old have a low, rough sound of voice, completely inappropriate for children of this age.

Such a phenomenon can be both a consequence of premature puberty, and the result of a prolonged overly intense vocal apparatus (shouting, forced singing, singing in high tessitura, etc.).

late mutation . This includes cases of voice mutation, which manifests itself much later than the onset of puberty (after 3-4 years or more). In these cases, the larynx comes to maturity as the last organ associated with puberty.

secondary mutation - when, already in adulthood, mutation phenomena (sharply conspicuous timbre changes in the voice) are suddenly detected in the voice for the second time.

According to the observations of Dr. Levidov, "... the mutational period in boys in most cases is preceded by a certainpre-mutational period , usually lasting several months. During this time, some signs of the approaching mutation begin to appear in the boy's voice, very faint at first, but then gradually increasing. The main signs are the rapid fatigue of the voice and the unwillingness to sing, and sometimes the intonation is not quite clear when singing, "because it becomes more difficult for the boy to cope with the upper sounds of his range due to the growth of the vocal cords in length. "Laryngoscopy often reveals phenomena of mild catarrh larynx (mucus on ligaments).

The second period is actuallymutational - characterized by a more pronounced color of the vocal folds, and sometimes the entire mucous membrane of the larynx, the secretory function of which is impaired, while the amount of secreted mucus decreases or increases. Thickening and hyperemia are noted vocal folds with a red, gray-pink or yellow-red tint. This phenomenon should be considered not as an inflammation, but as a physiological hyperemia, which always accompanies the inflammatory process with increased growth. Physiological hyperemia is a fertile ground for the development of real inflammation of the mucous membrane of the larynx in the mutational period with careless, irrational handling of the voice.

In addition, during the period of mutation in boys, there is a significant tension in the vocal folds when pronouncing high sounds and relaxing them when moving to low ones. All these phenomena are accompanied by a noticeable violation of both the speech and singing voice, they can manifest themselves in the form of a small or significantly pronounced hoarseness. In this regard, there is a rapid fatigue of the voice, there are unexpected breakdowns of it and jumping of sounds from high to low and vice versa, which in vocal practice is called kiks.

Professor Levidov was also able to establish "...that the voice mutation in boys also usually does not end immediately." Several months, and sometimes more, lasts a period calledpostmutational . It is characterized by the fact that with a complete change of voice, when the latter sounds quite like an adult, and the range seems to have already been completely established, and singing for a young man does not present any particular difficulties, catarrhal phenomena in the larynx stubbornly hold on; even after a short singing one can state intense reddening of the vocal cords and an abundance of viscous mucus.

Also, the post-mutation period is characterized by a relatively fast onset of voice fatigue, some disturbance of the vibratory function and a pinkish coloration of the vocal folds that appears after singing. In this period, all elements of the chest mechanism of voice formation are fixed, due to which, in the post-mutation period, the voice of a young man acquires the properties of an adult. Changes in the range, strength and timbre of the voice, manners of sound formation in this period are in close connection with the ongoing changes in the body and psyche of boys.

The human body receives the final design of its development by about 20 years. Although the growth of the larynx ends by this time, it may still lag behind the growth of the chest, resulting in a discrepancy in the work of breathing and vocal cords; the muscle strength of the latter is not yet strong enough, and in the post-mutation period (the longest) the vocal cords need an appropriate regimen.

N.D.Orlova emphasizes that, according to the observations of E.N. Malyutina the most dangerous period is the post-mutation period, when children's automatisms forcibly change, from which the ligaments begin to overstrain, come into a hypertonic state, which invariably entails their hypotension - weakening, lack of connection, uneven work of the right and left ligaments. Caution in singing should be observed by young people even further, when the voice is already fully formed, especially if there was no preparation before.

Catarrhal inflammation (i. catarrhalis; syn.Qatar ) V. mucous membranes, characterized by the formation of abundant exudate of a different nature (serous, mucous, purulent, serous-hemorrhagic, etc.) and its swelling along the surface of the mucous membrane.

fabrics (arterial, active hyperemia)or its difficult outflow (venous, passive, congestive hyperemia). Accompanies any inflammation. Artificial hyperemia is caused for therapeutic purposes (compresses, heating pads,banks ).

Since ancient times, nature has laid it so that a person must communicate. Almost all children are born with thin voices, and by adolescence, voice breaking begins to occur. In fact, this process affects both male and female ligaments, although this is not so noticeable in girls.

What does the process itself look like?

The beginning of the air wave comes from the lungs, reaches the ligaments and causes them to oscillate. As for the chest and nasopharynx, they act as resonators. The pitch of the sound depends on the thickness of the vocal cords - the thinner they are, like in girls, the higher the voice, and vice versa - the thicker the cords, like in boys, the lower.

Nature made sure that parents always heard their child. Therefore, from birth, each person has small and thin ligaments.

As they grow, they increase in size and thicken, respectively, the sound changes its tone.

But during puberty, the speed and degree of growth has gender differences. The female larynx changes twice, while the male larynx changes by 70%.

That is why adolescents have such significant differences in timbre, both by gender and between each other. But it’s worth saying right away that such a process is absolutely individual, therefore some boys have had a bass for 12 years, while others still communicate in a tenor at 15.

There are three main stages of mutation.

1. pre-mutation period. At this time, the body is preparing for future restructuring, and all systems are involved in this stage.

• the sound becomes more hoarse;
• hoarseness, perspiration are noted, which are accompanied by a slight cough.

But it is worth noting that if a boy or girl is engaged in singing, then such symptoms may manifest themselves somewhat differently, because singers have more trained ligaments. Firstly, high notes will not come on as easily as before. Secondly, the child may begin to complain of pain in the larynx while singing.

The vocal teachers themselves will begin to make comments about the "dirt" in the sound. Although in a "calm" state, such signs may not be observed. The vocal cords need rest at this time, since the process of restructuring and the simultaneous load on them can lead to the fact that a person simply loses “his sound”.

1. Crack of voice. At this time, the larynx begins to flow, and mucus may be observed. Such moments provoke the onset of the development of inflammatory processes.

Therefore, if you look into the mouth of a teenager, you can see that the surface of the vocal cords has become red. It is this condition that requires rest, since an increased load can lead to underdevelopment of the organ.

During such a period, it is worth taking special care to protect yourself from colds and viral diseases, otherwise, after the teenage period passes, there is a risk that the boys will still have the sound of a tenor.

1. post-mutation period. This is an individual process. Many factors play a role here, ranging from nationality, and ending with personal physiological, and sometimes genetic characteristics. In boys and girls, it can occur in different ways, and take a different amount of time. Usually towards the end "own sound" the child begins to complain of rapid fatigue of the vocal cords. But now it will become more noticeable that the voice does not have drops anymore, it becomes more stable.

Influence of hormones

Adolescence is characterized by rapid activation of hormonal processes. It is these substances that are responsible for external and internal changes in the human body - in boys, hair begins to actively grow throughout the body, puberty develops, wet dreams, a sharp increase in the skeleton and muscle mass are observed. As for girls, their breasts begin to grow, their body shape changes, menstruation begins.

The vocal cords are also very dependent on hormones. If during adolescence they receive less of their components, they will not be able to acquire "adult" sizes - to become more elongated and dense. Accordingly, the voice will not break, which means that the young man will remain high enough.

By the way, in girls it is always higher, since their sex hormones are not produced in the same quantity as in boys, and besides, they are completely different. It is interesting to note that in old age the male voice becomes higher and the female voice lower. And all these moments are due to the fact that the hormonal background receives less of its components.

Breaking the voice is associated not only with physiological, but also with psychological discomfort. And for both boys and girls. But women's ligaments grow a little slower, so when the moment of puberty comes, they are still short compared to men's. Therefore, the mutation is not so obvious.

And a sharp change in the timbre of a girl can be associated with a malfunction of hormones. But in this case, parents are required to show their daughter to an endocrinologist, because this may indicate serious endocrine diseases. If the girl does not have obvious symptoms of breaking her voice, then the mutation process is going on naturally and there is nothing to worry about.

Most teenagers do not even notice how their voice breaks. This is due to the fact that such a process simply does not cause them any discomfort.

Different children of the same age may have a different tone of voice, as their larynxes will be at different stages of development. But no matter what state the child is in, parents should know what actions are permissible during this period, and why it is worth abstaining.

1. moderate load. This is more advice for parents of boys than girls. Excessive stress on the vocal cords provokes the formation of nodules, which further lead to hoarseness. Such a defect can go away on its own, but in some cases surgery is indispensable;
2. during the mutation period, it is worth protecting the child from colds. This can tighten the breaking of the voice. If a young man continues to have high tones for a long time, then parents are advised to show him to such a specialist as a phoniatrist;
3. Parents should explain to the child that "own sound" unique, and it will be as laid down by nature. Very often, little boys try to imitate this or that hero. Such fanaticism can lead to the fact that the young man overloads his ligaments and they simply "break".

Nature itself lays this or that tone of voice, and no one can change it. Therefore, your timbre should be taken as a given and does not oppose it. And there is no way to speed up the breaking of the voice, because this process is natural and it is impossible to influence it.

Hello Sasha.

Voice formation in both men and women is a rather complex and multi-stage process. It involves at least 5 body systems: lungs, chest, nasopharynx, vocal folds (they are also called "ligaments", but this is incorrect), articulatory apparatus and larynx. The voice is formed precisely at the moment when the air inhaled by a person passes through the vocal folds, which begin to oscillate and vibrate, and sound, as you know, is born during vibration.

Since the vocal folds tend to grow, the voice of children, when they are completely undeveloped, is high, squeaky. Nature cannot be deceived, because she has provided for everything: children need such voices so that their parents can hear them even at long distances.

When do boys change their voice?

It cannot be said for sure that at the age of 12 a boy's voice will definitely change and "break". Not! Firstly, in boys, the process of changing the voice proceeds faster, because. the vocal folds grow and thicken at a faster rate. For girls, this process is somewhat delayed in time, so by about 10-12 years the difference in voices becomes obvious. After a couple of years (approximately by the age of 13 - 14), sex hormones intervene in the process of voice mutation, tk. boys begin puberty. It is at this moment that the voice changes a lot, because hormones now influence the growth and thickening of the vocal folds.

As for the duration of the voice mutation process, it is also impossible to say for sure, because withdrawal can last from one month to several years. On average, the process takes a couple of months, during which time the growing men already have time to get used to their new "sound".

I draw your attention to the fact that boys during the period of voice change experience serious psychological problems, so parents need to treat the child during this period of his development more carefully and condescendingly. Adults should avoid shouting and loud tones that turn into bass. In no case should the situation be brought to the point where the child himself screams, because. a loud cry can cause damage to his vocal folds, which is fraught with the development of problems with his voice. The strong tension of warehouses at the stage of their active growth can lead to the formation of "knots" that greatly change the voice. Among other things, screaming can provoke hemorrhage in the tissues of the folds.

What is early puberty?

I would like to draw your special attention to the fact that the age of 13-14 years is very conditional for breaking the voice. The average limit of voice breaking (puberty) is defined in this range, but, as in any other rule, there may be exceptions to this. In medical practice, there are indeed cases when boys experience puberty earlier (for example, at 8–10 years old), as well as situations when it occurs at a late age (for example, at 18 years old).

In this situation, we are interested in earlier puberty in boys, although it is called "early" only if it begins before 10 years of age. 11 years of age in boys is considered absolutely normal for certain changes in his body - puberty.

At about 11 - 13 years old (in this case, you have exactly 11 years old) in a certain area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe child's brain (the hypothalamus gland), the production of the hormone gonadoliberin begins. It is this hormone that is involved in the formation of spermatozoa and other sex hormones. As mentioned earlier, it is these sex hormones, androgens, that affect the vocal folds, which begin to actively increase in size and thicken. Accordingly, there is also a change in the voice, its mutation, which is called "breaking".

Sincerely, Natalia.

The appearance of a voice in a person occurs through several organs: the vocal cords, larynx, nasopharynx, chest, lungs. Air, escaping from the lungs, makes the vocal folds vibrate, and the nasopharynx and chest are resonators. The pitch of the sound depends on the thickness and length of the vocal cords - the larger and thicker they are, the lower the sound. In children, the larynx is small, the vocal folds are small, so the voice of children is high and sonorous.

When and why do boys break their voices?

At the age of 12-14 years, age-related changes in the body begin in boys, under the influence of sex hormones, the ligaments begin to grow, thicken and lengthen. At this time, they show signs of breaking their voices - it goes from a high timbre to a low one and vice versa. This is what is called voice mutation. Often at this time a problem arises, but not physiological, but rather psychological: the boy is used to the sound of his high voice, but the adult bass sometimes frightens him. But for most boys, voice mutation is a completely natural process and lasts an average of several months.

What to do if the voice breaks?

Parents should be aware of three features of teenage voice mutation:

• during the period of withdrawal, it is impossible to load the vocal cords, due to overstrain, nodules appear on the folds, as a result of which the voice becomes hoarse;
• avoid colds - the mutation may be delayed;
• what kind of voice a teenager will have in adulthood is not known: what is laid down by nature cannot be changed.

Teenagers are often interested in how to speed up the breaking of the voice. So, it will not work in any way, because mutation is a natural physiological process, and, as you know, it is not worth interfering with nature.

Do girls' voices break?

The thing is that the vocal folds in girls grow more slowly than in boys, and by the beginning of puberty they are still much shorter in girls. The voice of girls also breaks, but not as clearly and not as quickly as in boys. This process cannot be called a mutation because such a breakdown of the voice is not associated with hormonal changes in the girl's body.

This or that timbre of voice is inherent in a person by nature and we must take it for granted. It will take time for a growing child to get used to his new voice. Explain to the child that breaking the voice is a kind of beginning of the path to adulthood. And if the parents take the teenager seriously during the mutation of his voice, support him with good advice, then this process will be less painful and much faster.