Here’s your essential grammar lesson from me, ‘Chord’ or ‘Cord’? Which word describes the two little vibrating masses in your throat?
Your vocal CORDS are two tiny lengths of tissue whose edges vibrate in the air stream to produce the voice. In fact, to be a bit more anatomically correct, a lot of us vocal professionals refer to them as vocal FOLDS.
Are my vocal cords muscles? Kinda, but actually no. There are teeny tiny muscles within your vocal cords, but the part of the fold that vibrates against each other to create sound is a thin layer of jelly-like tissue. This tissue is incredibly fragile and needs to be treated with care! Why else do you think good vocal technique is so important?
In order to sing well, we can learn to control some of the larger (but still super small!) muscles in our larynx (aka ‘voice box’) and somewhat indirectly the teeny tiny muscles in our vocal cords.
And just to clarify, a CHORD is a group of notes (usually three or more) that form the basis of harmony. We strum chords on the guitar, play chords on the piano, and we sing chords in group vocal arrangements.
And now you know!