Vocal tract

The vocal tract is the place inside your mouth and throat where your voice comes from. It's like a cave with a lot of different parts.

First, let's talk about the airstream. When you breathe in, air goes through your mouth and nose and down into your lungs. When you breathe out, the air goes back up through your vocal cords and out of your mouth.

When you want to make a sound or speak, your brain tells your vocal cords to come together and vibrate. This vibration makes sound waves that go up into the vocal tract.

The vocal tract is made up of different parts. The first part is your lips - they help shape the sound waves as they come out of your mouth. Then there's your teeth - they also help shape the sound waves by giving them something to bounce off of.

Next, there's your tongue - it's like a big muscle that moves around inside your mouth. Your tongue can touch different parts of your mouth to make different sounds.

Behind your tongue is the soft palate - this is the part that moves up and down when you swallow. It also helps to control the flow of air as you speak.

And finally, there's the pharynx - this is the space at the back of your throat. Just like the other parts of the vocal tract, the pharynx can change shape to make different sounds.

So when you speak or sing, the sound starts in your vocal cords, then travels up through your mouth and throat, and is shaped by all the different parts of the vocal tract. That's how you make all the different sounds and words that you use every day!