velum  A general term that means veil or covering. With regard to the vocal tract, refers to the region of the soft palate and adjacent nasopharynx that closes together under normal circumstances during swallowing and phonation of certain sounds ventricular folds  The " false vocal folds," situated above the true vocal folds vibrato  In classical singing, vibrato is a periodic modulation of the frequency of phonation. Its regularity increases with training. The rate of vibrato (number of modulations per second) is usually in the range of 5-6 per second. Vibrato rates over 7-8 per second are aesthetically displeasing to most people, and sound "nervous." The extent of vibrato (amount of variation above and below the center frequency) is usually one or two semitones. Vibrato rates greater than two semitones are usually aesthetically unacceptable, and are typical of elderly singers in poor artistic vocal condition, in whom the excessively wide vibrato extent is often combined with excessively slow rate viscera  The internal organs of the body, particularly the contents of the abdomen vocal cord  Old term for vocal fold vocal fold (or cord) stripping  A surgical technique, no longer considered acceptable practice under most  circumstances, in which the vocal fold is grasped with a forceps, and the surface layers are ripped off

vocal folds  A paired system of tissue layers in the larynx that can oscillate to produce sound vocal fry  A rough squeezed vocalized sound heard in the lowest pitch range of the voice and usually produced by an upward movement of the larynx vocal tract  Resonator system constituted by the larynx, the pharynx and the mouth cavity vocalis muscle  The medial belly of the thyroarytenoid muscle voce coperta  "Covered voice" voce mista  “Mixed voice” (also voix mixte) voce di petto  “Chest voice” voce di testa  “Head voice” voce piena  “Full voice” voice source  Sound generated by the pulsating transglottal airflow; the sound is generated when the vocal fold vibrations chop the airstream into a pulsating airflow