Subglottic pressure

Subglottic pressure is a complicated vocal anatomy term so let’s break the word down.  The “glottis” part of the word refers to the opening between the vocal chords and “sub” part of the word mean beneath.  Pressure refers to the breath pressure coming up through the opening between your vocal cords.   So, subglottic pressure is the pressure of the air coming up through the vocal chords from beneath.  Subglottic pressure is something that is extremely important to overall phonation but is especially critical when you are singing in your high voice because the subglottic pressure is at its greatest when you sing high.  The reason is because your vocal chords stretch thinner and vibrate much more quickly in the high voice.  When you sing in your middle range and low range your vocal chords vibrate more slowly and so you need to move more breath.  If someone tells you that you’re lacking subglottic pressure,  you will now understand what they mean.   Remember, proper breath support is imperative to singing.  Without proper subglottic pressure, there would be no proper phonation.