But your singing voice isn't finite; it won't just disappear when you reach later life. You won't notice any huge changes to your voice until your 60s and 70s when the larynx starts to weaken. Your voice can get wobbly and hoarse.
Even with good health habits, however, vocal cords stiffen with age. "As the vocal membranes are used more,they become fibrous and stiff with a diminished amplitude of vibration," said Dr. Steven Zeitels, Professor of Laryngeal Surgery at Harvard Medical School.
Singers' voices mature anywhere from their 20s to the early 40s, and, in general, voices that are deeper and heavier in tone take longer to develop fully. Coloraturas, or sopranos with light voices, typically reach their peaks earliest, in the mid-20s.
Even after the change that happens in your teens, your voice continues to develop. Although the squeaking and cracking stage doesn't last long, most guys' voices don't fully mature until they're in their twenties.
After several decades of relatively stable voice, noticeable change can occur in the later years of life. As our bodies age, we lose muscle mass, our mucous membranes thin and become more dry, and we lose some of the fine coordination that we had in younger years.
Puberphonia (also known as mutational falsetto, functional falsetto, incomplete mutation, adolescent falsetto, or pubescent falsetto) is a functional voice disorder that is characterized by the habitual use of a high-pitched voice after puberty, hence why many refer to the disorder as resulting in a 'falsetto' voice.
After puberty and well into older adulthood, some people's voices may change, but not everyone's. Men's voices tend to go up in pitch. Women's voices tend to go down.
The biggest changes to your voice will happen during puberty and will usually end by the age of 18. Your adult pitch is then reached 2 or 3 years later. But your voice won't completely stabilise until early adulthood. Your voice can carry on changing through your 20's, and even into your 30's.
Between the ages of 18 and 21, your voice stabilizes because the vocal folds and larynx have reached their full growth. While there can be some changes into your 30s, most people's voices are finished with physical changes due to hormones by the age of 21 or so.
The human voice continues to mature throughout life, however, so students of any age can benefit from singing lessons. Typically children are ready to start singing between the ages of 7 and 9.
The biggest changes to your voice will happen during puberty and will usually end by the age of 18. Your adult pitch is then reached 2 or 3 years later. But your voice won't completely stabilise until early adulthood. Your voice can carry on changing through your 20's, and even into your 30's.
A voice change is one of the secondary sexual characteristics adolescents develop. In boys, this happens between ages 12 and 16; in girls, between ages 10 and 14. The first sign of puberty in girls is breast development, while in boys it's an increase in the size of the testicles.
Vocal cord paresis or paralysis.
If they are paralyzed in an open position, you may have a weak, breathy voice. Some people will get better over time. In other cases, the paralysis is permanent. Surgery and voice therapy may help improve the voice.
Voice loss is not uncommon among singers, just like injury is not unusual in sport. But, as professional athletes must do everything possible to look after their bodies (eating well, warming up and down, recognising when there's a weakness), so must you.
Hydrate your voice.
Drink water throughout the day, and keep a water bottle nearby during lessons and rehearsals. And don't think that a swig or two of water while you're warming up is enough. Your vocal folds work best when they're well lubricated, and that means keeping your entire body hydrated.
After about age 30, you start to lose muscle mass all over your body, a phenomenon called sarcopenia. Your vocal folds aren't spared from this shrinkage, Hunter says. As the muscle fibers within the folds become less bulky, your voice sounds higher.
As adults age, the vocal cords become thinner, and the cartilage of the larynx becomes harder and less flexible, altering the voice. Aging often changes the pitch of the voice, causing it to become higher in older men and lower in older women.
Testosterone will cause a thickening of the vocal chords, which will result in a more male-sounding voice. Not all trans men will experience a full deepening of the pitch of their voice with testosterone, however.
Dehydration – The vocal folds are membranous tissues, and in order to vibrate together efficiently, they require both systemic hydration (water present in the body) and topical hydration (water present on the vocal folds) or they can become dry and this will also cause voice cracks.
Drink plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration (avoid alcohol and caffeine). Moisten your throat. Try sucking on lozenges, gargling with salt water or chewing a piece of gum. Stop drinking alcohol and smoking, and avoid exposure to smoke.
Smoking and Swollen Vocal Folds
When your vocal folds swell, it means their water content has increased, and the result is a deepening of the tone of your voice, whether you're singing or speaking. This also contributes the raspy quality heavily smoke-damaged voices get.
Some males hit puberty a little late in relation to the growth of their larynx. During the teenage years, a male larynx grows and the voice deepens - usually. Some people it either never happens or only slightly until their mid 20s.
So, even if you like how you sound, you might've wondered once if it's possible to change your voice entirely. Well, we're sad to say that permanently altering your voice isn't usually possible.