ElI5: how does our body know exactly how tight or loose to make our vocal cords to hit a pitch right on?

Question

ElI5: how does our body know exactly how tight or loose to make our vocal cords to hit a pitch right on?

In: 2

Answer 1

Muscle memory. You’re body doesn’t know where to put the muscle to produce the pitch, your brain does. Muscle memory is a stored procedure/memory the brain uses to control muscles with little conscious effort for things that are often repeated. Practicing often repeats the same move creating the muscle memory so your brain associates the specific placement of a note on a music sheet to a pitch so your brain says “vocal cords go to this position and lungs blow this hard, and mouth make this shape” and then the brain takes feedback from the ear to fine tune it in the instant it is being used.