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www.rockthestagenyc.com - Free Singing Lesson - It seems there is a lot of debate on YouTube about what is head voice and what is falsetto. The debate is over. At least to me it is. A quick video to describe the differences between the two. What's exactly are the differences between the two? Watch and find out. Tags free singing lessons, voice instruction, vocal exercises, resonance, head voice, falsetto, vocal cords, adducted Kevin Richards teaches at Rock the Stage NYC - Manhattan. For more information on studying at Rock the Stage in person or via Skype: please visit www.rockthestagenyc.com |
Tag Archives: head voice
Extend Your Vocal Range
Extend Your Vocal Range
All singers have a natural vocal range; that is, they have a series of notes that they feel most comfortable singing. For some, this is a range of low notes. Others can sing higher notes without difficulty.
Do you know what your vocal range is? Do you want to expand it? There are ways to measure your vocal range and techniques you can use to master the notes above and below your range.
Measuring Your Vocal Range
Unless you have the help of an instructor, you will need some sort of tuning guide to help you measure your range. This could be a piano, organ, guitar, or a tuning software program.
First, make sure the instrument is properly tuned. Then play a middle ‘C’. Match your voice to the note that the instrument plays. Then play up the C chromatic scale (C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C) and match your voice to each note in succession.
Keep going up the scale until you switch from your chest voice to your head voice. This natural shift is called your ‘vocal break’. The chest voice is deeper and resonates lower in your throat. The head voice is thinner and resonates at the back of your soft palate.
The highest note you can comfortably sing without straining is the top of your vocal range. This will change over time; singing exercises and regular practice can help you sing higher, and factors like age and tobacco use can deepen the voice.
After you’ve found the upper limit of your vocal range, play down the scale (C, B, Bb, A, Ab, G, Gb, F, E, Eb, D, Db, C) to find the lowest note you can comfortably sing. This is the bottom of your range.
Expanding Your Vocal Range
It takes time and practice to develop a wider vocal range, but vocalists do it all the time. To start, practice singing the notes near the top of your range. You might notice that you have some difficulty singing them with good quality and control, but that will improve over time.
Begin by adding 1 to 3 notes to the top of your vocal range. These might be notes that transcend your vocal break. If so, you will need to develop a mixed voice that combines your chest and head voices in order to sing these notes smoothly.
When you learn to sing in a mixed voice and produce seamless notes that cross your vocal break, this is known as ‘bridging the gap’. The better you can sing the notes around your vocal break, the smoother your vocal performances will be – and the higher you can comfortably sing.
Vocal Range Extremes
Most people sing in the middle vocal ranges, with a much smaller number having very high natural singing voices (sopranos), or very low singing voices (basses). Women typically sing mezzo-soprano, alto, or tenor. Men typically sing contralto, tenor or baritone.
While most people can learn to sing high notes well above their natural range, it’s important to recognize the difference between your head voice and a falsetto voice.
The head voice is slightly airy, lacking the deep resonance of the chest voice (which is closer in tone and quality to the speaking voice). With practice, you can give your head voice a richer sound with more power behind your notes.
Falsetto is a range above your head voice. The easiest way to tell when you’ve switched to falsetto is to press your fingers against your throat as you sing. As you produce progressively higher notes, you will notice that the notes vibrate higher in your throat and in the roof of your mouth. When you switch to falsetto, your vocal chords will not vibrate at all when you sing.
No matter your starting point, regular daily practice will help you expand your range and improve the quality of all the notes you sing, high and low.
How to Sing High Notes
How to Sing High Notes
Many singers wonder how to sing high notes with power and richness. The notes that fall within speaking voice range are easy to sing, but higher notes are notoriously difficult for beginners.
If you’d like to learn how to sing high notes without compromising your vocal quality, use these tips to get started:
How to Sing High Notes: Finding Your Upper Limit
You can find the upper limit of your vocal range by singing progressively higher notes until you can no longer sing comfortably. The highest note you can sing without straining is the top note on your natural vocal range.
Use a guitar, organ, or other properly tuned instrument to help you identify the notes in your range. Play a note, then match your voice to it. Keep doing this until you reach the top of your range.
Any notes above the top of your vocal range will require some practice. The goal is to learn how to sing high notes with good vocal control and without straining your voice.
How to Sing High Notes: Spanning Your Vocal Break
As you reach the top of your range, you will notice that there is a point where your voice changes in quality. The deeper notes are sung in your “chest voice”, which is close to your regular speaking voice. This is the voice that resonates deep in your throat or chest.
At some point, your voice will shift to a lighter, airier sound that reverberates in the top of your throat or back of your mouth. Some people describe this voice as nasal, but that’s not accurate. This higher, thinner voice is known as the “head voice”, because it resonates higher in your head.
The point where this switch occurs is known as your vocal break. Beginning singers find it difficult to sing notes immediately above and below this break, but with some practice, you can learn to bridge this break and sing most songs seamlessly.
How to Sing High Notes: Improving Your Head Voice
There are two major steps you can take to improve the quality of your head voice. First, you’ll need to develop your “mixed voice”, which is a combination of your chest and head voices.
The mixed voice is the result of practice; most people don’t come by it naturally, but experienced singers incorporate it so smoothly that it’s impossible to tell when they switch from chest voice to head voice.
To strengthen your mixed voice, you need to sing the notes around your vocal break. As you sing progressively higher, you should practice using a bit less of your chest voice and a bit more of your head voice. You can practice this skill by paying attention to where each note resonates in your throat and mouth, and putting slightly more emphasis on the “head” notes as you go along.
Over time, you will learn to place the notes where you want, making the transition from chest to head voice very smooth.
How to Sing High Notes: Breath and Diaphragm Support
The second part of singing higher notes with ease is learning to use your breathing and diaphragm to support the high notes. Without breath and diaphragm support, your head voice will sound thin and reedy. With breath and diaphragm support, it will sound rich and strong like your chest voice.
Practice rationing your voice as you exhale a note, not letting it out too fast. This will help you sustain high notes and give them just the right amount of breath support.
Your diaphragm is the muscle in your stomach area that flexes when you laugh or exhale sharply. Practice flexing it as you sing to give extra support to your high notes for a more powerful sound.
With your full vocal range and the power of your breath and diaphragm behind you, you’ll soon learn how to sing high notes like a pro – and how to belt out money notes your audience will never forget!
Vocal Exercises for Singing
Vocal Exercises for Singing
There are a number of vocal exercises that you can use to improve the tone and quality of your voice. Some of these exercises can even help you develop a much broader vocal range. Here are a few classics to get you started:
Vocal Exercises: Warm-Ups
Your vocal chords need to be warmed up before you sing. Warming up helps protect your pipes from injury, and it also helps you sing a lot better.
To start, practice singing up and down the C chromatic scale a half-step at a time. This will force you to hit lots of subtle notes, and will give your voice a smoother quality.
The yawning technique is another approach. Open your mouth and sing a note. Now, without pausing for breath, keep singing the note while you change the pitch. Think of the way your voice gets higher when you yawn. This exercise should have a similar effect. Use it to go from the bottom of your range to the very top.
Try to spend at least 10 to 15 minutes warming up before you rehearse or perform.
Vocal Exercises: Range
One popular exercise to help you increase your vocal range involves playing notes on an instrument and singing along with them until you can’t sing any higher (or lower). With the help of a tuning device or a musical instrument, you can quickly identify your natural vocal range.
Other range-expanding vocal exercises focus on building a strong middle voice, which is a voice that combines the chest and head voices. Practice singing across your natural vocal break. As you sing, pay attention to where each note vibrates in your throat. Chest voice notes will vibrate lower in your vocal chords; head voice notes often vibrate at the back of your soft palate.
Practice these notes until you can routinely produce them with good quality and voice control. Go a step higher each week until you can sing well above your natural range.
Vocal Exercises: Pitch
Perfect pitch comes naturally to a rare few individuals. Most of us have to practice at it. Fortunately, there are vocal exercises that can help you improve your pitch.
The easiest way is to play a note on an instrument or in a sound software program, and sing that note as it plays. When you match the pitch perfectly, there will be a resonance that isn’t present when you sing off-pitch.
You can also practice pitch with other vocalists. Try harmonizing with another singer or two, with one singer taking the higher notes, one taking middle notes, and one taking lower notes. When you’re all on pitch, the result will be a resonating harmony.
Vocal Exercises: Volume
Volume is another important part of vocals. Sometimes you will need to sing at a higher volume, especially if you sing opera or rock music, or if you sing with a band that plays loudly.
Finding your natural volume is a lot like finding your natural range. Simply start out at a regular volume, singing in your speaking voice. Sing gradually louder until you can no longer sing comfortably. That is your natural volume range.
You can increase your volume by identifying your diaphragm (the band of muscle beneath your ribcage) and using it to push out your voice as you sing. Exhale sharply; the muscle that tightens when you exhale is your diaphragm.
These vocal exercises will help you identify and increase your natural range and volume, and add power to your notes. Practice daily to develop the best tone possible.
