What is Head Voice?

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This is part two of a three part series exploring chest voice, head voice, and mix (or mixed) voice.

It can get confusing with so many terms to learn about the voice. Another one to get familiar with is head voice because it is used often and sometimes misunderstood. Let’s learn a little more about how to find it and what you need to know about the role it plays.

That’s your head voice. Head voice is associated with your upper register.

Did you notice where you felt the sympathetic vibrations?

Most people feel them in their head. That’s why it’s called head voice.

How do we produce head voice?

That’s just a fancy way of saying there are muscles that need to activate for us to sing higher.

These muscles are outside the vocal folds, and they stretch and thin the vocal folds allowing us to go up in pitch.

The cricothyroid (CT) muscles are associated with our upper register and are dominant in the production of head voice.

What?! Aren’t they the same? NOPE.

Falsetto is breathy and weak compared to head voice. It can still be a great stylistic choice though. It can be beautiful and haunting like in The Weekend’s Rolling Stone at 1:30 for example, or Billie Eilish’s Everything I Wanted, also at 1:30.

Head voice is stronger than falsetto. An example of head voice is Maroon 5’s She Will Be Loved in the chorus at 1:18 where he goes up to a B5 on “be”, or the very first line of Arianna Grande’s no tears left to cry. You can hear these examples have a little more strength and aren’t breathy.

Here is the thing. The muscle coordination between falsetto and head voice is different.

In a balanced chest voice, there is still a little bit of that CT (head voice) muscle activation, especially as we go up in pitch.

Same with a balanced head voice, there is still a little bit of TA (chest voice) muscle activity, more or less depending on how intense of a sound we are getting.

When we are in falsetto, the TA (chest voice) muscle essentially let’s go, and we have no thickening or shortening of the vocal folds happening, so we get a thinner and more breathy sound.

As you sing through your range, at any point, there will be a whole range of choices in terms of how much TA or CT you are activating. This is all a version of mix, which we will talk more about in the next blog.

Let me know if you have any questions! Or, drop in some other examples of head voice and falsetto that you like!

What is Chest Voice?

THIS BLOG HAS BEEN MOVED TO OUR NEW WEBSITE. GO READ IT HERE.

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This is part one of a three part series exploring chest voice, head voice, and mix (or mixed) voice.

There are a lot of terms in the singing world that can often be misunderstood or are not explained well. Chest voice is one that will come up frequently that you should know when it comes to singing. Let’s go over what part it plays with your voice.

Do you feel the vibrations?

That’s your chest voice. When you sing with it, it will have the same qualities as your speaking voice.

Chest voice is associated with the lower register of your voice. It’s the voice we use when we speak or when we yell.

Most people feel the sympathetic vibrations in the chest, which is why it’s called chest voice.

If the chest voice isn’t strong enough, then your voice will be breathy, and lack power and intensity.

Now, keep in mind, everyone’s voice is different! Tori Kelly has a lighter and brighter sounding chest voice than Adele, for example. One isn’t necessarily better than the other. They are both unique and well-developed.

How do we produce chest voice?

These muscles are inside the vocal folds, and they shorten and thicken vocal folds.

They are primarily associated with our lower register and are dominant in the production of chest voice.

Next week we will explore head voice!

How to Sing More Powerful High Notes

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Every singer wants more Powerful High notes.

But, they can be really challenging if you don’t know how to skillfully execute them.

Learn more in this episode of VoiceTalk!

Why are high notes easier for some people?

High notes always came pretty easily to me. 😮  Powerful high notes, on the other hand, did not. 😩

Let’s look at why this was the case.

I have a naturally higher voice.

Some people have naturally shorter vocal tracts that more easily resonates higher frequencies and smaller vocal folds, which take less tension to get up to pitch.  That’s why children have higher sounding voices.

Now, that being said, I had to learn how to sing high notes with power. I had a nice classical head voice, but I wanted a more contemporary sound, one that would translate to pop and musical theatre, and that took some time and training.

I had to learn to “mix” more of my chest voice into my head voice to get more power.

Some singers naturally accept the sensations of “mix” more easily, and yet some find it more challenging. I would say for me it was the latter.

What is mix?

If we are talking about the two extremes we can go to in the voice, we have this gentle, hootie, falsetto, head voice, like a whoop, or we have this more intense sounding yell or chest voice.  

The headier, whoop voice can go really high without too much effort, but there isn’t much power or intensity.  

The yell voice has intensity, but on it’s own, it can’t go up that high without causing a lot of strain and tension.

So we need to be in the middle of them and use a mix of both, so that we have the strength and intensity of the yell or chest voice and the flexibility of the whoop or head voice.

There are two sets of muscles that primarily control pitch

• Thyroarytenoid (TA) - These muscles are inside the vocal folds, and they shorten and thicken vocal folds. They are primarily associated with our lower register and are dominant in the production of chest voice.

• Cricothyroid (CT) - These muscles are outside the vocal folds, and they stretch and thin the vocal folds allowing us to go up in pitch. They are associated with our upper register and are dominant in the production of head voice.

The TA and the CT muscles don’t always want to play well together. 

Some singers (most of us) have to learn how to get them to coordinate and work together because one or the other wants to take over.

If you’re a singer who experiences that big flip in the middle of your voice where you go from a stronger sounding lower register to flipping into a lighter and weaker sounding higher register, then you know what I’m talking about here.

It’s more challenging to get a stronger more “leaned in” sound in your high notes than a more heady classical sound because you have to engage more TA muscle (the ones that shorten and thicken) to get that more intense sound.  

When you start activating more of that TA muscle, you can increase the amount of resistance to the air, and increase the closed quotient. As the vocal folds are vibrating, they are really just opening and closing really fast. So even if they are opening and closing the same amount of times per second, if you increase the closed quotient, it means they are staying closed longer than they are open, which is why you get more of that resistance to the air coming up from the lungs.

Because the TA muscle can tend to either want to either be on or off, as you start to employ more it, you will often overshoot. You end up with too much and you start to feel squeezed and all jammed up.

Do’s and don’ts:

The classical way is very helpful to begin to establish that part of our range. Rather than going for a really powerful sound, you can add a little at a time.

Do:

• Experiment with lip bubbles, straws, and other SOVTs

• Try exercises on more closed vowels Foo, or Boo, Whee

• Sing songs and substitute those same closed vowels for the word.

Once you can sing higher notes in your head voice, you can slowly add more TA muscle and get more depth in the vocal folds to start to get more power.

• Try a bratty Nay

• Use the speaking voice:  “Hey guys!”

• Use the concession guy’s voice “Get your hot dogs!”

• Use “one” or “no”

• Speak the line of the song up high in your speaking voice.

DON’T:

• Force it. If it’s uncomfortable and you are squeezing then stop.

• Use wide vowels like AH “father” or AE “bat” when you are going up to belt a note. Instead, narrow them by adding OU “book” to the AH “father”. And, add EH “bet” to the AE “bat”.

Have fun and let me know how it goes in the comments below or email me at annie@annielittle.com!

Want to explore your high notes and MIX voice with a skilled voice teacher?

Home Studio Recording for Singers with Guest Graham Cochrane

THIS BLOG HAS BEEN UPDATED AND MOVED TO OUR NEW WEBSITE. GO READ IT HERE.

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I want to introduce you to Graham Cochrane of Recording Revolution.

It’s time to get on the path to recording success!

Do you want to record and release your own music, but you don't know where to start?

Do you have some recording equipment, but you’re not sure it’s right?

Have you tried recording your music, but you get stuck trying to make your songs sound good?

I’ve got answers to help get you started!

Here’s what you’ll learn on this episode of VoiceTalk:

3:20 Why is an interface helpful? Can we use a USB microphone?

6:15 What do you think that high pitched sound is with the USB microphone?

7:35 How do you get started learning the editing software?

10:45 What is the best way to add instrumentals to a song?

14:20 What are the names of the tutorials Graham created for free on how to create a song from scratch?

16:15 How do you get started with the mixing process?

17:15 Best tip! Learn E. Q. is the most helpful tool to start learning.

18:30 Should you use pre-sets?

20:10 Quick tip to get you started! (pull in a song you love to play with it)

21:20 What other projects and businesses are you creating?

25:00 Other ways for musicians to make money.

I know recording can feel really overwhelming.

Graham has some of the most helpful audio recording tutorials on the internet.

I highly suggest getting on his mailing list so you can make sure to be notified when he opens the doors to EP Blueprint course that gives musicians a roadmap to write, record, mix, release, and promote an EP of 4-6 songs independently.

Here’s where to find him:

IG @thegrahamcochrane | FB www.facebook.com/recordingrevolution | Website www.recordingrevolution.com

Where are you at with your recording? Leave me a comment and let’s get you on the path to recording success!

The 3 Essentials to Better Singing

THIS BLOG HAS BEEN MOVED TO OUR NEW WEBSITE. GO READ IT HERE.

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Do you wish you knew what to do when your voice isn't behaving? 🤷🏼‍♀️⁠

My wish for you, as a singer OR a speaker, is for you to be smart about your voice, so that when it isn't working quite the way you want it to, you can figure out what to do for yourself.⁠

I want to help you do just that.

In this episode of VoiceTalk you'll learn:

1. What 3 systems need to be in balance.

2. Why this will improve your voice.

3. How to work on each. 

Understanding this will help you know what to adjust for your voice to sound and feel it’s best.

There are three systems that have to work together for the voice to sound its best, and if one or more isn’t functioning optimally, it will likely throw the rest of them off, too.

We have the RESPIRATION, PHONATION, and the RESONANCE.

Respiration is the breath. It’s like the gas in your car. It gives the energy needed to run the motor.

Phonation is the vibration of the vocal folds (fancy for vocal cords). This is what creates the sound wave. If we keep on with the car analogy, it’s the motor.

Resonance is the filtering that happens in the vocal tract, which is the space from your vocal cords to the tip of your lips. You can think of it almost as a resonating tube. In the car analogy, it is the type of car you drive. We all have unique sounding voices because no two resonating tracts are shaped exactly the same.

“When the breath, the vocal cords, and your resonators all work together, that’s what gives us a feeling of stability when we’re singing.”

— Annie Little

These systems are all interdependent on each other.

The Breath

When you breath you send air up to the vocal folds which are vibrating by opening and closing super fast. When you sing an A 440, which is the pitch a violin tunes to when you see an orchestra tuning, your vocal folds open and close 440 times a second. The higher you sing, the faster they vibrate. The lower you sing, the slower they vibrate.

When the vocal folds close they are compressing these air molecules which are like opposing ends of magnets. They like to be a certain distance from each other. These compressed air molecules build up energy and when they are released they create a sound wave.

The Vibration

Sound waves are actually made up of multiple pitches stacked on top of each other. Those pitches are called harmonics, and our ear blends them together so it sounds like one note. All of those different harmonics are what get formed and filtered when they pass through and resonate in the vocal tract.

We want the sound wave to be balanced, so that there is enough information to be filtered when it’s resonating.

If the vocal folds are too pressed together or aren’t coming together enough, that will cause the sound wave to be out of balance. If the sound wave is out of balance, and there is not enough energy in the high frequencies, then voice will sound dull. If the sound wave doesn’t have enough energy in the low frequencies, then it will sound shrill or steely.

The Resonance

This sound wave is filtered by your resonating tract, which is your throat, mouth, and occasionally the nasal cavity, if you are going for a more nasal sound. (Most of the time we don’t want a nasal sound!) We want the sound wave to be balanced because the resonating tract can only boost or reduce the different harmonics that are present.

The resonating tract is primarily controlled by vowels. When it’s all working together nicely, you get a really nice “ping” to your voice, and it sounds good because you are boosting or reducing the parts of the sound wave to get the color or tone you want.

When it all works well, there is then a feedback of energy to the vocal folds that creates a back pressure and this is when singing feels really good and easy!

That means the air needs to be the right amount and be flowing nice and evenly, and the vocal folds need to be working optimally so they create a balanced sound wave, and then the vowels need to be optimized to filter the sound wave.

Let me know if you found this helpful in the comments!