Welcome. The Connected Voice Vocal Studio offers voice lessons and coaching to singers, from garage bands to pop stars, opera to musical theatre, to tap into their full potential as vocalists. Learn proven healthy vocal practices that will correct present vocal problems and develop a healthy voice for the future. These techniques will greatly improve your vocal tone, volume, stamina and control.
Two of the most commonly used term in singing circles are “Chest Voice” and “Head Voice”. If you’ve always wondered what this actually means, read on….
In the “chest voice” -- the voice most people use to speak with -- people generally feel the resonance of pitches in that area vibrating in their chest. Put your hand on your chest and say the vowel “a” as in “cat” nice and strong -- feel how that seems to resonate between your throat and chest? That’s your chest voice. Then cheer saying, “Woo-hoo!” -- feel how the sound seems to have moved into your head? That’s your head voice.
Now for a more technical explanation: how do the vocal folds work? If you’ve ever seen a picture of the vocal folds in action you’ll see that they are attached at one end in a “V” shape and vibrate together, with the help of breath, along their length to create pitch. (See link below to view video of vocal cords in action). At the pitch “A 440″ (the pitch orchestras tune to) the vocal folds are coming together 440 times/second to create that pitch (the note you hear). Lower pitches have a lower number and pitches up in a singer’s “whistle-tone” register (think Mariah Carey) are vibrating in the 3000’s. When a singer is vocalizing in their chest voice the vocal cords are using their entire length to create the pitches in that register. Then, at a certain point, the vocal cords have to make a physical shift to a shorter cord to create higher pitches. What that means is that the portion of the vocal folds that is involved in creating the pitch must become shorter as the pitches get higher. Think about the strings in a piano -- the lower the note, the longer and thicker the string; the higher the note or pitch, the shorter and thinner the string. Similarly, the voice needs to make a shift (actually several of them depending on how high you go) to a shorter coordination in the vocal folds as the pitch ascends.
The first transition or bridge (also known as passagio), between chest and head voice, generally happens around an E-F# above middle C4 for men and around an Aflat-Bflat above middle C for women. Every singer I’ve ever encountered in my studio struggles with either their first or their second bridge, though the first bridge transition is the most common struggle. (Every 4th or augmented 4th interval contains another of these bridges.)
Classical and choral singers tend to sing mostly in their Head Voice. Rock/pop and Musical Theater singers tend to sing in their chest voice without transitioning to a shorter cord, though some can sing in “Mix”, sounding like they are effortlessly taking their chest voice higher in their range. When a singer connects seamlessly between chest voice and head voice, maintaining a consistent tonal quality throughout this transition, this is referred to as “Mix” -- which is just that: a comfortable mix of the elements of chest voice and head voice. To learn more about Mix, watch for my upcoming blog entitled, “BELT vs MIX”.
Here is a link to see the vocal folds in action if you’re curious: Keep in mind that the physician is using a strobe light so that we can see the action of the vocal folds “slowed down” in a sense -- otherwise they are moving too fast for our eye to see.
{ 0 comments }
