Tag Archive for: head voice

A SHORTCUT TO MIX VOICE

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left-brain-right-brain

When it comes to teaching someone to find their mix voice I’ve observed that I can often use a “short-cut” to get a singer there much faster: with some singers, all of the sounds and sensations I need them to feel are already present in their speaking voice – however, that particular coordination of the vocal cords simply isn’t accessed when they are singing.

First, a little context: our “Right Brain” is where our musical abilities primarily live and so, when we’re singing, that hemisphere is dominant. When we are speaking, our “Left Brain”, or logical side, takes over. Interestingly, research has shown that stroke victims, when robbed of speech due to damage to their Left Hemisphere, can often be taught to use the singing ability still intact in their Right Hemisphere to communicate their needs – even while they are still unable to form spoken words. (Click here for article).

By using a spoken sound (with pitches ranging in the mix voice area) that is easy and free of strain, and technically in a mix coordination, I can take a voice through steps that incrementally build a pathway between the Left and Right Hemispheres of the brain, until they are able to physically coordinate that range in the same way, regardless of their dominant area of the brain. Sometimes, by the end of a first voice lesson, I can have someone singing strong in their mix voice for the first time.

I have to be sneaky about this “short-cut” in order to build a neural pathway between the two hemispheres. The nervous system will always resist the change at first because the brain’s job is to keep the status quo: when the brain senses we are trying to make changes to it’s neural programming, it will momentarily sabotage our efforts in defense of what it’s used to. My strategy is to go back and forth between spoken and sung sounds until they are able to make the same sounds in both contexts. These singers are always surprised to find just how easy and effortless it feels to sing in mix if they’ve never done it before. Then, since most singers assume (wrongly) that singing beyond chest voice has to involve a lot of strain and effort, I spend a lot of time affirming through vocal exercises that the strong, yet “too easy” sound is the right one.

This is not a trick I can use with every singer but I am surprised just how many people it works for – and I will say that it tends to work a little more often with female voices than with male voices. (There are reasons for this – send me an email if you’re curious).

There are some singers, of course, who have never experienced a mix coordination in their voice, whether speaking or singing. I, personally, was one of them. I had never spoken or sung pitches beyond my chest-voice that weren’t in a light head voice and so, had to take the long road and spend time building that coordination into my voice from scratch. For those singers like me, there is a very effective – though longer – journey to build a solid mix voice. Consequently, as a side-effect, once I was able to experience a clear, easy sound beyond my chest voice I found that my speaking voice became much healthier and I began to use much more vocal range to express myself in daily life.

Whichever path your voice is ready for – whether a short cut or the long way round – a healthy mix-voice is within your reach.

BELT VS MIX

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BELT  VS  MIX

(*To understand the following explanations about Belt and Mix Voice, I would recommend reading my blog explaining “Chest Voice and Head Voice”.)

Whichever style of music you sing, you may have experienced a sensation in your voice where you felt you had to push your “chest” voice (the voice you use to speak with) to it’s limits in order to reach higher pitches. In many musical genres this ability is highly valued and a singer is given much praise for their ability to do this.  They work for years with teachers who train them with techniques to take this type of vocal production to it’s furthest possible extreme. Of course, the ability to belt is a useful skill and there are ways to do it fairly safely – to a point (I’ll cover that in a future post). 

And then there are those voices you hear who seem to be able to effortlessly take this powerful vocal quality up into the stratosphere without breaking a sweat – for example, Barbra Streisand, Josh Groban, Adam Lambert, Patty LaBelle, Beyonce, Pavorotti (OK so he was a little sweaty at times), 

Most people believe that either you have this ability or you don’t. Somehow these effortless voices have a God-given miraculous ability to sing in a gifted way you’ll never possess. In fact this ability is available to most singers if they have the right instruction.   

To simplify, when a voice hits a chest voice “ceiling”, I would refer to that as a “Belt”. When a voice can take a strong, balanced sound effortlessly throughout their range, I call that a “Mix” or “Blended” sound. Now for a more detailed explanation.

BELT

When a voice is coordinating in a true “belt” the vocal cords are attempting to take the chest voice coordination up as high as it can go without allowing the vocal cords to make the switch to a thinner vibrating mass (For further explanation see my “Chest Voice and Head Voice” blog). And when a singer takes it to that limit they will often find that, when they do make the switch, it flips into a falsetto or “heady” sound that is very different from the power of the chest voice.

If you’re a guitarist, imagine trying to play your higher notes all on the bass string – it would only be possible to take the pitch up so high before you’d have to shift up to the next string….but now the shift to the next higher note will be more abrupt because you have to travel so far back down the neck of the instrument. It makes much more sense to make the shift earlier when it’s easier and less abrupt. 

Also, in order for the vocal folds to create higher pitches in chest voice coordination, the Thyroarytenoid (TA) muscles must ad extrinsic muscles (muscles not necessary for healthy vocalizing) to pull and stretch the vocal folds to make them thin enough to make higher pitched sounds. As a result the Larynx (pronounced “LAIR-INKS”, the cartilage that houses the vocal folds) – also known as “Adam’s Apple” and “voice box” – physically starts getting pushed up along with the pitch by those extra muscles. At this point, the only option to keep the note vocalizing in that way is with a lot of volume and a lot of extra muscle strain.

There are also specific ranges of Harmonics this sound production is limited to, commonly leading to a “splatty” tone quality.

 

MIX

When a voice is coordinating in “Mix”, the vocal folds are making a transition at the top of the chest voice range to a thinner vibrating mass and transitioning to adding the Cricothyroid (CT) muscles around those shifts known as “bridges” or “passaggi” while maintaining a similar “closed quotient” to the chest voice resonance (*see “Closed Quotient” explanation below).

This is different than head voice because, rather than an abrupt switch (known sometimes as a “vocal flip” or yodel) from TA muscles (chest) to CT muscles (head), this is more of a gradual hand-off, allowing for a seamless sounding transition.

In an ideal mix there will be no strain present as the singer vocalizes throughout their range: only the action of the vocal cords vibrating and resisting the air.

The larynx should stay neutral, meaning that it should stay comfortably in the middle while vocalizing – not moving up or down with the pitch. (Take a moment to find your larynx with your fingers – if you swallow you’ll feel it moving up, if you yawn you’ll feel it move down. Now say the sound “ahh” from a low pitch to a high pitch and back again. Does your larynx move up and down with the pitches?).

The transition from chest to mix means that the resonance, while starting in the mouth will begin to move behind the soft palate (where your uvula hangs) causing you to experience a phenomenon known as “split resonance” – where the resonance sensation is felt both in chest and head voices at the same time. 

This type of sound production also creates the possibility for more Harmonic range, allowing more “warmth” and fullness to the sound.

 

Most people need guidance finding their Mix Voice. I highly recommend finding a voice instructor who has the skills to walk you through the process. I will describe some of the steps to finding mix in an upcoming blog but can’t recommend enough that you find an instructor who has the tools to get you there correctly. Everyone comes with their own unique set of vocal issues and there may be some work to do before your voice is ready for this step.

 

*Open Quotient/Closed Quotient
The vocal cords are attached at one end, like a “V”, and vibrate quickly together while resisting air pressure from the lungs to create what we hear as pitch. Like when you pull the end of a balloon together with your fingers and gradually allow air to escape the balloon, creating that high-pitched, “eeeeee” sound. (Interesting aside, that is how your vocal cords sound all on their own, without your throat and mouth as resonating spaces). The greater percentage of time the vocal folds stay closed between vibrations – the more air is resisted – the clearer the vocalized sound is (Closed Quotient). The lesser percentage of time the vocal folds stay closed between vibrations, – the more air escapes – the “breathier” or more air is heard in the sound (Open Quotient).  

 

Chest Voice and Head Voice

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CHEST VOICE AND HEAD VOICE

Two of the most commonly used term in singing circles are “Chest Voice” and “Head Voice”. If you aren’t exactly sure what that means, here’s an explanation.

First we should address some basics. 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 along their length, while resisting air from the lungs, to create pitch. (See link below to view video of vocal cords in action). The higher the pitch, the more frequently the vocal folds are coming together.

Female singing voices range from around 175 Hz up to 2200 Hz and Male singing voices range from around 100 Hz to 800 Hz (depending on voice type). 

When a singer is vocalizing in their chest voice the vocal cords are using their thickest width to create the pitches in that register. Then, at a certain point, the vocal cords have to make a physical shift to reducing the vibrating mass and thickness to create higher pitches. What that means is that the vibrating portion of the vocal folds that is involved in creating the pitch must thin out as the pitches get higher.

Think about how you change pitch with a rubber band. The lower the desired note, the thicker the vibrating mass of the band will be; the higher the desire pitch, the more you will stretch the band. Similarly, the voice needs to make a shift to a thinner coordination in the vocal folds as the pitch ascends. When it comes to bridging from chest to head voice think of the same rubber band experiment: except that you can only stretch the rubber band so far before you hit a limit or break the band (top of your chest voice).  Now stretch the rubber band, but this time, place one finger in the middle of the stretched portion and play the pitch.  Now you’ve “bridged” the band and suddenly have many more higher pitches available without over-straining the vibrating mass. Do this earlier and you eliminate the chances of breaking the rubber band – or straining your voice.

All voices need to make these transitions multiple times (once you get past your chest voice range, these “bridges/passagi/transitions” happen approx every 4th or augmented 4th until the end of your vocal range).

CHEST VOICE

Simplified Explanation: 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 you percieve a resonating sensation between your throat and chest? That’s your Chest Voice. 

Technical Explanation: When a singer is vocalizing in their chest voice range the vocal cords are using their thickest width to create the pitches in that register, engaging more of the “Thyroarytenoid” or “TA” muscle group. 

 

HEAD VOICE

Simplified Explanation: The head voice is a more “released” sound. Try saying an enthusiastic cheer: “Woo-hoo!!”. Did you feel how that was different from the chest voice sound and felt like the resonance sensation shifted to the top of your head? This is your Head Voice.

Technical Explanation: When a singer is vocalizing in their head voice range the vocal folds are primarily using the “Crycothyroid” or “CT” muscle group. Any vocalized sound above your Chest Voice (barring Falsetto and Whistle Tone) is your Head Voice.

 

The first transition/bridge/passagio, between chest and head voice, generally happens around an E4-F#4 above middle C4 for men and around an Ab4-Bb4 above middle C4 for women.  Every singer I’ve ever encountered in my studio struggles at the beginning with either their first or their second bridge (Ab4-Bb4 for men, D5-E5 for women), though the first bridge transition is the most common struggle. 

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 Voice” – which is just that: a comfortable mix of the elements of chest voice and head voice. To learn more about Mix, visit for my 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.

Vocal Cords in Action