subject: What Is The Difference Between Head Voice And Falsetto Singing? [print this page] Singing is more than an artistic expression or vocal talent. Its also a craft that requires nurturing and knowledge. It also requires training your voice and body to have the proper form necessary to sing at your best.
A common misperception is that head voice is synonymous with singing falsetto. Its not. One clue is to look at the etymology for the word Falsetto: It comes from the Italian word for false voice. Thats because to produce that range the vocal cords have to be stretched to the max, causing only the edges to vibrate instead of the entire cord. In the 16th and 17 centuries, women were not allowed to sing in churches so castrated men took their place, singing womens parts with their false voice.
In modern times, falsetto refers to a style of singing and is defined as the lightest vocal sound reached by the human voice. Because its an extreme range it falsettos are inherently weak and tonally limited. While your vocal cords may be moving, the muscles controlling them are barely engaged. Thats why a falsetto lacks resonance and has a breathy or wispy quality.
Head voice refers to a technique where the upper range of the voice is used when singing. Anatomically speaking, the vocal cords remain in contact with each other to create head voice which is why it sounds more robust than falsetto. The tone literally resonates in the head and singers report they can feel the actual vibrations.
The term head voice was coined sometime around the 13th century to distinguish it from chest voice used to describe singing in lower pitches, produced when vocal cords vibrate though their entire length and depth and throat singing, also known as overtone singing, which is a technique for producing melody by manipulating the throat and mouth while exhaling using the diaphragm. Some singers can use overtone singing to produce two or more clearly audible tones simultaneously.
Learning to sing head voice usually requires a vocal training program that teaches properly use of the vocal muscles involved.
