subject: All About Head Voice [print this page] All singers have a vocal scale that's figured out by age, genetics, and training. There is a point in each singer's assortment where they switch from their more powerful chest voice to their airier head voice.
A few singers have a fairly weak head voice. This is mainly true of new singers who haven't be trained how to put the most power behind their head voice. Fortunately, there are plenty of tips for giving your head voice much better tone and richness:
Tip 1: Find a Realistic Head Voice Range
Everyone's head voice has an upper limit. You desire to sing as high as you can with no switching to falsetto. Discovering the normal breaks in your voice will help you sing with a better head voice.
Concentrate to how your throat seems when you sing. Your first break occurs when the notes you sing stop vibrating deep in your throat and start vibrating at the top of your throat or back of the soft palate. This signals a switch to head voice.
Now keep on singing higher. The notes will continue to resonate in your mouth. With one hand on your vocal chords, you will experience the resonating end when you reach falsetto scale. Go back to lower notes inside your head voice scale.
Tip 2: Find Your Middle Voice
Your head voice sounds the bittiest when you first cross over your vocal break. To make the transition smoother, you have to develop your mixed, or middle voice.
The middle voice integrates the chest and head voices to bring you smoothly over those problematic 'break' notes. The only way to develop it is through regular practice.
Try singing the notes right away surrounding your vocal break, using a little less chest voice and a bit more head voice. After one or two days, you will find that the two vocal modes have started to meet somewhere in the middle.
Tip 3: Don't Force the Notes
If you sing high notes in your head voice, don't compel them out; you'll sound whiny or screechy. Instead, modify your breath and volume to get the best tone.
High notes usually don't require as much air as you'd think. In fact, too much air exhaled too forcefully can give you a too-sharp tone. Try getting a deep breath and allowing it out slowly as you exhale the high notes.
Since high notes carry, you shouldn't need to put as much volume behind them as you make lower notes. If you have to yell to reach the top of your range, go back and practice expanding your vocal scale.
Tip 4: Stay Loose
Pressure of any kind can really affect the way your notes sound. If you're too tighten, your head voice notes might squeak out in an unbecoming way.
Body tension and vocal tension are closely similar, so spend some time stretching your body and relaxing before you perform. If you're worried about your performance, try doing yoga exercise or another enjoyable activity that eases the mind.
Stretch your arms, shoulders, upper and lower back. Do head rolls and shoulder shrugs to get the tension out of those areas. Side-bends and toe-touches are also good exercises for loosening up.
Stay your vocal chords loose and flexible by warming up before any practice and performance. The more you use them, the better they will sound, particularly when you're singing in your head voice.
Tip 5: Protect Your Health
Sick singers certainly not sound their best, but colds and sinus infections affect your head voice possibly more than your chest voice. Have your head clear to avoid a crackly, nasal-sounding head voice.
Drink enough fluids, and avoid caffeine and dairy products on the day of your performance. Caffeine can cause tension and dehydration, while dairy can cause too much phlegm production.
With these tricks up your sleeve, you'll soon improve a smooth, mellow head voice that's wonderful to listen!
