Things To Know About Head Voice
Almost singers have a vocal scale that’s determined by age, genetics, and training. There is some extent in each singer’s assortment where they toggle from their more powerful chest voice to their airier head voice.
Some singers have a fairly weak head voice. This is especially 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 better tone and richness:
Tip 1: Find a Realistic Head Voice Range
Everyone’s head voice has an upper limit. You want to sing as high as you can without switching to falsetto. Identifying the natural breaks in your voice will help you sing with a better head voice.
Pay attention to how your throat feels when you sing. Your first break occurs when the notes you sing end vibrating deep in your throat and start resonating at the top of your throat or back of the soft palate. This signs a switch to head voice.
Now continue singing higher. The notes will carry on to resonate in your mouth. With one hand on your vocal chords, you will feel the vibrating stop when you reach falsetto scale. Go back to lower notes inside your head voice range.
Tip 2: Find Your Middle Voice
Your head voice sounds the worst when you first cross over your vocal break. To do the transition smoother, you have to develop your mixed, or middle voice.
The middle voice integrates the chest and head voices to take you smoothly over those problematic ‘break’ notes. The only way to expand it is through regular practice.
Try singing the notes immediately surrounding your vocal break, using slightly less chest voice and a bit more head voice. After a few 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. Rather, modify your breath and volume to find the best tone.
High notes usually don’t require as much air as you’d think. In fact, excessive air exhaled too forcefully can give you a too-sharp tone. Try taking a deep breath and allowing it out slowly as you exhale the high notes.
Since high notes carry, you shouldn’t have to put as much volume behind them as you make lower notes. If you have to yell to hit the top of your range, go back and practice expanding your vocal range.
Tip 4: Stay Loose
Pressure of any kind can truly affect the way your notes sound. If you’re too tighten, your head voice notes might screech out in an awkward way.
Body pressure and vocal strain are closely related, so spend some time stretching your body and relaxing before you perform. If you’re worried about your performance, try doing yoga or another enjoyable activity that facilitates the mind.
Extend 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.
Keep your vocal chords loose and flexible by warming up before every 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 influence your head voice even more than your chest voice. Have your head clear to prevent a crackly, nasal-sounding head voice.
Drink enough water, and avoid caffeine and dairy products on the day of your performance. Caffeine can cause strain and dehydration, while dairy can cause excess phlegm production.
With these tricks up your sleeve, you’ll soon improve a smooth, mellow head voice that’s wonderful to listen!
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