When am I in Head Voice and When am I in Falsetto?
This is a question I receive almost everyday.
Inside this video I’ll define both head voice and falsetto and show you how you can
know whether you’re in falsetto or whether you’re in head voice when you sing.
Hi, I’m Chuck Gilmore with Power To Sing.
I ‘ll define falsetto as a disconnected tone.
You can be in falsetto on high, medium and some low notes.
And you can be connected on low notes and break into falsetto.
However, the pitch will change to a higher pitch when you do.
However, you can only bring falsetto down from high pitches to somewhere around A3 (Thats
the A below Middle C) before it must transition back into chest voice.
If you do it loud or hard it’s not a smooth transition.
It’s a real clunk or break-like feeling back into chest voice.
When you’re in falsetto the vocal cords come together with just the outer edges.
They barely touch together as you sing.
As a result more air escapes through the vocal cords.
Please watch theses videos, for more about falsetto and head voice.
In contrast, head voice is a connected tone.
The vocal cords are coming together with more of the edges touching deeper into each other.
The result is that the tone, being already a connected tone, does not have to reconnect
into chest.
Since it’s already connected it blends smoothly into chest voice.
Proper embouchure which allows brass players to play their instrument could be compared
to head voice.
Without the proper embouchure too much air escapes and it’s difficult to generate sound
waves.
With too little vocal cord making vibration, there’s too much air passing through the
vocal cords which causes an imbalance between the air and vocal cord muscle.
The results is a breathy, airy tone which can get louder to a certain point, but lacks
deeper overtones.
If we are unable to bridge and transition into head voice, we pull the chest voice higher
and higher until it breaks into falsetto.
Why is it often hard to tell just by listening to the sound whether you’re in falsetto
or head voice?
It’s hard because head voice and falsetto resonate in the same place...in the head cavities.
However, falsetto is a disconnected tone with very little cord participating in the sound
making.
Whereas head voice is a connected tone with more of the vocal cord making sound but less
air flow balancing with the vocal cords enables me to do it softly.
Also, Head voice and falsetto can both feel very released without tension or reach.
It can be confusing to us at first, because they actually feel similarly easy and light.
Through the years I’ve learned to feel the difference between the connected tone with
more vocal cord versus the disconnected tone with very little vocal cord.
For example if I yodel, first my cords are connected then I disconnect them into falsetto.
I’ll try it on different pitches.
It’s easy for me to demonstrate a yodel in chest voice.
You can really hear the disconnection.
It’s harder for me to demonstrate a yodel in mix and head voice.
I have a hard time doing it loud enough for you to hear.
But I can feel it disconnect into falsetto.
(I don’t know if I can disconnect and get back into mix.
I can disconnect but you can’t tell)
We’ve already touched on this, but if you are still confused, sustain the note above
your first bridge in question and bring it down into chest firmly on “oh” until it
either blends into chest or it clunks as it reconnects into chest.
If it blended smoothly, you were in connected head voice.
If it clunked or broke back into chest, you were in falsetto.
Keep in mind it is possible to break but reconnect into head voice.
However, if you’re experiencing this, it’s likely the larynx is rising which causes the
cords to slip into falsetto and the tone disconnect.
Do you know your vocal type?
Your vocal type tells you what you tend to do as you sing through the first bridge of
your voice.
If you pull chest or flip into falsetto or are too light, you will always be dealing
with breaking into falsetto and struggling to develop a strong head voice.
Go to PowerToSing.com and take the vocal test, which I call the PowerTest.
Take the quiz and discover your vocal type.
Then visit the Knowledge Center and watch the videos about your vocal type.
Download the free exercises and start practicing them.
They’re designed to help you learn to bridge, which will enable you to sing into your head
voice without using falsetto.
If you liked this video, give it a thumbs up, subscribe and share it with a friend.
In the comment section below, I’d love to hear how you’ve learned to tell the difference
between falsetto and head voice.
Also, be sure to follow Power To Sing on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Links are also included on Power To Sing’s Youtube Homepage and at PowerToSing.com.
I’m Chuck Gilmore with Power To Sing.
You can sing higher with beauty, confidence and power.
I’ll see you inside the next video.
Subtitles by the Amara.org community