Singing with a mixed voice enables you to sing higher with confidence and power.
Inside this video I’ll show you how to eliminate three obstacles preventing you from mixing.
By the end of this video you’ll know exactly how to get mixed voice in your singing.
Hi, I’m Chuck Gilmore, International Vocal Coach and founder of Power To Sing.
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Learning how to get mixed voice in your singing can be confusing and discouraging.
Here are THE THREE REASONS why so many can not get mix in their voices and what you can
do to eliminate them and make faster progress.
This is a technique which has worked for me, my students and THOUSANDS OF singers worldwide
AND it will work for you.
The following are things singers tend to do when they sing from chest voice, through the
first bridge, and into head voice.
This “tendency” may occur without the singer realizing it’s happening.
Or, in my case, this was the only way I could eek out a few high notes.
1.
Pulled Chest - High Larynx When you sing from chest to head voice, many
singers stay in chest voice too long...or never leave chest voice at all.
They sing higher and higher while using the vocal coordination they use on low notes.[demo]
This is hard to do.
Often you see their faces getting red, their necks tensing up, their voices getting louder
and more strident and their words and vowels becoming splatty and distorted.
This is called Pulled Chest.
[Demo]
In combination with this, the larynx rises higher and higher and the tension increases.
It’s as if the larynx is in swallowing mode, it’s position when you swallow.
This is called High Larynx.
It makes singing very difficult.
There are many reasons the larynx rises higher than normal including illness, breathiness,
tension and stress.
Pulled Chest - High Larynx is extremely common and is my personal “tends to”.
2.
Light Chest - No Chest Some singer’s vocal cords don’t come together
firmly enough to stop an air leak.
So they have an airy, breathy sound because too much air is escaping between the vocal
cords.
I compare it to closing my eyes.
Remember when you were little and were pretending to be asleep...and you wanted to see what
was going on, but still look like you were sleeping.
You would just barely open your eyes and see just a little bit without really opening them
wide.
Compare your partially opened eyes to the vocal cords that produce a breathy, airy,
light voice.
Like your eyes that let light in, the cords are letting too much air out.
They’re not closing firmly enough for an optimal balance between the air and vocal
cord muscle.
There’s too much air escaping...to little firmness in the adducting (coming together)
of the cords.
If vocal cord muscle and air were on a teeter-totter, the vocal cords would be high up on one side
and the air would be on the ground on the other side...too much air with too little
vocal cord muscle.
This results in a breathy, airy, light vocal tone.
You might run out of air quickly.
Often the singer is hard to hear and struggles to increase volume.
[demo]
Light Chest - No Chest is common in younger children, especially if they identify as being
shy.
Some adults who have a soft or quiet speaking voice will also sing this way.
Surprisingly, even singers who speak normally with a good balance of air and muscle, when
they start singing, relax their cords and allow too much air to escape.
[demo abc]
This “tends to” in singers is easily corrected physically.
However, it can also be a tremendous challenge emotionally, if they identify as quiet, shy
or soft spoken.
3.
Flip - Falsetto Some singers disconnect the tone as they sing
from chest to head voice.
This disconnected tone is called a false voice...or falsetto.
Sometimes you can hear the tone disconnect abruptly...usually because the larynx is rising
and chest voice is being pulled up.
In this case, the cause of the flip or crack into falsetto is a Pulled Chest - High Larynx.[demo]
However, in many cases the singer avoids pulling up chest or cracking by disconnecting the
tone early or by always singing in falsetto.
This helps them to avoid having any cracks, breaks, and pulled up chest.
When the singer lets go there’s no pulled chest nor audible break or flip.
They just disconnect into falsetto.
Some singers use the flip as the way to transition from chest to head.
[demo] There’s no pull or continual high larynx.
They just flip into falsetto so they can get the high notes.
Many learn to hide the sound of reconnecting into chest voice [demo]…or they stay in
falsetto and don’t use chest voice all at as they sing lower.
This causes the voice to fade out as they sing lower into chest voice.
[demo]
Pulled Chest - High Larynx, Light Chest - No Chest, Flip - Falsetto all describe what our
voices tend to do as we sing from chest voice, through the passaggio or bridge, into head
voice.
These tendencies are called Vocal Types.
These three Vocal Types prevent us from getting mixed voice.
If you pulled the chest voice into the bridge and the larynx comes up, you are not able
to mix.
You are just pulling chest voice higher.
[demo]
If you have little to no chest voice as you sing higher into head voice, you have no chest
voice to mix with head voice.
[demo]
Yes, it can be “termed” a mixed voice.
But practically speaking, the tone will be ten parts air to one part muscle and will
be so light and breathy, no one will hear it anyway.
That’s not the objective nor the power of mixed voice.
Whether you flip or disconnect your tone into falsetto, there is nothing to mix in the bridge.
There’s no chest or head tone.
Just disconnected falsetto which limits your vocal power and diminishes the full spectrum
of vocal tones you could have with a mix and connected head voice.[demo]
Each of these vocal types prevent you from mixing.
If you’re struggling, it’s because one of these vocal types is still present to a
greater or lesser degree.
YOU MAY HAVE ELEMENTS OF ALL THREE OF THESE IN YOUR VOICE.
HOWEVER, ONE OF THEM IS THE PREDOMINANT VOCAL TYPE IN YOUR VOICE.
Focus on this first!
Which one do you think you are?
Let me know in the comments below.
How do you eliminate your tendency and start mixing?
How do you stop pulling chest and raising the larynx?
How do you get a balance of air and vocal cord?
How do you stop flipping or letting go into falsetto?
First discover your vocal type.
How?
Download the Free PDF, Get Your Vocal Type.
Get it here or in the Description below this Youtube video.
Take the vocal test, which I call the PowerTest, and discover your vocal type.
Watch the videos about your vocal type.
These videos explain your vocal type and demonstrate vocal exercises designed to help you start
mixing.
Then download the vocal exercises and start practicing them.
Do them as I’ve demonstrated.
These exercises will help you stop pulling chest, stop the air leaks, stop the breaking
into falsetto and start mixing through the first bridge or passaggio.
If you discover your vocal type is Mix, download the exercises for Mix.
They will further challenge and develop your mixed voice.
Your range will increase, your tone will improve and your voice will get more powerful.
With exercises for your vocal type, you know you’ll be doing exercises that will help
you improve faster than exercises that have no purpose or focus.
These exercises will help you get mixed voice working in your voice.
Do them at least once a day.
Twice a day is fine too.
Do them exactly as demonstrated and on the same notes.
Guys...don’t drop an octave lower.
You’ll waste your time if you do that.
You cannot develop your mix voice just practicing in chest.
Get your Free PDF, “Get Your Vocal Type”, and get going.
There’s nothing that can hold you back.
Every exercise will bring you closer to getting mixed voice.
IF YOU LIKED THIS VIDEO, PLEASE LET ME KNOW BY LIKING IT BELOW, SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE IT
WITH YOUR FELLOW singers.
Which vocal type do you think you are?
Tell me now in the comments below.
Also, If you want to join a community of singers just like you, I have a Facebook page, Power
To Sing, where I share up to date singing advice to help you succeed with your voice.
In addition, be sure to join me on Twitter and Instagram @powertosing.
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.