A Quick Intro to Speech Level Singing

Basically, if the larynx stays down and the vocal cords stay together from the very bottom of the vocal range to the very top everything is fine. This also applies to all vowel and consonant combinations through out any phrase. If at any point the larynx jumps up or down or the tone becomes breathy then there is something wrong with the vocal process.

The larynx is the big bump in the middle of the neck just below the chin. This houses the vocal cords and controls the process of swallowing. When the larynx moves up, the muscles around the cords act as a sphinchter and closes so as to prevent swallowing down the wind pipe and into the lungs. This is a very important process when you need to swallow, but it is a very poor process when you are trying to sing. If you place your hand on your larynx and yawn, you will find that you can bring your larynx down as well. This is a good way to learn what it feels like to have the larynx stay down. The end goal here is to be able to keep the larynx from moving down as well as up. It should stay completely still as you ascend and descend.

The vocal cords, also known as vocal folds, are a pair of soft tissue cords that are joined at the front of the larynx and extend back. When they close, the back end of the cords come together (connect), and the flow of air is temporarily stopped. When the pressure of air from the diaphram overcomes the pressure of the muscles holding the cords together, they are blown apart and sound is made when they close again due to the resonation created. Then once again the air pressure overcomes the muscle pressure and the process begins again. If a singer is singing an A above middle C, this process happens 440 times every second.

The pitch A above middle C vibrates 440 times per second. That is very fast and it is somewhat difficult to see this process happen even if you can see down the singer throat. Since the invention of the strobescopy it has become easier to view the vocal cord resonation process. If the vocal cords begin to come apart, the tone becomes breathy and the muscles around the outside of the larynx begin to tense. This becomes what is called a constricted phonation and is quite harmful for the voice.

This is a very brief and condensed version of what happens when you sing, there is obviously a lot more going on. But, to give you an idea of what is correct, take these two ideas and while you are singing, monitor them. See if you can keep your larynx still and your cords together. You will probably find that there is a certain area of your voice that is easy for you to accomplish this, and certain points of your voice that are more difficult. These harder areas are called bridges, and to find out more about those continue browsing this site.

Defining Bridges

A bridge is a spot where resonation shifts from one area of your body to another (for example, from your chest to your head). Another term for a bridge is the Italian word for passage, passaggi (passaggio when plural). When you hear the word passaggi, you are hearing a reference to bridges.

Knowing where your bridges are can really help you smooth out the resonation from one area of your body to the next. Bridges take place in different spots for men and women, but they are fairly universal within a gender. There are exceptions within a gender when a singer has an especially thick or thin voice; the result is that the bridges shift up or down. For the purpose of this article, I'm going to talk about where the bridges are for most singers.

We will deal with four areas of resonation: the first is chest voice, the second is mix voice, the third is head voice, and the final is super head voice. All combine to create one full voice.

Men's Bridges

Men, with the exception of basses or dramatic baritones, start their first bridge at E-flat above a keyboard's middle C. This is the first note in the mixing or blending area of the voice (a blend of chest voice and head voice), and each chromatic move up will transition the voice toward a headier position and sound. The male vocalist will not feel completely in his head voice until an A or B-flat. This is where the second bridge is.

This second bridge goes from A or B-flat above a keyboard's middle C to D above the keyboard's high C.

Throughout this bridge, the male voice is transitioning through head voice and thinning to super head voice, which starts on E-flat. This is the third bridge in the male voice. I've only addressed three bridges for men, but theoretically, there can more. If a male singer is able to keep his larynx down and balance the right amount of air against his vocal cords, he could potentially reach a whistle range and have to deal with a few more bridges.

Women's Bridges

Women's bridges take place in a similar fashion as men's: that is, they exist at a distance of about an augmented-fourth interval. They begin, however, where a man's second bridge is. So generally speaking, a woman's first bridge is on an A or B-flat above a keyboard's middle C.

Next is a woman's chest voice range, and above this, up to a D, is mix voice. Once a female vocalist hits an E-flat (or sometimes an E), she is in head voice. Strictly on a technical level, a woman shouldn't sing completely in head voice until an E-flat. (There are stylistic reasons for wanting to find head sooner when you're ascending, but that's another discussion.)

This area of resonation will continue up to an A or B-flat below a keyboard's double-high C. This third bridge puts the female singer in a super head voice, and she will stay in that until she reaches an E-flat above a keyboard's double-high C.

When singing most songs, women don't need to go much past this fourth bridge, but there are a few more bridges beyond this fourth bridge. Once again, they are at intervals of an augmented fourth above the E-flat above a double-high C: the fifth bridge is on A, and the sixth is on the E-flat above that. These last two areas of resonation are known as the whistle range, and as I stated, most women don't use these areas, but they do exist and can be developed.

Crossing Bridges

You may have heard about vocal-cord adduction and the need to develop good cord closure. I won't address those topics here, but it is essential that the vocal cords stay together as a singer crosses the bridges. I will address instead the process of crossing bridges and the resonating effects of this, and I'll tell you about a few ways to trick your voice into these areas.

As the pitch ascends, sound traveling from the vocal cords shift paths. Chest voice travels to the hard palate and out of the mouth. As the pitch rises and goes over the first bridge, the sound begins to split, going behind the soft palate as well as to the hard palate. This is a balancing act of sorts. If too much sound is traveling in front of the soft palate and out of the mouth, the result will be a wide vowel and what is called pulled chest. A residual result will be a high larynx.

The right balance depends on which note within the mix is being sung. By the time you're completely in head voice, much of the sound will be traveling behind the soft palate before exiting the skull.

Each time a singer reaches a bridge, more sound must pass behind the soft palate and more resonationation within the skull should take place. Singers resist letting sound pass behind the soft palate for a couple of reasons: The first is that they hear the tone bouncing within the skull and feel that it sounds too ringy. They don't realize that the sound they're hearing is not what the audience is hearing. They're picking up this sound through the skull, not from within the room they're singing in. One way to deal with this is to record yourself passing into mix and head voice; then play back what you've recorded. You will hear the difference between how you really sounded and the sound you heard resonating in your head.