The Vocal Studio - Vocal FAQs & Myths

My voice cracks when I sing higher. What is happening and is there anyway to get rid of the 'break' in my voice?

All that has happened is that you've reached a bridge, where resonation must shift from one area of your body to the next. But because your vocal cords are not yet coordinated to stay adducted through the passage area, the "crack" or "flip" you are experiencing is a disconnection from your chest voice into falsetto or chest to head. Reaching for higher notes to avoid 'breaking' will only exacerbate the problem since this blasts even more air through the vocal folds while attempting to stretch them beyond what is healthy. Imagine leaving your car in 1st gear while attempting to accelerate to 50 m.p.h. This will eventually blow the engine. Similarly, pulling your chest voice up can eventually lead to a host of vocal problems such as vocal strain, hoarseness, nodules, and even the loss of your upper range altogether.

To smooth out the "break" you must learn to develop a "mix", which is a blend of chest and head registers. With practice your vocal cords can learn to coordinate the amount of air required to keep them vibrating and adducted so there is no audible shift in resonation. You will still feel the transition take place inside your body, but the audience will only hear a full, strong, and connected sound.

What is the difference between "head voice" and "falsetto"? Do women have a falsetto?

Although many people use these terms interchangeably, they are both physically different processes that occur within the larynx. Both men and women have a head voice as well as falsetto. During speech, the vocal cords naturally adduct and vibrate at their full length. When a singer ascends from their speaking chest voice into their head voice, the vocal cords shorten in vibrating length as sound waves begin to travel more and more behind the soft palate, resonating in the head cavity. When done correctly there is no sudden shift in tone production because the vocal cords are staying adducted while the singer crosses the bridge into their head voice.

Falsetto is the maximal elongation of vocal cords with minimal glottic gap. It can be produced at almost any frequency, but is mostly produced in the upper range for both male and female voices. It is the uncontrolled breathy or whistly sound that results from the vocal cords separating and most often occurs when a singer has not learned to coordinate their vocal cords to stay closing between registers. As a result, too much air forces the vocal cords apart, creating a "break." During falsetto the vocal cords are actually bowed apart and are unable to blend with chest voice, making it impractical to use except for special vocal stylings. While falsetto is sometimes used for style (such as in yodeling), most of the time it either occurs accidentally or as a stylistic means to disguise the singer's inability to coordinate their vocal cords between registers.

I've been taught to only sing in my chest voice because head voice is not part of the "real voice." Is this true?

No, this is not true. It is unfortunate that many singers are taught to push their chest voice as high as possible. Not only will it eventually lead to vocal strain and damage over time, but the singer is limited to using only a small portion of their range. The reason singers are often taught to pull chest is because today's demanding styles such as pop or musical theatre require a fuller and stronger sound. Yet many teachers do not adequately understand how the natural bridges of the voice work, nor are they equipped to guide their students to coordinate their vocal cords through the passage areas. As a result, singers are often taught to sing exclusively in chest voice and basically yell for all their higher notes. The solution, as given before, is to develop a strong "mix" so there is no audible shift between registers.

I'm a classical singer and have been trained to always sing in my head voice. Do you recommend this?

No, I do not recommend this type of technique for several reasons. Singing exclusively in head voice is just as damaging to the vocal cords as pulling chest, but in the other direction. This happens when a singer is descending from head voice down below the first bridge yet does not allow the vocal cords to adjust back to their full vibrating length. Rather than connecting to their speaking chest voice, the vocal cords just get looser and looser as they descend, blowing excessive air past the vocal folds. Although the singer is able to avoid 'breaking,' there will never be any power or depth to their voice since they are unable to connect with their chest voice. This will only limit the singer in their vocal style and choice of repretoir.

Imagine playing on the 12th fret of the guitar, and then choosing to loosen the string by unwinding the tuning peg in order to achieve a lower pitch. The string will just get looser and looser until it eventually wobbles. It would be much more productive to lower the pitch by simply lifting the fingers and 'unfretting' the guitar. A very similar thing happens when the vocal cords are forced to get looser and looser while attempting to achieve a lower pitch for singing. Because the muscles which keep the vocal cords taut for chest voice are not used, over time the voice will eventually develop a wobble. The vocal cords no longer have the strength to stay adducted. This is why you'll sometimes hear old ladies in church sing with a wobble. The truth is, the voice that you speak with should also be the voice that you sing with.

Do I need to learn special breathing techniques? Right now I keep running out of breath before the end of phrases.

While it is essential to have enough air to produce the desired sound when singing, most teachers over-emphasise breathing without addressing the underlying issue, which is vocal cord adduction. Imagine going to the gas station every day to pump up the tires of your car, only to find yourself frusterated that they've gone flat again by the end of the day. You could choose to blame the gas station for failing to provide your tires with enough air, or you could address the real problem, which is a hole in the tire.

Similarly, if the vocal cords are separated and not staying adducted, air wastage occurs and all the breath support in the world will not alleviate the problem. The problem is not a lack of breath support but rather air escaping from separated vocal cords. In fact, too much air can be just as damaging as too little air. Since you don't consciously spend additional time focusing on a slow, continual release of air when speaking, why would you do this for singing? Singing should be as natural and easy as speaking. As long as the vocal cords stay adducted like they naturally do when speaking, you will have all the breath you need and air wastage will not occur because you will actually be using less air. Proper tone support occurs automatically when the right amount of air is balanced with the right amount of muscle for the vocal cords to adust smoothly within the larynx.

Unless I see a student with poor posture or raising their chest during inhalation, I spend very little time focusing on breathing. This is because the diaphragm is an involuntary muscle which automatically regulates the proper amount of air required for vocal production, just as it naturally does this when speaking. This does not require any additional conscious effort. In other words, breath support is a byproduct of good vocal technique rather than a means to it.

I've been told that in order to develop proper vocal technique, I must first study classical singing. Is this true?

Not at all. In fact, the truth is that all styles including classical have nuances that deviate from proper vocal technique in one way or another. Classical tends to be over-hooty and singers are often taught to bring their head voice down so low that there is no connection to chest voice. Country singing tends to be over nasally, while yodeling is characterized by flipping from chest into falsetto and back - the exact opposite of what we work to achieve during vocal development. One of the primary purposes of good vocal technique should be equipping the singer with a method that facilitates freedom to sing in a variety of styles - be it pop, gospel, R&B, jazz, country, rock, or classical. The singer should be able to choose their vocal style based on artistic preferences, not vocal limitations.