Head Voice REPOSTED From Ken's Corner

legacy

I've always had trouble reaching the head voice after doing years of speech level singing. The I finally started to reach those notes when I did the "we we we" excercises in that tenique, but it sounds really breathy and totally different. I'm not sure if this is actual head voice or is instead "falsetto" but I'm guessing the later.

Now that I'm doing Ken's stuff instead I still tend to either 1) do what I always was doing which is do excercises but when I hit the higher notes don't sing those notes but stay low or 2) switch into the really breathy voice which sounds really unnatural.

rayven1lk

hey legacy, i checked out your clip and you're almost connecting, but end up breaking/yodelling. Not to sound discouraging, but I was in the same rut last week and couldn't find the head voice and I took a 3 day break and somehow managed to find it which was a weird/surprising experience...I started seeing my soft pallete rise like crazy and could feel the sound sort of travel from the front of the mouth towards the back...I've yet to make a proper connection though...now that I've found it, I'm doing the scales at really low volumes (and still takes me a while...its a very new feeling to me and it seems like my body's figuring out the required musculature) except for the chest exercises.

The "wee wee wee" part was pretty breathy and I can tell this was the "headvoice" I thought I was doing right before I realized I wasn't using the right technique. Ideally it should sound clear and bright. And on the lower notes try to make it brighter. Not saying you're not, but like Ken says, make it more AHHH!!!!, it never hurts.

Here's a link to a post I created last week where I was going through similar issues. Bob the Man (@highmtn) gave me an excellent answer (Pay attention to the 3rd paragraph):
http://kentamplinvocalacademy.vanillaforums.com/discussion/663/having-trouble-with-the-exercises#latest

I hope you find the voice man...hoping not to sound cliche, but keep at it and you will suddenly get it. (Or maybe take a small break like I did and get back at it)

All the best

alex

Hi Legacy, I just checked out your vocal sample as well.  When I first started taking vocal lessons prior to KTVA from an instructor who didn't ever sing for me, I ran into the exact same frustration over time.  The falsetto/head voice that I once had was literally gone.  Songs like "more than words" that I used to sing so easily were pretty much unsingable because of those falsetto parts.  What I have come to realize with KTVA is that I never really sang them correct from the beginning.  I would virtually have my mouth closed and my chin way out and consequently on any given day my singing could be on or off.  Not sure if any of this pertains to you but what I have found is that by singing the same light falsetto but with an open throat and a bright "smile" and wide face I have been able to sing falsetto with far better pitch and consistency than before I "lost it".  It's really easy to want to sort of speak a lyric with a closed mouth and throat especially when it's a soft note but all singing is created equal and needs the same open throad and brighness.  Hope this helps!

alex

Ken Tamplin

Hi Legacy,

This is a classic" example of what I have been saying about SLS. (where bringing the head voice down into the mid and upper mid voice chest registers "favoring or pampering" the chest mid voice which over time causes it to atrophy and weaken (or in many cases disappear altogether and then the voice automatically "flips" into head voice uncontrollably).

All is not lost.

I hear a defnite lack of support in your workout. Focus on this first. (hard)

Then, instead of a scale, use a portamento slope to get to the notes staying with the same key as the current scales. Monitor "what it's going to take" to maintain open throat but push a little (not a lot...a little) to keep the voice from flipping. You will notice that little by little your upper mid voice will start to come back a note at a time.

I deal with this a LOT also in another context with sopranos. Often in classical music, there is so much emphasis placed on the "money note" that conductors are willing to compromise the integrity of the soprano's lower register, encouraging them to predominantly stay in head voice. The same problem occurs. Their belting chest register atrophies and and becomes very weak so they too "flip" into head because of this.

I have an exercise tha REALLY helps with this but is not one I can explain here. I will try to remember to demonstrate it in my next webinar. Be watching out for this.

 

kevin

Hi Legacy,
I just joined these forums and I listened to your sample. What I'm hearing is tension in the vocal tract. Pitch is off, which means lack of proper support and tension. My advice is to do this exercise VERY slowly without the exercise track and feell your way from one note to the next paying attention to how much support is needed to hold each note in place.

What throws a lot of singers is the fact that different notes require slightly different ratios of support and glottal compression (focus) at the vocal folds. Its a delicate balance of finding how much of each is needed to balance the note. You are essentially tight rope walking along, feeling your feet on the rope with each step.

As you ascend from chest resonance into the mix of chest & head, the ratios will change slightly and change again as you ascend into a more pure head resonance sound. Everything with the voice is "nudges" because we're working within a VERY small area of space. So don't stomp on anything, only nudge it in place.

Its also helpful to place your hand on the sides of your waist and feel it expand as you sing. Keep that outward press of the waistline as you sing each part of the scale. This will help you lock the compression in at the glottis.

legacy

Here's the audio demo

legacy

don't see my upload so here's a link:

 

http://soundcloud.com/doctororg/vocal-demo