Beginning Head Voice training and alternating chest every other day- but lost chest voice power 1st

BobbyDee77

I am just beginning Head Voice after 6 weeks of Volume 3 trainin. I know I will alternate chest voice and head voice training every other day. I have an issue after my 1st head voice session.

After the 1st head voice session, I lost all the power I had in my chest voice for 4 days. I think I have it back, thank God, so it doesn't look like it's a long term set back. I was amazed at what happened- nothing hurt at all, but it felt like my adams apple was "higher" and stayed that way a few days- even my speaking voice was higher- like i sucked on mild helium or something, lol. To be honest- if head voice messes up my chest voice/power- I would rather not bother with it at all. However- I believe that is still a big part of the entire program- so I have to do it, but now I am REALLY leery of it. So let's see where I went wrong.

I did the head voice along with Ken's examples. I did exactly the way he does it, and maybe that's my problem. I did it in the fullness and volume he does it, and not light at all- what Ken was doing, I was doing. My throat didn't hurt at all, but my adams apple really felt "higher" when I was done and felt like IT gota real worout. Again- no pain at all- but goodbye chest voice for 4 days, and I really got worried. So- since I am brand new moving into the head voice training, how should I proceed?

I know to to use my support and hold back the air- no techniques change...so should I not do what Ken is doing and go very light- almost falsetto? I am serious- I am afraid to even try head voice again- I like where I was getting without it. I don't want a long set back. Was trying it at Kens volume and intensity where I went wrong- too early for that? If I go light, will my chest voice be ok as I alternate days between chest and head training?

Thanks for your instructions/guidance as usual.

highmtn

My recommendation is that you go back and make sure your chest voice is in good shape first. Then very lightly begin to do the head voice exercises. Maybe even just start doing one or two head voice exercises (lightly) per day, and adding as you go along, until you can incorporate the whole head voice group of exercises.

You have built this robust chest voice. The head voice is going to compete for some of the same real estate on your cords, and it can be confusing for your voice to go from one to the other, all of a sudden. AND, it's really easy to overdo the head voice exercises, especially when you first do them. You want to sing as high as Ken does, so if it doesn't come right away, we have a tendency to PUSH to get to those notes. Better to skip the first, highest notes than to blast them out. That can cause the cords to swell, and take a few days to recover. And you want to keep your upper chest voice functional. Ken says that the really high, timbral head voice will "tear" at your upper mid-chest notes. It's that "now what do I do" confusion that has you unsure what to do on those upper notes.

Also, it will take some time to build some stamina in that upper range area, and you want to do so in a gentle manner. So time is a factor, too.

If you can "grow" into the head notes rather than belt them out in the beginning, you should have fewer issues. Learn to make the notes smaller first, then grow them. That will be less of a shock to your system, and produce a smoother learning curve. The goal is, of course, to get to the point where you can belt and wail on those high notes. But your voice isn't ready for that yet. It will be, if you can take careful, measured approaches to this. The value of this extended head voice will be more apparent when you begin to do some mixed voice. That's where the low head voice and the high chest voice will be blending and mixing. But first you need the separate sounds to be a part of your range, before using a little of this one and a little of that one.

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highmtn

Steady as she goes. Proceed with this kind of awareness, and you will get the best results. Just like growing your chest voice notes was a lot of work and took time to develop, so will this phase of the process. Being careful and cautious as you go into new vocal territories will help you to have the least setbacks from overdoing anything. Your new vocal areas are tender and frail until you have gently broken them in and allowed the muscles and tissues to find their place in these new sounds, registers, and ranges. You're re-training your voice, and it's not quite sure what to do yet as you go to these places. Give it time to find the way and for your body to begin to adapt to these vocal placements and weights.

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highmtn

So take every possible note that you can about how to get total recall on that pocket. It's the Holy Grail of singing. The one Ken talks about all the time. It's a matter of getting all of the moving targets in check, and getting the push down while you slowly bring in the belly that creates the perfect compression that doesn't blow out the cords, but makes for great sound. You can lose your grip on that after the first few times you find it, so find as many memory pegs as you possibly can to help you re-create those feelings and those sounds. After really getting them all burned-in to your eproms, you'll be able to recall that setup on command, every time. That's what you want.

The KNOWING HOW. The FEELING of it. The SOUND of it. The FREEDOM of it. The RELIABILITY of it. Match that up with the ability to cut back the air and protect your voice from blowout, and you'll be unstoppable.

You are finding this very quickly. Many have to work at all of Ken's instructions for a while before they have their big AHA moment of getting it all to come together. You're hitting on all twelve cylinders, and you've found it in short order.

Nice work.