The Singer's Forum

[baritonebarito…]

So, I've been singing for about a year. I remember when I couldn't get past E4, but now I can go up to F4 in chest voice, however a lot of the songs I've listened to (RnB) have singers belting up to Bb4 - C5. The highest I have ever belted was B4 in chest voice, but as you know baritones aren't naturally supposed to sing that high in chest voice. When I belt anything above a G4, I sound really loud, shouty and have no control and there's too much strain on my chords.

I've heard about mixed voice and I understand it theoretically. I know that mixed voice itself ISN'T a register, but rather a technique to close the obvious gap between chest voice and head voice. My question is, is there any possible way I can use mixed voice to substitute in for the chest belting (belting in my chest puts too much strain on my throat) without compromising that chesty quality? I want to be able to safely belt an A4-B4 without damaging my vocal cords. Currently, I can only safely access A4-B4 in my head tone, but I hate using my head voice because it's too light and feminine and not chesty or heavy enough for me. For me, I can go up to an F4 in chest quite comfortably and I would like to expand my "chesty notes" up to at least an Bb4 if at all possible, thanks!

[Masklin]

My current thoughts on this is to put the notes in your falsetto/head voice, just above (inside) your passagio (problem area), but _focus on making the notes sound like chest voice_.

The techniques for very high chest and lowish falsetto/head voice are very very similar if you do it right.

Good luck!

[DoverOs]

I'm a baritone too that had no talent to begin with.

Here's how it works. In order to have a solid cord closure as you ascend, you need nasal resonance in your voice. nasal resonance is pretty much directly proportional to your cord closure.

Once you have good cord closure, you can build resonance on top of it by using a tiny head or whistle type of phonation at the top of your range; however you don't need to really worry about this step until much later.

What's happening with your voice, is that as you ascend your voice is mixing into an empty space known as your falsetto. So your cords start bouncing around as you go higher and you have to 'push' to phonate those notes.

So your first order of business is singing towards your nose through your entire range, without pushing anywhere in your voice. Keep doing that until you get completely comfortable with singing in your nose.

@Masklin, I wouldn't recommend using terminology such as that. The entire range is purely controlled by cord closure, so saying something in regards to chest musculature or head musculature imply's factors other than cord closure.

[baritonebarito…]

Makes sense, I just have a problem making my head voice sound chesty. Are there any excercises to practice this 'cord closure'? Also, at what note will the voice purely go into head voice? As of now, anything above an F4 sounds pretty heady. My only way of reaching a G4 - B4 is belting through my chest and that gets pretty unreliable after G#4 since it ends up being inconsistent and shouty.

As of now, I have no idea where I should start bridging. My question is, should I first focus on smoothing the transition from chest to head and then start working on resonance, or should i start working on resonance right away? I've been watching RockTheStageNYC's videos on YouTube, this one in particular http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDpQXNXKu-0, and in the beginning he states that he isn't a fan of, "bridging early because once you get to the A4-C5, it get's too heady". I want to avoid the "heady" aspect and be able to belt out those panty-dropping notes lol

[davie]

I would recommend bridging early, like maybe around 'middle C'. But not in the sense that you flip into a breathy falsetto. Maybe more in the terms of 'vowel modification'. When you reach around the 'middle C', try modifying your vowel with an 'aw' underneath it, then once you reach E4, modify to 'uh'.

I wouldn't recommend pulling pure chest too far up or else your vocal endurance will suffer.

[DoverOs]

you didn't seem to quite get it. Head voice becomes strong when you develop cord closure, and cord closure comes from practicing nasal resonance.

It's just as simple as directing all of your breath to your nasal area.

http://www.mediafire.com/?vppzfhmiuq1j7pu

listen to this. everything is going to the nose. It's not something that happens over night, but it's something you have to practice.

[Masklin]

DoverOS, I urge you not to write as if you're the only person in the world who 'gets it'. Please be more humble - the internet is loaded with people who are convinced that they're right. Please don't be one of them.

OP: You'd probably be better off to ask a vocal teacher (preferably several different teachers, for more unbiased data), than waste time becoming confused on internet forums.

[staticsound]

In order to belt in the upper chest range, you need to build your head voice first. Once you can "connect", you can work on blending more chest overtones in. This does take a lot of time and practice. Vowel modifications are your friend, as you ascend in pitch, let's say on an "ah", right around F-F#4, ah changes to a subtle "uh", then to "oo"around A4. These modifications should be very subtle, you're modifying the vowel, but it should still sound like "ah". I'm done confusing you now, lol. This does work though.

Stay away from Kevin Richards bty....guys an idiot.

[baritonebarito…]

So, as of now all I really need to focus on is smoothing the gap between chest and head voice correct? I noticed that I can enter into my head register at middle C (even a little lower), so I guess I'll start transitioning from there. Only thing that worries me is whether or not bridging early will compromise the "chesty" quality from G4 and onwards. I understand that at a certain point, notes are bound to be naturally "heady", but I was wondering if I could retain that chesty quality up to at least a B4?

Anyways, I appreciate all the posts! Please get back to me as soon as possible! (:

[staticsound]

There's a debate going on right now in "vocal world"...bridging early vs late. From personal experience, I'm not a fan of bridging early on into your head voice. IMO, you end up with a thin, very pharyngeal sound, that does not sound like chest voice.

You said you found out you can bring head voice down pretty low...same goes for chest voice. You can learn to blend in chest overtones with higher head voice notes. It's all about finding a balance between the two in your upper mid register.

[baritonebarito…]

That's my concern because I want to be able to belt "chesty" notes. Only problem is I find it easier to start at C4 rather than F4 because it puts less strain on my throat, but idk I'll keep you updated. In fact, I think I may have had a breakthrough today. I'll post a recording of me singing from C4 - C5 using "mixed voice" by tomorrow to have you guys judge on whether or not my technique is remotely correct. Thanks, I really appreciate your guys' inputs.

[DoverOs]

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Masklin wrote:
DoverOS, I urge you not to write as if you're the only person in the world who 'gets it'. Please be more humble - the internet is loaded with people who are convinced that they're right. Please don't be one of them.

OP: You'd probably be better off to ask a vocal teacher (preferably several different teachers, for more unbiased data), than waste time becoming confused on internet forums.

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If you weren't aware, singing is not an exact science, or at least something that can be explained precisely. I've heard everyone say X and Y about singing, so I understand that. But In my experience, saying that high chest is similar to low head voice, just doesn't really make any sense.

If you disagree with my opinion, then to each their own.