Tips for singing falsetto?

[rim]

Our female singer wants to sing falsetto but doesn't know how. I can sing falsetto but I don't know what to tell her. Actually, if you also have tips on using head voice, that would be great. She pretty much sings only in her chest voice which limits her range.

 

Rim

[bassred]

I'm not sure a chick singer should ever use falsetto..... Haven't ever really though of it as a chick thing to do... does she have a low voice for a female? Could get hinky.

[picker13]

Can't answer your question, but can you help clear something up?

 

I know what falsetto is, but what is "using head voice?" What does it accomplish and how do you do it?

[cherri]

This is a rather interesting bit of advice. Mainly - sing the NOTE, don't worry about which register it's in. You singer can increase her range without having to develop a falsetto. (Personally I dislike falsetto in females, JMHO).

[JacieFB]

Originally posted by cherri (Personally I dislike falsetto in females, JMHO).

 

Honestly, the number of fellas who can pull it off is fairly limited, IMO.

[rim]

 

Originally posted by picker13 Can't answer your question, but can you help clear something up? I know what falsetto is, but what is "using head voice?" What does it accomplish and how do you do it?

 

 

I remember learning about it in high school choir but I may be getting confused.

 

Anyway, from what I recall, there are three different "regions" for singing: chest, head and falsetto. Technically, you can sing higher and higher as you go in that order. But it also changes the tone of your voice so you can sing a range of notes in either chest or head and it's a matter of choice/expression. Chest is very powerful and boomy. Head is a little lighter. Falsetto is lightest.

 

Someone else can probably explain it much more accurately and correctly than me.

 

Rim

 

 

bassred,

 

The female singer does have a lower range for a female (maybe a tenor range) which is why she sings a lot of songs originally sang by males (and not males that sing close to a woman's range).

 

Now that i think of it, you are probably right and she doesn't need falsetto. She does need to be able to sing head voice.

[rim]

picker13,

 

To add, the terms for Chest and Head correlates to where the sound source is - or where you're projecting from.

 

Chest voice is deep down. Think Johnny Cash. Think James Earl Jones.

 

Head voice is more of a baby talk - the higher, lighter voice you would talk to a baby.

 

Dunno where falsetto comes from. Prolly Italian for something.

[rim]

 

Originally posted by cherri This is a rather interesting bit of advice. Mainly - sing the NOTE, don't worry about which register it's in. You singer can increase her range without having to develop a falsetto. (Personally I dislike falsetto in females, JMHO).

 

 

Thanks for the link. I quickly skimmed it and looks informative. Will read it later tonight.

[cooterbrown]

My falsetto is pretty lethal.

 

All I can do is attempt to describe it.

 

It comes from the back of your throat and sort of shoots through the center of your mouth. You're not going to have a whole lot of wind power behind it (actually you won't really be breathing, at all), but you can take it 1 1/2 octaves above the note where your natural range ends. You have to "flatten" your larynx out to get it to work. You can also add glottal oscillation (that's the punching bag-looking thing at the thoat entrance) and vocal chord oscillation to get more of a "scream" tone.

 

There is also a falsetto technique which involves inhaling, that I have only recently begun doing.

This is the way Mariah Carey hits those dog-whistle pitches or those impossibly high-toned shreiks that Prince can yelp out, which is how I use it. I can't make controlled pitches with the inhale, yet.

[shniggens]

Originally posted by rim Our female singer wants to sing falsetto but doesn't know how.

 

Tell her to pretend to have balls. Then tell her to pretend to tie a rubber band around them.

[bassred]

Originally posted by shniggens Tell her to pretend to have balls. Then tell her to pretend to tie a rubber band around them.

 

Years ago my church did a contata that was almost entirely written in 'F' and was very high, especially for the male singers. I took two clothespins and wrote 'High Note Helper" on them with a sharpie and stuck them to the stage managers music stand, the first night all the choir was giggling as they walked onto the platform.

[Bajazz]

 

Originally posted by cooterbrown There is also a falsetto technique which involves inhaling, that I have only recently begun doing. This is the way Mariah Carey hits those dog-whistle pitches or those impossibly high-toned shreiks that Prince can yelp out...

Mariah Carey sing in her whistle register. It's not falsetto and it's not inhaled. Try to whine like a sad puppy. It's difficult to develop as a singing register, and it's basically headvoice zipped way up.

 

Headvoice is when your cords is zipping up, that is when only a part of the cords are vibrating. Chest voice uses the full length and pitch is determined by stretching the cords as you would turn the tuning pegs on a guitar string. At a certain point you can't stretch the cords more, so you need to shorten the cords to get higher, just as you shorten the guitar strings by pushing down on the frets. That is zipping the cords.

 

I think falsetto is a smiliar principle to doing harmonics, or flagoets on guitar. Basically falsetto can sound similar to headvoice and there is much confusion, but a golden rule is that falsetto is weaker and breathier. You can hold a headvoice note for 1 minute if you practice, it takes very little air, but falsetto needs much more and a few seconds is all you can withstand. Falsetto is done by men when we try to talk like a girl.

[Janx]

I recall reading somewhere, some advice for male singers. Don't sing falsetto.

 

That's probably not meant for "choir singing" but for lead singer types. It probably has something to do with it sounding bad to the audience.

[bassred]

Falsetto's are like asian chicks, they're either really good or really bad, there is no in-between.

 

 

Our keyboard player uses his falsetto too much, we've told him that it is not pleasing to listen to, but he still tries to find reasons to slip it in (backups, so he's generally blended in the back of the mix, which helps it not become so obvious) we've been weening him from this habit, though....

[VSpaceBoy]

A vocal coach once told me that 50% of women cannot sing with falsetto and that most men can.

[Kid Klash]

Don't know about tips for women, but tight shorts usually helps a guy hit the high notes.

[vanlatte]

Originally posted by VSpaceBoy A vocal coach once told me that 50% of women cannot sing with falsetto and that most men can.

 

I can't My voice has a solid brick freaking wall that it hits when I reach a certain pitch. After that it takes on a mind of it's own and snorts, hoots, groans and burps without any possible way for me to control it.