Diction and Falsetto?

Hi,

So today I was working on my falsetto, and I have to admit, I've been neglecting it. Anyway, I found that around some notes I can only hold pitch and stay in my head voice if I make certain vowel sounds, more specifically, it's a heck of a lot easier with E than it is with an A sound! When I try with an A it goes all airy and breaks back to chest voice, yuuuck. I also feel like I have to push, that can't be right!

Now I figure this must be a symptom of a pretty big problem, so I was wondering if anyone's able to tell me what I'm doing wrong and how I can go about fixing it?

Thanks heaps,

Anthony

It's in fact the case that certain vowels are difficult or impossible to keep pure in the upper ranges and singers routinely shift vowel sounds when they get up there. It's been a long time since I thought about this, so I can't recall which vowels need shifting, but I do know that singers are trained to do this.

Not a symptom of a problem, different vowels do favor different resonance, and will lean toward chest or head. I don't recall the details for all English vowels, but I can tell you assuredly that from "Headiest" to "Chestiest", these five vowels go in the following order in relation to each other, oo ee eh oh ah. If, when you say "A sound" you mean as in "may", thats pretty similar to "eh", so I would guess its right about in the middle.

Try bringing that relaxed falsetto feeling as low down as you can with several different vowels. Start with a men's high A (fifth fret e-string, second A above middle C) and sing a descending scale, maintaining that easy falsetto feeling even after you think you'd normally be singing in chest. Don't force anything, and stop when its uncomfortable, but think of it as finding the 'vocal fry' of your falsetto.

You certainly don't want to feel like you have to push. It's might just be a particular middle part of your voice, where your voice "isn't sure where to go" with those pitches and vowels.

As for the shifting of vowels axcelson alluded to, that philosophy varies somewhat depending on your school of vocal pedagogy and musical. Admittedly, its a topic I haven't quite delved into. An example of vowel shift—you'll routinely hear Britney Spears sing the word "me" as "may" in the higher, belting part of her voice. (I might be confusing Spears for someone else, but the example is still relevant.) This is because ee is a "narrower" vowel less akin to throwing all that air over in order to belt, whereas ay is "broader." My admittedly less than perfectly informed opinion on the issue—practice all vowels over your entire range, at a medium volume, aiming for a relaxed feeling throughout.