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Vocal Crack: A Singer’s Worst Nightmare

What is the most embarrassing thing that can happen to you when you sing?  Having a vocal crack is certainly high on my list! This has happened to me in the past in both a private and public situation.  While it is hopeful to think that people will remember the hundreds of perfect notes you have sung in the performance, the reality is the moment your voice cracked will be first and foremost in their memory. In this article I am going to share with you the reasons why your voice breaks and how you can prevent it from happening.

What is a vocal crack?

A vocal crack is a sudden shift or jump between your vocal registers.  The most common break is from chest voice to head voice.  Another break is from chest voice to falsetto.  This is particularly problematic for male singers who haven’t developed their head voice.  Have you had the experience of singing low in your range and find that as you sing higher your voice flips into a weak uncontrolled high sound? That’s a vocal crack.

Why does it happen?

There are many reasons why your voice can crack:

• Wrong muscle coordination
• Wrong airflow
• A rising larynx
• Fear
• Control
• Loss of connection

So what do I mean by muscle coordination? There are muscles that are attached to your vocal cords.  These muscles are responsible for lengthening and shortening the cords which results in changes of pitch.  The chest voice has different muscle coordination than head voice.  When singing low in your range the cords are “slack” and relaxed.  When you sing in head voice the cords lengthen and become tighter.  The reason your voice cracks in between these two registers is muscle balance. There is too much influence from the muscles that control the chest voice as you sing higher.  Your muscles will get to a point where they can’t stretch any further and a sudden “shift” or break will occur.

Airflow can be the cause of vocal cracks.  Too much air can bombard your vocal cords with pressure and tension.  Too little air can have the opposite effect leaving your cords struggling to vibrate.  There needs to be a balance between the two.  Your vocal cords need a consistent amount of pressurised air to vibrate efficiently.  You can find out more about airflow here.

A rising larynx is one of the major reasons for your voice breaking.  It is very closely related to muscle coordination.  Your larynx is the bump you can see and feel in your throat.  Next time you sing, watch yourself in a mirror and notice what your larynx does as you start to sing higher.  Does it also start to move higher?  If it does, that means that you are pulling chest voice up too high.  This is also referred to as vocal weight.  You will reach a point where your tone starts to resemble a “yell”.  If you try and take this weight up any higher your voice will crack.

Fear can do strange things to your mind and body.  Perhaps you have had the unfortunate experience of your voice breaking during a public performance?  This is certainly embarrassing and something you will want to avoid happening again.  Unfortunately when this happens once, you can get into the habit of thinking that it will happen again.  I know I have had this experience.  It’s as if I can see the note coming from a mile away.  My body starts to tense, my throat seizes up, my heart rate increases and then……..”crack”.  Fear can cause a lot of tension in your body and throat and can actually be the cause of a vocal crack.

People feel the need to control things in their lives.  This makes a person feel safe.  When we are not in control what do we feel?  Uncertainty.  So how does this relate to singing?  I’m sure you have heard the expression “that singer has great control.”  I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that control, for a singer, is not necessarily a good thing.  I believe it is also a big reason why vocal breaks occur.  If you are trying to control your voice then I believe at some point you are going to run into tension problems. Your voice is designed to be relaxed and free.  We complicate things by trying to control our voice, wanting to sound good, trying to sing higher, trying to sing louder.  Our voice will do these things naturally, if we let it.  I’m suggesting that in order to fix your vocal breaks you need to stop trying to control your voice around your problems areas.  Experiment with your voice, don’t be afraid to make some mistakes and you will gain a greater feeling of freedom when you sing.

The biggest and most obvious vocal crack is complete loss of connection. This occurs when your voice flips into falsetto.  Falsetto is very different from your “connected” vocal registers.  When you sing in chest, mixed and head voice your vocal cords remain connected the entire time.  Sound is created on the inner edges of your vocal cords.  When singing falsetto, sound is created on the extreme external edges of the vocal cords and a breathy tone is created due to the space between the cords.  The break occurs when a singer extends chest voice far beyond the speaking range. It is impossible to continue to sing higher in this muscle and vocal cord position so the muscles and cords basically “give up” which results in a break into falsetto.

How can a vocal crack be fixed?

As you would have realised by now one of the major reasons for the breaks in your voice is incorrect muscle coordination.  You need to learn how to transition between your vocal registers smoothly. You can reprogram your muscles by learning how to sing with mixed voice.  You can learn about mixed voice in this article.

Vocal exercises to achieve a smooth voice.

I recommend the following exercises to help you “iron out” the cracks in your voice:

1. Ascending and descending lip roll slides
2. Ascending and descending lip roll slides followed by “vowel slides”.
3. Ascending arpeggio using a lip roll to a descending 8 note scale.
4. Double octave arpeggio using “nay”.

Access 5 FREE Video Lessons HERE and learn to transition freely.

Eliminating nasty cracks in your voice will boost your confidence as a singer and allow you to sing with freedom without the fear of an embarrassing break.

Ian Castle

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Burn for you: Hear your coach sing an actual song!

Hey Singers,

It occurred to me today that not many of my subscribers have heard me sing an actual song!  Most people only hear me sing crazy exercises!  I’ve recorded a cover of the song “Burn for you” by John Farnham.  It’s an awesome song inspired by life on the road as a singer and being away from your loved ones.  Hope you enjoy it.

P.s That’s me playing the piano too

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Ian

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Tension: A Singer’s Nemesis!

The number one way to improve your voice, to extend your range and create the voice of your dreams is to recognise and release unnecessary tension in your body and the muscles that control your voice. If you are struggling with singing high notes, or running out of breath quickly it is most likely a singing tension related problem.  We hold tension in many areas of the body and in this article I am going to show you how to recognise it and release it with effective (and sometimes crazy) exercises.

Why is tension a bad thing?

To sing naturally and with freedom is easier than you think.  Most singers use far too many muscles to sing a note, whether it is high or low.  Have you ever witnessed someone trying to sing a very high note?  You will notice muscles in the neck, face, abdomen and torso tense up as they try and belt that high note.  All of that singing tension is not helping the situation, it’s actually preventing the singer from performing at their best.  Singing with tension can have a number of negative effects:

• Prevents a singer from reaching true potential.
• It’s a “High Note Killer”.
• It will affect your breathing.
• Your Tone will suffer.
• It can lead to vocal disorders.

I am going to show you how to avoid these problems.  Before I tell you how to release tension you need to discover where you are holding it.

Where do you hold tension?

The most important areas of your body to check for tension include:

• Neck
• Throat
• Jaw
• Tongue
• Lips
• Shoulders
• Abdomen

All of these areas of your body can have a dramatic impact on how you sound and the amount of effort it takes for you to sing.  For each of the areas we will be checking I want you to sing a phrase of a song.

To check for tension in your neck you will need to use a mirror.  Sing your phrase and watch in the mirror for any visible tension in the front of your neck.  Are your tendons sticking out as you sing?  Does your neck become red?  These are signs that you have tension.

To check for tension in your throat you will again need to use a mirror.  Sing your phrase and notice if the bump in your throat (called the larynx or “adam’s apple”) starts to rise when you sing.   This is a sign that the muscles which control your voice are not coordinating the right way and will certainly lead to vocal tension and fatigue.

Your jaw is another common area for tension.  I want you to sing your phrase but this time chew at the same time!  I know it sounds crazy but trust me on this one.  If you find it difficult to chew and sing at the same time you may be holding some tension there.  Tension in your jaw will affect the tone of your voice.  Your jaw is one of 3 articulators which determine your tone.

The second articulator and prime suspect when it comes to unwanted tension is your tongue.  I want you to sing your phrase with your mouth slightly open, just enough so that you can see your tongue.  See if you can keep your tongue relaxed at the front of your mouth, sitting on your bottom teeth as you sing.  If you find that your tongue wants to retreat back into your throat as you sing it’s a sign of tongue tension. This will affect your tone.

The third articulator is your lips.  Singers often over stretch their lips when they sing.  Try it.  Notice what it feels like to sing with tense lips.  Now relax and sing without the tension.  This technique of experiencing the tension, then experiencing the relaxation is a great way to program your brain to recognise the difference.  I encourage you to try this with all of the possible tension areas.

Next we have the shoulders.  This was a major tension area for me as a student.  To check for tension you will need your mirror.  Stand in a natural position.  See if you can drop your shoulders from this position.  Don’t force them down, just see what happens if you relax them.  Do they drop further?  If so, like me, you are holding some tension there.

Finally let’s check your abs.  They need to be relaxed and tension free to allow for optimal low breathing.  Sing your phrase and check to see whether you are tensing your abdomen as you sing.  If so then you will need to work on relaxing those muscles.

Remember, it’s a great idea to experience what it is like to sing with tension in these areas of your body, then sing without the tension to re-program your brain to recognise the difference.

How To Release Tension

Okay so now you have a good idea about where you can/are holding tension.  Let’s discuss some ways to release it.

Let’s start with your neck.  Gently move your head from side to side and back and forth.  Get used to the feeling of relaxation.  Now, sing your phrase while doing the head movements.  Doing this will prevent the muscles in your neck tensing in one position. Another great exercise to release neck tension is bending over to let your head drop and sway.  This is very effective for relieving tension in the back of your neck.

Some great exercises to release tension in your throat include:

• Humming
• Lip rolls
• Vocal Sighs

These exercises are excellent ways to keep your throat relaxed and your larynx low.  They allow the muscles that control your vocal cords to coordinate in the right and most efficient way.

The best exercise to release jaw tension is actually the same one used to discover it!  Chewing.  This will stretch the muscles that control your jaw, allowing for more flexibility.

To eliminate tongue tension you can do 2 things:

1. Stick out your tongue as far as you can and hold it for 5 seconds.  Repeat 3 times.  This will stretch the root of your tongue which is responsible for most tongue tension.
2. Hold the tip of your tongue with your fingers (gross I know!) and attempt to sing your phrase with as much clarity as possible.  This will stop your tongue from pulling back into your throat.  It will also add clarity to your tone.

To release lip tension I suggest a lip roll.  What is a lip roll?  Think of the sound “brrrr” a person makes when they are cold.  You need to make your lips vibrate together.  It is impossible to do this with tense lips so it’s a good indicator that you have released the tension.

Rolling your shoulders is the best way to relieve shoulder tension.  Sing your phrase while doing this.

Finally, to release tension in your abdomen, lie down and place an object on your stomach.  Your goal is to make the object move up and down as you breathe in and out.  If you can achieve this it means your diaphragm is descending.  This is very important for breathing and is impossible if you are tensing your abs.  Something else you can try is panting, yes just like a dog!  Try and make your stomach move in and out as you pant.

Well that’s it for this article.  I hope you learned something valuable about your voice.  I recommend incorporating these exercises into your daily vocal routine to get the most out of your voice.

Ian Castle

Get access to 5 FREE Video Lessons HERE

To download this article as a pdf click here and choose “save as”.

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How To Sing Impressive Low Notes

In this article I am going to share with you some techniques, tips and exercises on how to sing low notes.  Developing the lower part of your voice is an often overlooked way to increase the range of your voice.  Let’s firstly discuss some reasons why you may be struggling in this area.

What’s Holding You Back?

• Wrong Compression
• Tension
• Resonance
• Beliefs

So what is vocal compression? It is simply the relationship between your vocal cords and your air.  When you are singing or speaking in the lower part of your voice your vocal cords should remain quite “slack”.  This allows air to pass through your vocal cords easily.  As you sing and speak higher the cords lengthen and the space for the air to pass through decreases.  This creates a build up of pressure behind the vocal cords causing a “compressed” sound.  I encounter a lot of singers who try and use this compression in the lower part of their voice to get more projection and volume into their low notes.  When I ask them how it feels, the usual response is “it feels like it’s getting stuck in my throat”.  The compression isn’t allowing the sound to vibrate and resonate in their chest.  More about that in a minute!

Singing low notes requires relaxation. Your body needs to be relaxed, your vocal cords need to be relaxed, the muscles that control your cords need to be relaxed.  Sensing a theme here?  Tension in your throat is going to result in the same problems as compression.  I’m going to share with you some exercises on how to release throat tension shortly.

Where your sound resonates (vibrates) when you sing or speak can have an impact on your ability to sing low.  There are three major areas where your sound can resonate:

• Your Chest
• Your Throat
• Your Head and Nose

Singers who have a naturally nasal or “heady” speaking voice can have a hard time singing in their lower range.  The head and nasal cavities are great for singing high notes, but not so great when it comes to the low notes. To test whether you have a nasal or “heady” speaking voice do this experiment:

Have a conversation with yourself and place your fingers on the bridge of your nose.  Feeling any vibration?  Now place your hand on your chest and speak.  Any vibration there?

If you felt vibration only in your nose you have a nasal dominant voice and may have issues singing low.  If your only felt vibration in your chest you have a chest dominant voice (which can lead to some high note problems).  Did you feel vibration in both areas?  Great!  You have a balanced voice which is perfect for developing an even tone and range.

Your beliefs about your voice can often be the cause of vocal problems. If you tell yourself that you can’t sing low then you are probably right.  Singers sometimes use the excuse “I’m a high singer, so I can’t sing low notes”.  The same applies with singers who say they can’t sing high.  It’s not a matter of “can’t” it’s just that they haven’t been shown the right way.  Change your beliefs into something positive and see what happens!

I can.  I will.  I must.  I’m working on…

These are possibility beliefs and not a dead end CAN’T.

Sorry to get all “new age” on you… let’s get back to the reason for this article!

How To Sing Low Notes.

When you sing low notes the majority of the resonance needs to occur in your chest.  You may have heard of a term called “chest voice”.  Chest voice is a vocal register.  You have 3:

1. Chest Voice
2. Mixed Voice
3. Head Voice

These are the areas of your voice where sound can resonate and are responsible for allowing you to sing throughout your range.  Your chest voice handles the low notes.  I’m not going to discuss the other two.  I’ll save that for another article.

To develop your chest voice there are 2 aspects you need to focus on:

1. Airflow
2. Relaxation

As I have already discussed, you don’t want a “compressed” sound when you sing low.  You need to get air flowing consistently through your vocal cords without any pressure or tension.  Try speaking in an “over the top” breathy sound and aim to get some vibration in your chest while doing so.  If you are struggling, try exhaling on a long “HHHHH” and gradually add an “AHH” to the breath.  Once you have felt some vibration try doing the same exercise using “PAHHHHH”.  This will remove the excess breath.  I need to stress that the use of breathiness in your tone is only to help you discover your chest voice. To take that sound higher will lead to problems with your upper range.

Relaxation is one of the most important aspects of singing, whether you are singing high or low.  I’ve already told you why it’s important, now I’m going to share with you some tips on how to release tension in your voice and body.

• Imagine you’ve had a hard day at work.  You get home and release a big “SIGH”.  Let the sigh slide right down as far as you can vocalise.  Sighing is a natural release of tension and is great for relaxing the muscles that control your voice.
• Roll your shoulders and move your neck gently from side to side.  This will release any tension in those muscles.  You can also do the sighing exercise for great results.
• Don’t try and control your sound.  Let it drop naturally.  If you try and force the sound lower it will get stuck in your throat.

Vocal Exercises To Develop Chest Voice

There are certain vocal exercises that are designed to develop and strengthen your chest voice.  Here are my Top 3:

1. Humming on a 5 note ascending and descending scale.
2. Ascending Hum to a descending MA on a 5 note scale.
3. Descending 5 note scale on MUM

Discover and Develop your Chest Voice in my FREE  10 DAY MINI COURSE

Learning to sing low notes without tension and compression is a great way to extend your vocal range and allow great freedom in your voice.

Ian Castle

To download this article as a pdf click here.

Click here to learn about Mixed Voice

Click here to learn about Head Voice

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The Secrets To Singing High Notes

In this article I am going to show you how to sing high notes without straining your voice or suffering embarrassing breaks.  I struggled for a very long time when I was developing my voice.  I can now sing in a much wider range and I actually look forward to singing high notes!  I am going to show you the Do’s and Don’ts and take you through a system that you can apply to develop your own voice.

The Major Reasons Why You Can’t Sing High

• Wrong Information
• Too Much Weight In Your Voice
• Using The Wrong Amount Of Air
• Fear

There is a lot of information available online from a variety of teachers that promise to show you how to sing high.  Private singing teachers are also a great source of expertise in this very specific singing topic.  Unfortunately while there is a lot of great and useful information there is also a lot of bad advice and teaching in the industry.  Unfortunately I didn’t get the right information and teaching early on in my development.  I actually lost range in the higher part of my voice because of the techniques my teacher taught me.  The title of singing teacher or vocal coach brings with it an expectation of trust.  My advice to you is don’t blindly trust a teacher or expert.  Experiment with techniques and ideas and find what works for you.

Carrying too much weight into the higher part of your voice is another major reason why singers struggle to sing high.  So what is vocal weight? The lower part of your voice (chest voice) has a different vocal structure than the higher part of your voice (head voice).  When you are singing low notes your vocal cords a quite “slack” which allows vibration over most of the vocal cord.  This gives it a “meatier” tone.  There are “singing muscles” which co-ordinate this vocal cord position.  The problem that I had and many other singers have is trying to maintain this vocal cord position into the higher part of the voice.  The muscles and cords cannot maintain this position for long without resorting to raising the larynx.  The larynx is the bump you can see in your neck.  You are carrying too much weight up if you see the larynx rise when singing higher notes.

The wrong amount of air can make it very hard to sing high notes.  Too little air and your voice will sound weak and unsupported.  Too much air will cause your vocal cords to be put under too much pressure and strain will occur.  Many coaches advise that you don’t need as much air when you sing higher because there isn’t as much vocal cord surface to vibrate.  This is only partly true.  When a student hears this advice the first reaction is too cut the amount of air that they usually sing a note with.  This usually results in a weak head voice, or a flip into falsetto.  While it is true that high notes require less air to pass over the cords to create sound, this is not something that you need to control. It will happen automatically.  You need to maintain the same amount of air throughout your entire range. The vocal cords will naturally “zip up” limiting the amount of air that can pass through.  By maintaining the same amount of air you will create the right amount of pressure behind the cords to allow a bigger and more focused sound in the head voice.  Here’s a tip:

Do a series of strong “SHHHH” sounds before you attempt to sing a high note.

Are you afraid of heights? I know I certainly am.  This fear is also very  prominent in singing.  This fear of singing high usually comes from past experiences which we use as reference points.  Perhaps you feel strain every time you sing high.  Maybe your voice breaks as soon as you sing high.  Does your voice end up sore after singing high notes? I know I have certainly experienced all of those painful moments.  What happens if you continue to struggle with these problems is you develop a fear of singing high notes.  Basically you will start to tense up as soon as you know that “high note” is coming, giving yourself no chance of hitting the note.  I see this problem on a daily basis.  The earlier you can get over this fear the better.  You need to give yourself new reference points to reprogram your brain.  You can do this by doing specific exercises which I will share in this article.

How To Sing High Notes

Okay so we have now determined what has been holding you back.  You know the wrong things to do, so now let’s discuss the right things to do. The secret to singing high tension free notes is accessing the head voice.

What Is The Head Voice?

The head voice is one of your vocal registers.  You have three main ones:

1. Chest Voice (Lower notes)
2. Mixed Voice (Middle part of your voice)
3. Head Voice (High Notes)

It is called the head voice because the sound vibrates (resonates) in the cavities of your head and nose.  It is the most foreign part of your voice to develop and experience because it is rarely used in speech.  When we speak we do so using the chest voice and occasionally the mixed voice.  This is also the reason why most singers drag the chest voice up too high.  It is a familiar part of the voice and the brain sends signals to take it higher.

How To Access Head Voice.

Experiment 1: Imagine you are at an amusement park with a child, or playing with a small child.  Think of the sound you make when going down a slide for example.  “WEEEEEE”. Now I’ll bet that you have done this at least once in your life and not even thought about it in terms of “a high note” but that is essentially what it is.  You are accessing head voice.

Experiment 2: Imitate someone (possibly a woman if you are a guy) calling out to someone they know.  “YOU HOOOOOO”.  See if you can make that sound in a feminine “hooty” way.  This example again accesses your head voice.

At this stage you may be thinking that the sound is not very impressive but that can be developed with some experimenting with resonance.

What Is Resonance?

Resonance is a fancy word for describing where the sound vibrates in your body.  There are 3 major resonating areas:

1. Chest
2. Throat
3. Head

These areas can be isolated or combined to change the tone in every part of your range.  You can get a brighter/lighter chest voice by adding some head resonance.  You can also get a bigger/meatier head voice by adding some throat resonance.  I am going to share with you some exercises on adding “oomph” to your head voice shortly.

3 Secrets For Developing Head Voice

1. Moving Through Your Mix
2. A Low Larynx
3. Relaxation

Your mixed voice is the gateway to your high notes. Establishing vocal cord connection during your transition into mixed voice will allow you to continue up into head voice.  This is a complete article in itself so I will include a link at the end of this article for singers wanting to know more.

Keeping your larynx low as you ascend will help you transfer into head voice. A rising larynx is a head voice killer!  As I have already discussed, this will cause your voice to become incredibly heavy.  I’m sure you have experienced the “break” or “flip” into falsetto as a result of this.  To maintain a low larynx you must practice singing in front of a mirror.  This will give you a visual aid.  The exercises I suggest next will help your voice re-coordinate to allow a rested low larynx.

Relaxation is so important when you sing, not just when singing high notes but singing in any part of your range.  Muscle strain will cause you many problems in your quest to sing high notes.  The muscles in your neck, face, and abdomen all work together to create your voice and also limit its potential.  Some areas to watch for tension:

• Abdomen
• Shoulders
• Neck
• Jaw
• Tongue
• Lips

How to discover and release this tension is the topic for another article.  Again, using a mirror will help you become aware of your tension areas.

Exercises To Develop Head Voice

The following exercises are recommended for discovering and developing your head voice.  I suggest you start with:

• Liproll arpeggios

This will help you drop the weight from your voice.  A liproll is a silly sound.  Imagine making the “BRRRR” sound when you are cold and adding a dopey “UH” sound at the same time.

• Liproll to Vowel Arpeggios

This will help you drop the weight and help with muscle coordination as you sing a vowel directly after the liproll.  Your muscles have memory and will learn the new position.

• Exercises on “GI” “GO” and “WI”

These exercises help with keeping the voice connected as you ascend.  They are also very effective for keeping your larynx low.

• Nasality exercises “NAY” “NYA”

Nasality is a great way to add some focus and brightness to your head voice.  These specific exercises incorporate some throat resonance which changes the tone from “Hooty” to “Edgy”.

You can learn more about Head Voice in my FREE MINI COURSE

By learning how to sing high notes by discovering and developing your head voice you will be able to eliminate strain, drop the weight from your voice and lose the fear of singing that plagues so many singers.

Ian Castle

To download this article as a pdf right click here and choose “save as”.

Learn about mixed voice here.

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How To Sing In Mixed Voice

How To Sing In Mixed Voice

Let me ask you a couple of questions.  Do you find that your voice hits a ceiling as you sing higher? Do you feel a lot of strain as you sing higher? Does your voice appear to have gaps in your range? If you answered yes to one or all of these questions then chances are you are either struggling to find your mixed voice or have no idea what it is and how it can help you.

I feel your pain.  As a young singer I had some real issues with the higher part of my voice.  My voice would feel fine and sound great until I started to sing higher.  It was as if my voice was hitting a ceiling.  It really frustrated me because I had no idea why it was happening.  The higher I tried to sing the harder it became. My voice would eventually give up due to the amount of work my “singing muscles” had to do.  My teacher at the time offered no solutions to me.  He concluded that there must be something wrong with my voice.  This really affected my confidence and I developed a real fear of singing high notes.  I found myself forced to sing in a small range which didn’t do my chances of making a career out of singing much good at all!

Fast forward 14 years and I do have a career as a professional singer and vocal coach.  I can now sing very high notes without feeling like I’m about to burst a blood vessel! My voice is seamless from top to bottom and I’m not limited to what I can perform.  I don’t write these things to impress you, I write them to give you hope because I was once in your shoes.  I know your frustration and pain, but I also know there is a solution.

My voice found its freedom when I found my mix voice.

What is Mixed Voice?

Okay it’s time for me to go into teacher mode.  I don’t want to bore you with too much theory on how the voice works as I want this article to be of practical value and not purely theoretical, but it is important that you know certain things.

Your voice has three distinct areas:

• Chest Voice  (The lowest part of your voice)
• Head Voice   (The highest part of your voice)
• Mixed Voice  (The area in between)

These areas are commonly called vocal registers.  Chest voice is called that because when you sing lower notes the sound should vibrate in your chest.  Head voice gets its title because as you sing higher the sound should vibrate in the cavities of your head.  Mixed voice is a combination of Chest and Head voice.  You get the best of both worlds.  The nice full texture of the low notes and the lighter less weighted sound of the higher notes.

Why Is Mixed Voice Important?

As you start to sing higher you need to drop weight from your voice.  Nearly every singer I have taught has come to me with this problem of carrying too much weight into the higher part of their voice.  The reason for this is related to our speaking voice.  We naturally speak in our chest voice.  Try it.  Put your hand on your chest and say a few words.  You should find that your chest vibrates when you speak.  Because we are very familiar with this part of our voice it is natural for a singer to try and carry this sound up to the top of the voice.  This is where problems start to occur.  The muscles that control the vocal cords can only hold that “chest position” for a certain amount of notes before it physically becomes impossible to do so.  You will find that if you try and carry that heavy sound up it will resemble a yell and the voice will eventually hit a ceiling.  Have you had this experience?  The answer?  Drop the weight! I will tell you how in a moment.

The second important role of mixed voice is fixing breaks in the voice.  There is nothing more embarrassing as a singer than having your voice break or crack during a performance.  These breaks always occur in two places:

• Between chest and mixed voice.
• Between mixed and head voice.

I have some news for you that should make you feel better.  Everyone has these breaks in their voice.  They are natural transition points commonly called “bridges”.  I’m only going to discuss the “first bridge” in this article which is your break between chest voice and mixed voice.  This is a very important part of your voice because it primes your vocal cords (and singing muscles) to sing higher.

Most singers are not aware of this first bridge and it is the main reason why I struggled so much in my early days as a singer.  I would take my chest voice up past this transition point giving my voice absolutely no chance to “re-coordinate” or change gears.  The solution?  Blend some head voice into your sound before you get to the “bridge”.  In fact it is a good idea to always have an element of head voice present in your sound as it will help you create a seamless voice.

Exercises To Develop Mixed Voice.

I am going to share with you two aspects of developing your mixed voice and the exercises associated with them.  The first and most vitally important is keeping a low larynx as you start to sing higher.  Your larynx is the bump in your neck (also called the adam’s apple).  To maintain a low larynx two great exercises are:

1. 1. A Liproll
2. 2. A “dopey” “mum” sound.

To perform a liproll you need to blow air out and try and make your lips vibrate together.  Imagine the sound you make when it is bitterly cold, or similar to the sound a horse makes.  The liproll is very effective to drop weight from your voice.  The “dopey mum” sound will help keep your larynx low.  I am going to include some video links at the end of the article that will show you how to do the exercises properly.

The second aspect of developing your mixed voice is the use of nasality.  Nasality will help transfer the vibration (resonance) into your head.  Exercises which I suggest are:

1. 1. Scales and arpeggios using “mm”, “nn” and “ng”
2. 2. Combining those nasal sounds with vowels.

My favourite exercises are scales using “ng” and the sound “nay”.  If you are struggling to work out how to do an “ng”, say the word “sing” and then hold the “ng” at the end.  It’s a great exercise for balancing the tone of your voice.  I will include links to these exercises at the end of the article.

Benefits Of The Mixed Voice.

There are some wonderful benefits you can expect when you discover and develop your mixed voice:

• An Increased Range
• Increased Power
• A more impressive and meatier tone
• Boosted Self Esteem and Confidence
• The ability to sing in a variety of genres
• Eliminated strain
• Increased vocal endurance

Learning how to sing with mixed voice solved so many vocal issues that I carried around for many years.  Issues that held me back vocally and affected my confidence.  I hope this article has given you some hope and ideas that you can use in your own vocal development.

You can learn more about the mixed voice and try and exercises outlined in this article by enrolling in my Free 8 Week Vocal Course

Brett Manning also offers a dedicated course on the mixed voice called Mastering Mix.  I own a copy and recommend it to all of my students. 

Aussie Vocal Coach,

Ian Castle

To download this article as a pdf right click here and choose “save as”

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