The 3 Important Vocal Registers
- Chest Voice
- Vocal Registers: Mixed Voice
- Head Voice
When singing through a new song it can be hard without knowing the proper register placements.
If you’ve ever found that your voice has cracked or strained you will want to take a deep dive into your range.
Discover where your chest voice ends and your mixed voice comes in.
Try to develop an understanding with all the notes you can sing.
Your head voice is the final interval part in having full flexibility throughout your range.
Try to spend time building a relationship with these registers as they will help you sing more challenging songs.
Chest Voice
Chest voice is the voice we use for speaking.
This voice starts at the lowest point we can sing, and the higher we use it, the more our voices will start to feel tight.
The male range for belting in the chest voice varies from person to person, but most can use the chest up to a range of C#4-G#4.
The female range for belting in the chest voice is generally F4-C4, singing notes around here would be considered belting since you would have to push with effort and volume in order to get to the notes.
Vocal Registers: Mixed Voice
Your mixed voice is located around the midsection of your voice. This voice is a blend of your head voice and chest voice.
This is generally softer and smoother. If you are just beginning to use your mixed voice it can be hard to use because of the lack of muscles.
If you use your mixed voice and you find your voice is shaky.
Simply practice with songs where singers use their mixed voice, and practice mixed voice exercises.
Sometimes when singing if you do not know which voice to apply(chest or mixed), your voice cracks in and out of the chest.
This is because you are using varying degrees of effort which makes it difficult to apply the proper breathing.
Try listening to the tone of the song you are singing.
Point out where the singer is loud and soft, this can help mitigate any times you over push and crack while singing a song.
Head Voice
The last voice we are going to talk about is the head voice, otherwise known as falsetto.
The head voice is very similar to the mixed voice.
This feels more breathier, the difference between the head and mixed is that your head voice will be louder and towards the top end of your voice.
Falsetto is an application of singing head voice. The difference is that falsetto is much louder and piercing.
Much like belting in the head voice vs belting in the chest. Your head voice is a voice we use to sing higher notes without straining.
Notes that you normally can’t belt or sing in the chest will be sung in the mixed or head voices.
Understanding your vocal register is what can make or break a performance.
