Interesting comments from several of you regarding registers; varied and somewhat controversial. I will have to conclude that my student should continue to use head voice when possible in order to strengthen it, and use "speaking voice*/chest voice" mix when necessary for volume or style. She has had such a hard time freeing up the upper range (8va above middle C) that I feel she need to continue training getting into her head tone lower in her range or else she gets "stuck" and can't get a free tone. Her issue in the lower head tone is that it gets scratchy and her throat becomes irritated. I had this problem until I learned to keep my soft palate very high and my larynx low on my lower notes. Could it be that my student is simply not keeping her palate high enough? Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
And Mike, I know what you mean about bringing that mix up. It's doable for pop and jazz, but I don't believe it is stylistically feasible for classical or choral singing (at least when you try to get a good blend). Of course, all well trained singers should be able to control their tone production and sing all styles, but I believe beginning or damage voices need to strengthen their head tone; chest is usually not a problem.
*I have several female students who speak in their "head tone" and find that use of their chest voce is ugly and uncomfortable, so using the tern "speaking voice" for "chest voice" is not always appropriate.
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