Vocalist.org archive


From:  "Lloyd W. Hanson" <lloyd.hanson@n...>
Date:  Tue Oct 1, 2002  11:13 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] Head to Chest transition.

Dear Mark and Vocalisters:

My comment had to do with falsetto. Falsetto is usually defined as
that vocal quality which is produced by the male voice well above his
usual chest voice range which, for lack of a better description of
sound, imitates a female voice in the same range. Few singers are
abole to produce a wide dynamic range in falsetto, usually not more
than mp to f. Most male falsetto appears a few notes above the
highest possible notes of the chest voice and the singer experiences
a release of some of the breath pressure which has increased as the
chest voice is sung higher and higher. It is most common that a
break or absence of notes will occur between the top of the chest
voice and the appearance of falsetto. This is the necessary vocal
break for yodelling.

Head voice has a quality that is somewhat similar to the vocal
quality of the middle of the chest voice. It is a full voice that
has a ring to its quality and is easily heard over a full orchestra
and is capable of a complete dynamic range from pp to ff. Most
singers experience a definite sense of subglottal pressure which is
absent in falsetto. A smooth transition from falsetto to head voice
and head voice to falsetto is most difficult and not possible for
many lower male voices. It is not uncommon for tenors to be able to
achieve this feat because their upper chest voice occurs in the same
range as the lower portion of the falsetto. Tenors are often able to
move from chest voice directly into head voice with only a slight
clumsiness in the transition area (passaggio) which, typically is
from E4 to G4. A leggaro tenor will typically have this passaggio in
the F#4 to A4 range.

Falsetto is not used in legitimate operatic or classical singing
except for some comic effects. Head voice is.
--
Lloyd W. Hanson






  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date  
20373 Falsetto or Head? WAS: Head to Chest transition.Tako Oda takooda Wed  10/2/2002  
20375 Re: Falsetto or Head? WAS: Head to Chest transition.Lloyd W. Hanson lwh1 Wed  10/2/2002  
20394 Re: Falsetto or Head? WAS: Head to Chest transition.Tako Oda takooda Fri  10/4/2002  
20400 Re: Falsetto or Head? WAS: Head to Chest transition.Anthony Howden antnee1027 Sat  10/5/2002  
20401 Re: Falsetto or Head? WAS: Head to Chest transition.Anthony Howden antnee1027 Sat  10/5/2002  
20427 Re: Falsetto or Head? WAS: Head to Chest transition.Tako Oda takooda Mon  10/7/2002  
20388 Re: Falsetto or Head? WAS: Head to Chest transition.Nicholas Scholl opacodex Fri  10/4/2002  
20396 Re: Falsetto or Head? WAS: Head to Chest transition.Tako Oda takooda Fri  10/4/2002  
20391 Re: Falsetto or Head? WAS: Head to Chest transition.opacodex opacodex Fri  10/4/2002  

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