Vocalist.org archive


From:  "mjmoody2000 <mjmoody@c...
Date:  Wed Jan 15, 2003  1:41 am
Subject:  Re: Head voice from falsetto.(Some more questions).

--- In vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com, "iacmf <iacmf@y...>"
<iacmf@y...> wrote:
> First of all,i'd like to thank Mr Moody and everyone else who
> replied to my post.Your help is really valuable.
> I've read what Mr Moody wrote about how i can develop head voice
> from falsetto and i'd like to ask some questions.
>
> 1)My falsetto reaches F3-D3(C4 as the middle C),before a break
> occurs in my voice.Is there a technique i can use to avoid that
> break?By the way,i've read that it is impossible to connect
falsetto
> with chest range.Mr Moody said,that what i should achieve is
> starting
> from falsetto and keepimg my voice connected untill the end.
>

Can you achieve any connected "sirens" from your chest voice to your
falsetto? Try some starting on a medium high falsetto note down to
your chest voice, then try some from your chest voice to your
falsetto.

Try singing as loud as you can with the falsetto (an overlapped
note) - then try the same note in chest voice and decrescendo as
soft as you can. Analyze the two sensations.

> 2)Mr Moody told me that it can take years to develop head voice
from
> falsetto.Does it mean that it isn't a proper method?Is there maybe
> a more correct and fast method.

I don't know. You like pop music - you may try looking at
the "Speech-level singing" ideas promoted by Seth Riggs and
followers. There are many Vocalisters who use this approach. I
like that he at least acknowledges vocal registers, which it seems
some approaches don't. I think the resulting sound might be more
pop oriented, too.

>
> 3)When i try increasing the volume of a falsetto note,i can feel
> vibration on my chest.However my note remains breathy and weak.Is
> that normal?

Yes. But, with time you should be able to actually sense a shift in
the tone quality - it will sound like a tenor, a different voice
then the falsetto. Try EVERY vowel. I have most success with
an "Ah' vowel. This is the vowel that Frisell first recommended
in "The Tenor Voice" - however he wrote another book, "The Singer's
Notebook" much later in which he recommends an "i" (ee) or "u" (oo)
vowel.

According to him your falsetto voice is not strong enough to add the
weight of the chest voice yet. Keep trying. Especially, keep
trying to overlap your falsetto down. Try the crescendoing
exercises at around a G above middle C. Also try them at a D above
middle C. After developing SOME volume up there, see if you can
take your falsetto any lower, etc.

Listen to Looney Tune cartoons and try to figure out how Mel Blanc
made all those voices!

Listen to "Here, There, and Everywhere" from the Beatles and try to
duplicate Paul's sound.

Listen to Gordon MacRae - the last phrase of "Oh What a Beautiful
Mornin," for example, and try to figure out how he sang that.

Same with the last phrase of "Some Enchanted Evening" sung by Pinza.

These are some examples where I think you can hear a falsetto-
derived tone in the actual recording. After listening to them you
can form your own opinions.

John




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