Singing Lesson - Voice Training - The Head Voice

Vocal Technique - What is Head Voice?

The head register is a vocal technique used in singing to describe the resonance of singing something feeling to the singer as if it is occurring in their head. It's mentioned in the Speech Level Singing method used in some singing. According to an early 20th century book written by David Clippinger, all voices have a head register, whether bass or soprano. Head voice comes from Falsetto. The vocal chords are thin, however, the student has trained them to withstand more air pressure so that the sound wave is stronger. In head voice it is useful to use a larynx tilt to stretch the vocal chords and engage muscular support in the neck, ribcage, back and abdominals, to increase sub glottic pressure. Head voice can blend very easily with chest voice, much easier than pure falsetto. A vocal warm up should be done in head voice because it is a low pressure environment for the vocal tract. The voice tone of head voice is clarity, ringing, rich and rounded. It is used a lot in popular music, musical theatre and classical singing because it requires little muscular effort yet produces a fairly loud, high energy sound. An example of a strong popular music, head voice is Amy Lee from Evanessence.

During your singing lessons your singing teacher should give you some exercises to traing you in this vocal technique so that you apply this voice tone where appropriate.