Head Voice and Falsetto

Head Voice and Falsetto

Head Voice and Falsetto sound very similar but there’s still a big difference between those two registers. In Falsetto the vocal folds stretch out, lengthen and tilt the air to the back. So we have long flexible vocal folds and the airflow passes to the back leaving a breathy sound and not much compression. The air passes through your vocal chords and they do not come fully together. When this happens you get a “false sound”. That’s why we can hear a "flip" when a singer accidentally drifts into falsetto, because of this sharp change in chord coordination. In Head Voice we also have long cords, stretched out and air shot to the back but there’s a little bit of compression on the vocal folds. The main difference between Head Voice and Falsetto is in cord closure: in head voice register the vocal cords are zipped up, leaving a narrow opening to vibrate, whereas in falsetto the vocal folds are coming close enough to one another to cause the edges to vibrate as the air flows between them, but they are not making contact with one another. Sound-wise, falsetto has an "airy" sound. Head voice, in contrast, has a clear ringing tone, it can also be produced at higher volume than falsetto. The cords remain in contact with one another. If the singer has learned how to move smoothly through the registers (from chest voice - chest mix - head mix - head voice) there will be no breaking apart of the cords and the singer will be able to transition without noticeable changes. Keep working on your falsetto - there’s nothing wrong with it, it is your flexibility function and can be used for stylistic purposes in various songs. The Bee Gees actually made it their signature sound. Do you have any questions in regards to singing? Is there’s something you always wanted to know? Just ask us: contact@vocals-on-stage.com Like us on Facebook