Page 1 2
3 4
5
(*Real
Player is required in order to stream these audio files. Please download
free Real Player from www.realplayer.com
)
When working with a man for the first time,
we immediately check to see if his bridges are intact. In other words,
can he get into his head voice? We do this by playing a five-tone scale,
covering E flat to B flat, both below middle C. We then have our student
sing the scale on "ah," as in "father"-
Play example: 1 (Real
Player) Play
example: 1 (Mp3 format)
We then move up the keyboard, one half tone at a time, until the highest
note of the scale is close to or moving in to the first bridge around
F sharp G, or A flat above middle C. Of course, if the student is having
difficulty, we don't take him any higher than necessary to discern whether
or not he's accessing his head voice. One of three things usually happens
in a student's voice: 1. The singer pulls his chest voice up too 
high,
causing the high notes to splat. This means the sound goes broad and sounds
more like a yell than singing. On a five tone scale from middle C to G,
that sounds like this - play
example: 2 (Real Player)
Play example: 2 (Mp3 format)
2. The second thing that often happens is that the singer
breaks into falsetto on the higher notes of the scale, rather than releasing
into head voice. That sounds like this - play
example: 3 (Real Player)
Play example: 3 (Mp3 format)
3. If the singer has had incorrect operatic training, he will usually
hook the high notes or as some refer to it; cover the high notes. This
creates a very unnatural hooty quality and sounds like this - Play
example: 4 (Real Player)
Play
example: 4 (Mp3 format) None
of those choices are much fun for the singer, nor are they desirable vocal
technique. At that stage, there are many things we can do to help our
student experience a release from chest voice into head voice. One would
be an exercise from F sharp below middle C, to the F sharp above middle
C, in the middle of the singer's first bridge. The exercise could be done
on the word "no" to trick our singer into his head voice, on
the top note. Done correctly, the exercise sounds like this - Play
example: 5 (Real Player) Play
example: 5 (Mp3 format)