HELP! Sudden new notes??? Is this in chest voice?

[chocpowder]

Hi there everyone.

I'm a tenor (aged 19) and my range has always been around c3 and up to G#. and those G#'s are really just on lucky days!

But today something extraordinary happened...

I was blindlessly singing to the radio when i realized.

"wait.... how can i be singing this song so effortlessly??" (the key was high, i never could even sing the chorus)

I ran to the piano and started going up the scale.

I was astonished at A4 Bb4! Even more surprised at B4! I couldnt believe my ears at C5!!! whats scarier is that i think i went up to a D5 or something....

What i'm curious about this discovery is... am i really doing this in chest voice or am i deceiving myself?

singing these high notes feel weird. It doesnt feel much strained or anything... but its just.. so.. LOUD???!!!

here are some clips for you to judge;

1) playing around LOL

https://www.box.com/files/0/f/0/1/f_2991502445#/files/0/f/0/1/f_2991502445

2) The C5.

https://www.box.com/s/a5c27816d2d129e77db5

and an C#5 attempt?

yes. my ears hurt...

https://www.box.com/s/25c5f525409e92153e26

it could be wrong technique or something. i stopped hitting those C5's cuz i'm scared i would damage my voice or something since it sounds weird.

And its actually sooo hard to control these notes in a song. They go like BANGBANGBOOOOMVROOOSH out of control! Like trying to contain lightning in a bottle??!

How do i get better?

I'm still recovering from the shock of hitting C5 LOL.

[Keith]

That's head voice .

[chocpowder]

Yea it's head voice. Specifically, twang in the head voice with a high larynx and a bright vowel "aa". So it has a piercing quality that makes it sound loud and helps it cut through music, and it is perfectly healthy, but ultimately you're probably going to want to bring it back to a darker color so it sounds boomy, not quacky. You do that by using a darker vowel (such as "uh") and lowering the larynx. Easier said than done though, it takes a lot of training to get used to. I highly recommend the vocal program "The Four Pillars of Singing 2.0" if you're interested in getting into that kind of stuff.

Oh wow thanks!

can you clear something up for me though?

I've had an impression that tenors hit the infamous C5 with chest voice.

but i guess i was wrong? up to what notes are chest voice and from which notes do singers usually use head/mixed voice? hmmm.

[Keith]

That is an interesting video, but I found the "Axle in court" just as awesome lol

[Thewall]

What do you mean with chest voice? Is it where the sounds is resonating from? Or is it how high you can go without breaking/briding into head voice?

I can easily go up to a D5-D#5 without bridging.

That note you are singing sounds like a head note btw.

[Gina Ellen Vocalist]

chest voice for men goes up to around a D4 (give or take a couple of tones) and for women A4 (this is a really rough guide)

Thewall if you say you can go up to d#5 without bridging then I would guess that is a head voice note that just sounds big and boomy and has chest qualities

I think the best thing is to bridge early into your head voice (so your not pulling chest voice up) Then work on those head tones to make them connected and full to sound like chest voice notes.

I would also recommend the four pillars by rob lunte

[Thewall]

I use what many refers to as a belting technique or in CVT, "Edge". I'm twanging the epiglottis funnel and "pulling chest" up. But the twang makes it perfectly healthy. The tricky part is to be able to keep the twang above C5 and that takes a lot of exercise. I disagree with you when you say that the best option is to bridge early. As long it's healty, it's fine. Just listen to Adam Lambert, he belts a lot during concerts without sounding strained or getting hoarse.

Just listen to this clip:

You can clearly hear that he switches to belting technique. You can hear that his belting is perfect because you hear that thin and screaming tone underneath the whole time.

Another clip:

This time he "overtwangs" a little to get some distortion added.

[Thewall]

I hate using the terms chest voice and head voice, it's so confusing because it's really no such thing so it leaves many of us confused after being introduced to it and it destroys a lot of discussions and threads on the net. It's so much easier talking about modes, because that is in my opinion the only correct way to seperate ways of singing.

Owen: I don't really know what you guys are referring to as pulling chest. I really think we should just drop chest and head voice and just put it this way: What I am referring to is belting which is just twanging your "full unbridged voice", which means that you don't have to coordinate and time a bridge somewhere. I've never heard anyone who bridges early that creates the same sound.

[chocpowder]

oh okay. wait.

you guys really cleared things up for me.

I honestly thought that all my notes were chest voice up to G#4

but i took some time experimenting and researching

and so i guess that my chest voice is only up to my break? (mine's at F4)

and that all those notes above it are strong head voice with chest voice qualities?

Is this correct? or am i wrong again? LOL

I also notice i have this weird problem singing F4 up to A4. maybe because I'm using too much chest?

but when its Bb4 to C5 it feels less less less strained.

So probably i have to work on this "bridging" thing you guys are talking bout right?

[Gina Ellen Vocalist]

No, that's right choc. You've hit the nail on the head there with 'all the notes above it are strong head voice with chest qualities'.

F4 to A4 are going to be more tricky notes for you then Bb4 to C5 because they are around your break. It's not really the highest notes that are more difficult but the one's around your break.

Yeh, work on bridging, it sounds like your doing great already

Thewall: those are powerful head notes not chest. In your post you said you can go up to D5 without bridging. They may be perfectly safe and great notes but they are powerful head tones with chest qualities not full chest notes

[Thewall]

Gina: Yes, by your definitions of what is head voice, you are probably right. I think we understand each other. For me, chest voice is the full voice while head voice is the non-full sounding where you get the falsetto, compressed falsetto, and compressed falsetto with twang (that often sounds almost like a full belt)

[Jens]

I always think this is so comfusing. Everything depends on what you define as headvoice...

All lownotes resonates in the chest( despite of vocalquality or fold depth) Low falsettonotes also resonates n chest

All middlevoice notes resonates in themouth( regardless of vocalquality or fold depth )

And all highnotes resonates in head( regardless of vocalquality or fold depth)

... Ok here comes the problem

Powerfull lownotes resonates more in the head, Than high headnotes... This is the truth you can test this out or yourself, put your hand on your scalp sing à very powerfull lownote,then sing à very heart powerfull note, you Will only feel vibrations n the head when you sing the lownote...

Here is My defention of thevoice, the voice can be described in coordinations rather Than the old chest headvoice terms.

To me chestvoice is à full fold sound, meaning the folds has to connect very deep for it to be graded as " chest"

Chestvoice: shout mechanism, speech mechanism , and to some extent the cry, and whine mechanism

Headvoice : is not à full fold sound, th folds touch, yes bu they dont vibrate on the depth as the " chest" does

[ronws]

can you clear something up for me though?

I've had an impression that tenors hit the infamous C5 with chest voice.

but i guess i was wrong? up to what notes are chest voice and from which notes do singers usually use head/mixed voice? hmmm.

Gina answered it perfectly. Then, again, she's just an educated vocal instructor.

People talk about singing D5 in chest voice. Ain't happening. Even tenors such as myself are not singing D5 in what most people mistakenly call chest voice. The name chest voice had to do with feeling sympathetic vibrations in the clavicle area or upper chest.

I prefer Anthony Frisell's description of "chest." which is ring and volume, Which you can have at any part of the range. So, it may sound as if someone is singing chest that high but they're not.

And, there is a tonal shift around the D5 area, even for tenors. After that note, the resonating spaces get too small to resonate anything more than the fundamental. And that is a matter of physics, which I will expect to be argued by those who "feel" they are singing D5 in "chest." Anyway, vowel sounds also sound the same after that because separate vowel sounds come from overtones or lack thereof. Another physics thingy. Sorry about that.

Who's Anthony Frisell? Another educated vocal instructor from the field of opera and is a published author with more than one book, if that means anything.

[Thewall]

Well, hitting a D5 is of course not possible if you define chest voice by where it resonates. That makes the limitation clear. We all get that. Many of us define chest as full voice and head as the not. full. We should use full voice instead of chest and maybe neutral (cvt)/not connected/not full instead of head voice. Yeah you can train your headvoice to sound more full and chesty but they will never sound the same.

[Jens]

No ronws there are singers WHO sings d5 in chest( full fold depth) no head or bridge... Ive heard tons... Heck ihave loaaaads of friend who can shout that high, why wouldnt à trained Singer be able to?