how to get out of this mindset?

[rurokenji]

Hi guys,

Forgive me if this may come across as really weird or anything. I have just got into singing recently and learning all the basics etc. I have been taking singing lessons for a while now but did my research on the whole chest voice/middle voice and etc. Lately, i have found my chest voice and have been using it to sing songs. I currently take sls singing lessons so my middle voice is still in development. Anyways, for some reason even though, i know that the chest voice is it's own voice entirely just like the middle voice is it's own complete voice, i keep unconsciously (kinda purposely) singing really low in my chest voice whenever i am singing a song simply because i have this mindset that whenever your singing in the chest voice, your voice must be really low. I know that the chest voice can be sued to sing high notes etc, yet my body immediately tells me to sing low because i am in my chest voice and then tell me, when my favorite singers are singing high notes or some what high ish notes, they must be using a mixed voice etc and that i shouldn't try and attempt to sing as high as them in my chest voice...

This is an example. Say, i was singing along to this song for the whole song, when the singer would say the lines " They throwing me that booty", my body would immediately assume that the other lines he was singing were prob in his chest or something but when he hits that line, he is obvously using a mixed or head to hit it that high so i shouldn't attempt to try and sing it that high in chest..- That is what my body/mind would tell me

Does anyone know how i can get out of this mindset? It's nothing to do with my range. My teacher and also a friend have both told me that i have quite a wide range..

Thanks!!

I know it's a defo mindset thing... :(

[ronws]

You answered your own question. But I will back you up and agree with you, if that helps.

[rurokenji]

haha, i know..it sounds stupid..but any tips as to how i can get out of this mindset..i fear it's going to make me start thinking of singing in a sort of systematically way when it should all just be natural and flowing...

[Jens]

Singing is never natural or flowing, singing is weird sounds nature didnt intend. But it occured to strengthen social interaction between humans.

Basicly youve got two small beefs down in your troat, if you put those beefs in "this position" they make that sound, if you put them in an other an other sound appears. it's as simple as that.

Your voice is capable of so much and get get so strong it's silly. I personally dont think anyone in any time ever reached above 70% of their full potential. The options and choices are endless

Note: im not referring flow to legato in this post, legato is much possible

[Owen Korzec]

Anyways, for some reason even though, i know that the chest voice is it's own voice entirely just like the middle voice is it's own complete voice

Well, you might want to clear up this misunderstanding first of all. For one thing, IMHO, there is no middle voice. There is chest and there is head, and even those are still not completely separate voices. Which is why you can mix the two in varying degrees. When people talk about the mix or middle voice, that's NOT a 3rd register in the middle. That's one of the biggest misconceptions a beginner can have and I don't want you to go down that road, you'll start looking for a register that doesn't exist. The mixed voice is simply a blending of qualities of chest and head. So IMO the term middle voice is inaccurate, mixing is really what is happening. And even with chest and head, they are not all that different. They are hard to blend, but they do use the same muscles. The difference is, in chest, the muscles that shorten and thicken the vocal folds are dominant, while in head the muscle that lengthen and thin the vocal folds are dominant. The closer you get to the middle, the more the two pairs of muscles are fighting and the harder it gets to coordinate them. Vocal training is largely about learning to get chest and head to cooperate in that middle point and be able to create a more balanced mix when necessary. And that takes a very long time to achieve.

Hope that clears things up. Just remember, you have one, hyper flexible voice, or at least it has the potential to be, with the right training. I get the impression you are in the mindset of worrying too much about registers and letting that take control over your pitch? Pitch is first priority, register second. Experiment with high chest voice and low head voice when you train, also high mix and low mix, different ratios of chest and head, etc. etc. There is a general progression of the lower you go the more chesty you need to be and the higher you go the more heady you need to be, and that's best practice, but it's not a hard and fast rule and if you train to break outside those you will develop more flexibility and versatility as a vocalist.

Hope that helps?

[Felipe Carvalho]

Work, consolidate and sing. I have not heard the sample, but since you are not satisfied with it I'm assuming it can improve.

Chest and Head are constructs that have mainly a didactic function, its good that you understand that pushing is not the way to go.

Train and as your capability to control your voice improves you will be able to understand better what is happening. On most pop material what the original performer is doing hardly will be the best way to approach it on a technical perspective. Its more simple, usually plain shouting...

[rurokenji]

Hey, thanks for the reply. Yeah, i have been thinking with the mindset that the middle voice is like a sort of 3rd register. I have now realized my error in that way of thinking and have now come to the understanding that the middle voice isn't a 3rd register but instead its the comb blend of the head and chest to become one whole voice. So like your current voice become one whole voice which instead of having the chest and head separate (like most untrained singers), your singing voice becomes one whole voice but which has the features of head and chest within it. I hope, i managed to explain myself properly lol.

Yeah, when i usually sing along with songs, i always end up debating in my head as to what register i should be singing when the singer hits that note, or this note etc. So what you suggest, that i try and sing songs (in my chest voice), i should try and sing songs with different levels of volume in order to figure out how high i can sing in my chest?

[Remylebeau]

Chest voice is when you feel synthetic vibrations in your chest. Head voice is where you feel those vibrations in your head.

Stop paying attention to where you feel the synthetic vibrations, they don't matter. Start paying attention to what your larynx is doing.