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head voice

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frisbeeman

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I've read what I can find on getting into head voice and I can't figure out how to get into it for the life of me. Or I don't think I am getting to it. Whenever I think that I'm sending resonance through my head I just end up raising my larynx in reality. I am 18 so I know my voice is not done maturing but my usable range is f2-c4. I can go higher but not for long. I try to keep good breath support an open throat and a relaxed larynx but anything above middle c even with all those things begins hurting quickly. That's why I'm thinking I'm not getting to my head voice at all and am just pushing my chest voice too much. I have a private teacher but I won't see her for a week and a half and don't want to put my voice under stress for that long. If anyone had any ideas on how to get there I would greatly appreciate it. I'm getting frustrated and that's not helping my singing at all.

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You're talking about a tricky coordination that can take a while to develop. For some it comes easy, as they've been doing it all their life. For others it is a foreign thing that has to be learned. Not sure if you can just figure it out in a day without a teacher.

You need to thin out the folds as you go into head. You're hanging on too much to the TA muscle which keeps your folds thick. You also have to watch the vowel you are singing. Some vowels are more difficult to learn head voice.

One of the easiest ways is to try the "ng" semi occluded phonation. Do an "ng" octave siren - medium to light volume - starting on C3. Slowly glide up to C4, pause for .5 second and then slowly glide back down. Move up 1/2 step and repeat. As you get to a point where it is difficult - lighten up towards the top and think about "thinning" your folds.

Don't force anything. If you are forcing - stop.

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I've read what I can find on getting into head voice and I can't figure out how to get into it for the life of me. Or I don't think I am getting to it. Whenever I think that I'm sending resonance through my head I just end up raising my larynx in reality. I am 18 so I know my voice is not done maturing but my usable range is f2-c4. I can go higher but not for long. I try to keep good breath support an open throat and a relaxed larynx but anything above middle c even with all those things begins hurting quickly. That's why I'm thinking I'm not getting to my head voice at all and am just pushing my chest voice too much. I have a private teacher but I won't see her for a week and a half and don't want to put my voice under stress for that long. If anyone had any ideas on how to get there I would greatly appreciate it. I'm getting frustrated and that's not helping my singing at all.

Okay first of all at 18 your voice is probably 90% matured. Plenty enough to find head voice. I found my head voice when I was 16 and probably could have found it much earlier if I had the right training at the time, it's not a matter of physical development just technique. If you already had your main voice change, you have a head voice.

Don't worry about whether or not you're raising your larynx. Larynx height has absolutely nothing to do with finding head voice.

Make sure your vocal teacher actually knows what they're talking about. There are a lot of unqualified singers attempting to teach vocals and really just spreading misinformation. Have you been seeing her already? If you've been stuck on that C4 and can't find your head voice after a few months of lessons, I would highly advise you put your time and money to better use and seek out a better teacher. Most of the teachers that frequent this forum could get any student to find their head voice, and sing above C4 in full voice, in the very first lesson.

It's pretty simple really. As for finding head voice, it's just a much lighter, freer, quieter, thinner version of your normal voice. Like if were speaking to a pet and not sounding like mickey mouse but just sounding like you were lowering your volume into a sweeter thinning tone.

As for singing above C4, it's mostly about raising your placement and releasing throat tension. You actually want to allow your larynx to rise, if you don't, you will neeeeever get above C4 in full voice! The whole stable larynx thing is mostly all a big misconception and the kind of "misinformation" I'm talking about.

It's a bit much to explain in text, but I'll gladly help you out with this over skype free of charge, even tomorrow or sometime in the next few days, I'm free. I have no vocal teaching experience but have had lots of training from great teachers so I really do think I can help you fix these issues in under an hour.

Good luck, no reason to be frustrated, I guarantee you will get over these problems because it's all very basic. You just need seek out the right information/coaching and this will all be a thing of the past.

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