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Human voice is sound made by a person using the vocal folds for talking, singing or crying.
The tone of voice may show that a sentence
is a question, even if it grammatically is not, and shows emotions such as anger, surprise, happiness; in a request the tone reveals much about how much one wants something, and whether it is asking a
favor or more like an order; the tone of saying e.g. "I am sorry" says a lot: it may vary from begging for forgiveness to "I have
the right to do this even if you do not like it". See nonverbal communication.
Singers use the human voice
as an instrument for creating music.
Voice registers
The human voice is a complex instrument. Humans have vocal cords which can loosen or tighten or change their thickness and over which
breath can be transfered at varying pressures. The shape of chest and neck, the position of the tongue, and the tightness of
otherwise unrelated muscles can be altered. Any one of these actions results in a change in pitch, or volume, or timbre, or tone of the sound produced.
One important categorisation which can be applied to the sounds singers make relates to the register; or the "voice"
which we use. Singers refer to these registers according to the part of the body in
which the sound most generally resonates, and which have correspondingly different tonal qualities. There a widely differing
opinions and theories about what a register is, how they are produced and how many there are. The following definitions refer to
the different ranges of the voice.
Chest voice
The chest voice is the register used in everyday speech. When you talk to the person next to you in a normal voice, you can
feel that the sound seems to be "coming from" your upper chest. This is because lower frequency sounds have longer wavelengths,
and resonate mostly in the larger cavity of the chest. When you sing notes at the bottom of your range, you are using your chest
voice.
The tonal qualities of the chest voice are usually described as being rich, full, deep, loud and strong.
Middle voice
The middle voice, also known as the "blend", is the term used to describe the range of notes which marks the crossover between
the chest and head voices. It may be a distinct change (a passaggio) or a more
gradual blending. With training, many singers can choose whether to sing notes in this range in the head or chest voice.
Head voice
The head voice is often used when we shout, or are highly excited. In these situations we tend to produce higher pitches, and
these resonate in the mouth and in the bones of the skull - so the sound feels as if it is "coming from" our head. When you sing
the notes at the upper end of your vocal range, you are using your head voice.
The tonal qualities of the head voice are usually described as being sweet, balladic, lilting, and pure. It is usually more
tonally precise but less loud than the chest voice.
Falsetto
Falsetto is a higher range than the head voice; it relies on completely relaxed vocal cords and may sound breathy. Imagine the
Bee Gees singing "Stayin' Alive", or John Cleese playing an old woman in Monty Python; that is
the sound of the falsetto voice. It is generally only used by men. It is a difficult register to sing accurately in, and it tends
to be rather quiet. It also requires an uncomfortable muscle effort for many men.
It is a quite distinct range from the head voice, and generally when singers describe their range they exclude the falsetto
voice.
Finding your voices
1. Stand up.
2. As loudly as you can, say the word "hellooooooooo" (holding the "o") in your normal speaking voice. Put your hand on your
chest; you should feel it vibrating. If not, try singing a little louder or lower. This is your chest voice.
3. As loudly as you can, repeat the word "helloooooo" with as high a pitch as you can comfortably sing without any special
muscle effort; you should feel your chest is no longer vibrating, but instead your skull is. This is your head voice.
4. Now say "hellooooooooooo" in as high a pitch as you can, even if it feels uncomfortable and sounds silly. This is your
falsetto voice.
You may find it interesting to gradually sing up your range from the bottom and feel where you cross over from the chest voice
to the head voice.
External links
See also:
- Vocal loading
- Voice analysis
- Voice frequency
- Voice change in boys
- voice disorders
- Voice production
- Phonetics
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