[0:00]Is your head voice or falsetto for men weak or maybe you can't even find it?
[0:08]Well, this is no big surprise. We don't typically speak in head voice. We mostly speak in chest voice or chest blend.
[0:18]So it makes sense that your head voice might be weak. Let's find your head voice and strengthen it. Four exercises.
[0:27]And I will demonstrate head blend in four different styles.
[0:33]Welcome back to another edition of Victoria's victorious vocal tips. 34 years of teaching voice.
[0:40]46 years of studying voice all different styles. My students have ranged from ultra beginners all the way through.
[0:48]Advanced touring professionals, voice teachers, choral directors and competition winners. I always give you serious vocal technique made simple and fun.
[0:57]So why do we need head voice anyway? Head voice or falsetto can add more beauty and expression to your voice, and it can make your mixed voice stronger and give you more choices including in your chest blend.
[1:15]Now, it's very common for men to go into falsetto in pop and R&B. So this is certainly not just for the ladies.
[1:25]Now, let's get one thing straight, please. Falsetto versus head voice. People get really confused.
[1:33]Falsetto is head voice. Now, there are two types of falsetto. There's breathy falsetto where the vocal folds don't even come together.
[1:45]It's super breathy. And there is reinforced falsetto where the vocal folds do come together.
[1:54]It's got more core to the sound. So whether you choose to call it falsetto or head voice, same principle.
[2:02]cricothyroid dominant, stretched and thin vocal folds. And our goal in this video is to strengthen the head voice or reinforced falsetto.
[2:16]Exercise one. We're going to experience head voice very easily in a very excited woo.
[2:22]Like someone just surprised you or you're cheering your favorite team. Woo.
[2:28]Okay? Now, if you have trouble with that, give it a little extra boost from your breath support. Watch.
[2:34]Woo. Here we go. Woo.
[2:37]Now, only speak this as high as you can go. You don't have to match my pitch. And in order to do this well, you do have to have a little taller space in the back of the throat, a little bit more yawn.
[2:50]Otherwise, you're going to be like this. That's not the sound we want. We better do it again.
[2:55]Woo. Great. Now listen. I'm going to show you that I'm actually speaking at this pitch.
[3:00]This is F sharp 5. Listen. Woo. Woo. Exercise 1B. We can do the hooty owl.
[3:13]So remember it's not. That's not head voice. And notice what that feels like. It feels very hollow and floaty.
[3:25]Now, if you're able to do that, we can easily apply it to singing. If you're not able to do it yet, I would stay with this exercise and keep practicing.
[3:34]Exercise two. It's time for our spoken siren on ooh, like this.
[3:39]Ooh. Or for lower voices, it could be. Here we go.
[3:48]Ooh. Now it's important to keep this light.
[3:53]If you're pushing up too much vocal weight, you're never going to make it. Let's do it again. Higher voices.
[4:00]Ooh. Or if you have a low voice. You have just allowed your vocal folds to stretch and thin into head voice or as I call it, head blend.
[4:14]Exercise three. Now we're ready to start strengthening your head voice. So our first two exercises were on the ooh vowel, which I think is easiest for people in the beginning.
[4:27]But for strengthening, e is going to be your go-to vowel. Listen, I'm going to go from ooh and then I'm going to show you e.
[4:35]Ooh. Our goal is a very intense and clear vowel.
[4:46]So just to be clear, breathy falsetto would be. Reinforced falsetto would be.
[4:56]So we're going to do our spoken siren on the intense e vowel. Higher voices are going to be.
[5:06]Lower voices are going to be. Here we go. One more time.
[5:15]Great. Now, if you're still really breathy in these exercises, then you need more strength building.
[5:22]See my playlist on breathy singing. Exercise four. Now we're ready to apply to singing.
[5:30]So just to make it easier for you, I'm going to start out first speaking, and then I'm going to sing a descending five-tone scale on ooh and then e.
[5:43]So listen. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.
[5:54]Or let me demonstrate it higher for the higher voices. Okay? Listen.
[5:57]Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Now, men, if this is too high for you, then come back and do it in a lower key later.
[6:11]So listen again. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Here we go. Speak first.
[6:20]Ooh. Ooh. Breathe. Ooh. Ooh. Breathe.
[6:35]Speak first. Ooh. Ooh. Breathe. Speak first. Ooh. Ooh.
[7:24]Once again, to repeat. This takes more space in the back of the throat. More yawny space.
[7:30]Not too much where you're swallowing your tone, but you can't possibly do it on a into that squeeze, not safe. Exercise 4B.
[7:38]Now we're going to leave out the spoken and I want to see if you can come right in with a clear tone.
[7:46]Like this. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Sing.
[7:58]Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Good. In the higher key, it'll be.
[8:11]Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Here we go. Breathe. Breathe.
[8:27]Breathe. Great. So to summarize the important work that we just did, we started out on the ooh vowel, which I find is easiest to get into head voice.
[8:44]And then we applied it to the e vowel for more intensity and clarity.
[8:50]Now, if you like this kind of work, which I hope you do, this is just a sample of what I give you in my audio exercise training program.
[8:59]Victoria's Victorious Vocal Exercise Program. And if you still haven't got it yet, I don't know what you're waiting for.
[9:07]The program is huge. It comes in four different voice types. It's for beginning all the way through advanced level singers.
[9:15]We work on breath support, we work on resonance, we work on troubleshooting whatever your vocal problems might be.
[9:23]We work on different textures, styles. It's super affordable. Oh, it covers two and a half octaves.
[9:31]The best part is, I do regular group classes and I can meet you and help you. So, see the link below and sign up right away.
[9:39]Now, I want to demonstrate how head voice or head blend doesn't have to be super high.
[9:47]I'm going to show you first how I use it for expression in a very sweet song.
[9:53]What about the popular ballad Misty? So, listen, I'm going to travel from my head blend down into chest blend on purpose for expression.
[10:04]Look at me. I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree.
[10:16]But what if I want a more hollow but sweet sound? What about some classic soul? Smokey Robinson.
[10:22]Oh, baby, baby. Oh, baby, baby.
[10:37]And of course, there's the Whitney Houston classic. What if I want a more intense head blend?
[10:44]I will always love you. And of course, a classical art song.
[10:54]Mi sento. Mastering your head voice will give you many more choices and expression in your singing.
[11:11]If you need more help, see my playlist on strengthening head voice. And this is the video that YouTube chose just for you to watch next.
[11:21]Thanks for being here and I'll see you in the next video.
