Voice registers

The biggest challenge for many young singers is to understand the difference between the voice registers. Not knowing what they are and how they should be used while singing can cause some uncomfortable transitions in voice. That however makes singing a lot harder and voice doesn’t sound as good as it should.

Basically, voice registers are different types of producing the sound. Every human has specific range of voice – it is possible to talk or sing higher and lower, but there are barriers for a voice. This range is measured in notes and it can be divided into voice registers. Basically they are divided into two registers – head register and chest register. Some notes can be sung in one register and some in other. Those who are singing should know, which register to use every time.

The chest register is lower and heavier voice. This voice is produced from the vibrations from the upper chest. This register is used in everyday speech. When a person is normally talking or screaming the sound is sensed in the chest. It can also be used for singing, but it is hard to make high sound using this register.

Head voice is the higher register. It is a lot lighter, so it is usually uses as a basic register for singing. In this case the sound is sensed in the head not the chest. That is possible, because, when the higher register is used, the vocal folds lengthen and voice cords can vibrate faster.

Singers should use both of these registers. Professional singers know very well when which of the registers should be used and they can even sing some of the notes in both of them. That means there is no gap between them. Beginners usually use one of the registers at a time or even don’t change them at all. That restricts the notes that can be sung. The ability to successfully combine both of these registers and to sing wider range of notes can be trained.

The easiest and the most common way to train the voice is to sing along with the piano. It is good training, because singer can clearly see which notes he can sing in the normal range. This training should be started with singing in the normal chest voice and then hitting higher notes step by step. When the singer starts to feel strain in the voice, he has reached the maximum height of the voice, but repeating this training many times can help the voice get higher and the transition from both voice registers can become a lot smoother. That is possible, because the voice chord is being trained this way.

To get a better understanding about what voice registers actually sound like and where are the breaks of them, it is very useful to listen to voices of many professional singers. Start with listening to pop and R&B artists, because in these genres the brakes of registers can be heard very clearly. When you will have a clear understanding about usage of voice registers, you will be able to become a lot better singer.