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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.

Can anyone learn how to sing?

Usually a passion for singing has only those who are naturally gifted and have a good singing voice. Those who can’t hold a note and sing any song doesn’t even bother themselves with this activity, because it is believed that singing can’t be learned. Is it really so? Is singing only a Gods’ given talent or just a skill that can be learned just like any other?

Many singing experts claim that it is impossible to sing good if you have no talent at all, but at the same time there are a lot of proofs that singing can be learned. Studies have showed that singing can be learned to completely anyone, at least to a decent standard and in some cases even with really great results. It is possible to develop the voice, but it takes time and a lot of trainings. So if you are willing to learn to sing, start training.

Unfortunately it is not easy to find the right approach for that. There can be lot of examples for singing trainings found on the internet or in books, but every voice is unique so there is no guarantee that these trainings will work for anyone. Usually this is the main reason why people think it is impossible to learn how to sing – they are just training wrong. So there are some things you need to figure out before starting practical trainings.

First of all, before trainings, you should explore your voice. Record your voice and listen to it. You need to figure out what is wrong with your voice and what you want to accomplish with these trainings. For example, you need to understand either you can or can’t control your voice and hold a note. If you can’t then you need to start trainings from the very bottom and learn how to hit a note. If you can control your voice, then you need to find the specific aspects of your voice that should be improved and train these aspects. There can be such aspects as voice register, breathing, height of the voice etc., which should be improved.

The basic exercises for improving your singing skills would be singing along musical instruments. The best one is the piano, because than you can see which notes exactly you can sing and which can’t. Don’t sing a whole song, just hit the note and sing any sound along it. By doing this, you will learn how to hold notes in a song.

If your singing skills are at least in a level to sing simple songs, you can work on specific shades. For this you can use books or articles with examples of trainings, but look for the trainings that can fix your exact problem. If it is too complicated to detect the flaws by yourself, you can hire a vocal couch that can help you.

Don’t believe if someone says singing is not meant for everyone. They are wrong. It is possible to learn how to sing. Of course it will take a lot more than just one day, but if you will practice and work on your singing skills regularly, after few months your they will be a lot better.

Basics of singing

Any of us can sing, but takes some knowledge to sing correctly. Of course some of the singers are naturally gifted and the sound of their voice is stunning without any kind of practice or knowledge about singing, but those are rare exceptions. Most of the people need to train their voice and other aspects to sing better. To do that, they need to understand the theoretical aspects of singing.

There are five basic components of correct singing. Those are pitch, breathing, rhythm, diction and voice. Any of these components can be subdivided and there are a lot of things that should be taken into a consideration if you want to become a good singer, but let’s start with the very basics.

Pitch is one of the key aspects of success when we are talking about singing. Matching pitches means to sing in a tune, so if the singer is not able to hit the pitch, the singing will sound awful. The reason why some can hit the pitch, but some can’t is because people have different development of hearing. Some people are tone deaf, which means that they can’t tell the difference between the notes. To become a good singer, you must learn to hear the difference between notes and that can be done only with serious practice. Try to play the notes on the piano and notice the difference.

The next thing every singer needs to know is how to control the breathing. Actually it is not a hard task. Breathing is a natural process that is controlled by a diaphragm and muscles around it. These muscles can be controlled just like any other muscle in our body, but to control them more efficiently, you need to train them. That can be done very easy with some breathing exercises. Just take some deep breathes with pauses on each aspiration.

The next aspect is rhythm. That is very important so the beat and the singing would be synchronic. Unfortunately the sense of rhythm is something that can’t be learned so easy. Either you have it or you don’t. You can try to improve your sense of rhythm by clapping hands to a certain rhythm, but there is no guarantee that it will help.

Also diction is very important for singing. It is not enough to know how to produce a good sound. Singer also has to pronounce the words correctly, so the lyrics would be understandable. If your diction is not great, it’s not a big disaster, because it can be fixed very easy. Just train your voice every day. You don’t even have to sing. Just try to pronounce correctly each word in your everyday speech.

The last aspect is the voice itself. This is the aspect you should really focus on. Figure about everything about your voice register and try to learn how to use it. Train your vocal cords by singing high notes. Hire a vocal coach if it’s needed. That will help you produce a good sound with your voice.