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Vocal Point
Dealing with Register Breaks
Dec-10-2000
©2000 iBluegrass.com. All rights reserved.
'Register Break' Part 1
Nothing is more moving than those soaring, clear high notes in bluegrass singing, and nothing is more frustrating than feeling our voice tense up or even break at that very moment we need it to relax and open up. This month I want to focus on a problem that many of us struggle with called 'register break,' those few crossover notes from your lower to your upper register that feel strained, then weak and hard to control. Men usually experience this break between an E to an F# over Middle C. For women the notes would be the same but an octave higher, or a Bb to a C# above Middle C, (check your own voice to see where the break falls). The notes above the break are referred to as 'head voice' for women, and 'falsetto' for men.
Let's start out with an exercise that, when done correctly, will help to free your throat from strain when singing. Preparing for the exercise:
Do you recall how our old TV pal Bugs Bunny said, 'Ehhh, what's up Doc?' Your job is to say the word 'ehhh' from this phrase and to sound exactly like Bugs (pretend you're in the Walt Disney Studios doing a voice over). Yes, I'm serious. Actually, the more fun you make of this exercise the more effective it is. Picture and feel the sound focusing above the upper jaw and behind the nose (be careful to think 'behind' as opposed to 'in' the nose) If you're doing it right it will sound piercing and you'll feel a light buzz behind your nose (don't look for a pretty sound---this is a body exercise meant to focus the tone into a specific place in your face creating a specific physical memory). Relax an release the back of your throat. Relax and release your jaw. Direct the tone forward to the front of the face. Picture a narrow stream of air/tone flowing smoothly and evenly up the windpipe, passing above the tongue directly through the spot behind your nose. Repeat this very nasal sound several times. Now add an 'h' to the sound so you will have 'heeh.' Notice how your lips naturally form into the beginning of a smile. Practice this sound several time until you feel you have it.
Let's do a quick spot check:
1. Throat relaxed and released
2. Jaw relaxed and released
3. Beginnings of a smile
4. Tone riding on air (smooth, even stream) directed above the tongue into the front of the face directly behind the nose.
5. Refer to your Bugs Bunny 'ehh' for tone and placement (keep it somewhat light).
Now for the exercise:
Find a comfortable high note in your head voice/falsetto range and slowly, with a sliding sound, start dropping in pitch (sounding similar to the winding down of a siren). It's important to keep the breath flowing evenly and to consistently feel the 'buzz' right behind your nose, especially in the lower register. If you feel any tightening up stop, ease up a little, add a little breath and start again. When you feel you are close to the break exaggerate the frontal focus, add a little more breath and ease up (the opposite of pushing). When you pass over the register break you should feel it far less dramatically. Remember to keep the tone in the front of your face (buzz behind the nose) as you continue to descend.
Practice this sliding descent from high to low. Remember what to do (see above) as you approach the break. The more you work or 'play' with this exercise the more you'll learn or 'feel' how to smooth over it.
Lastly, slide easily and with a feeling of elasticity from high to low, but this time continue back up without stopping, as though in a vocal loop.
As you ascend be sure to keep the forward placement of the tone. It should feel the same and be placed in exactly the same place as it was when descending---forward with a light buzzy feeling behind the nose.
This exercise opens the door to greater sensory understanding of placement, projection and tonal 'brightness.' The main objective of the exercise, however, is to create a physical memory of sound production (singing) that's free of inappropriate muscle tensions that lead to register break---and cause us to avoid singing songs we love because we can't get those top few notes!
Happy Holidays! Thanks to all of you who have been responding to the articles. I very much appreciate your interest and involvement. Have a safe holiday, and we'll see you next month!
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