I recently started helping my friend learn to sing. He's tired of using the standard airy weezy falsetto, and wants to know how to get into more of a head voice. So I was testing his range to see where he breaks and how low he can go. And i'm baffled.

His range goes down to B2 without going into vocal fry, which isn't considerably low, so i figure, perhaps he's a tenor. Then I see where his break is, and it ends up to be C4. He can't hit that note without resorting to falsetto or breaking/straining.

So aside from the fact that his full voice range is just about 1 octave, I tried everything I knew to get him into head voice. Nothing worked. Lip bubbles in an ascending scale were the obvious answer, but he kept breaking. I told him to keep it quiet, but the quieter he got, the sooner he broke.

I considered it may be better for him to get a good grasp on chest voice first, so I had him doing a lot of 13531 scales on AH and resonance hums, and he sounds good in the octave he has, but he's frustrated because as much as I tried I couldn't move him out of that range. I just shrugged and told him to practice, but now this concerns me.

How do you teach a new student to blend into head voice? When I learned how I had already been singing for 2 years on my own and had developed a chest voice range of C2-E4, and I sort of discovered head voice by accident. I can not remember how I figured it out, so I can't figure out how to teach it.

Help please?

refer him to Jaime. Just remember even though you are able to sing it doesn't necessarily mean you will be able to effectively teach it. Singing and teaching singing are 2 different skills. Jaime has experience in both.

If your friend can already sing high in falsetto, that is head voice. The reason he breaks is because he's accessing head voice and his vocal cords haven't been trained to coordinate with the different tensions. The problem is that his vocal cords aren't used to being pulled tighter and worked out. He probably starts at around a tension of 5 or 6 and flips into a looser tension of 3 or 4 (falsetto) after the break. You should teach him how to breathe correctly and understand where the support should be coming from and that that support should be maintain throughout the entire range. He should also be aware of the difference between full head voice and falsetto.

I'm no expert, but when I was learning to get past my break, I just kept practicing by trying to sing through it without an extra tension or increasing the volume. I would do it repeatedly. I would start at a tension of about 7 and try to maintain it as I ascended. It took awhile for me to learn to not let my larynx rise with the higher pitches, but I finally did it. So a good understanding of breath support, vocal cord tension, recognition of full head voice and falsetto, and practice are keys. But like I said I'm no expert, but that's what worked for me.

It took me a few months to learn how to sing smoothly without breaking and extend my range. So let him know it takes practice and patience to learn the muscle memory needed to coordinate the vocal cords past the break. The good news is, once it's been learned and good vocal technique is practiced, the break should never return and he won't have to think about anymore.

Apply Jaime's techniques and you won't go wrong.

Well Mossman, I intend to become a vocal coach eventually, and i'm doing what everyone has told me to do to get started, give free lessons to anyone who wants them from me. I know more than most of the singers in my area do thanks to reading RYV, Thomas Appells book, and all sorts of other stuff, plus my own trial and error, so its a good time for me I think to start transitioning from doing to teaching. I'm no expert singer yet, but I still manage with what I have, and those who hear me sing and want my advice are welcome to it.

I suppose with him i'll just have him keep building resonance with hums, having him to lip bubbles till he gets the muscular coordination down, and maybe since he's having trouble hitting notes at quieter volumes i'll see about having him do some reverse transending tone excersises. Learning to sing and learning to teach are very different, but in my case i'll have to find out what works for both.

Hey Jay Sin,

It's good to hear that you want to be a vocal coach. Just don't become one that puts limits on their student's true potential. Teaching really is more difficult than just singing. I thought I could teach one of my friends to sing just by trying to have him listen and do as I do. The major problem I had with him is that he can't distinguish one note from the next and thinks he's on pitch when he's way off. I could tell when he's on or off, but I just couldn't teach him how to differentiate the pitches. That's when I realized teaching isn't easy. Plus at the time I didn't know half of what I know today about vocalization and singing. Study all you can. Jaime, Thomas Appell, Mark Baxter, Jim Gillette, among many others are good teachers to learn from. Good luck with your teaching.

Tell him to do a big fat yawn doing it with the arm actions helps by the way! It has to be a natural loud yawn for the voice to go in fairly full head voice naturally. That will give him an idea of where the placement should be. Work from there. May be do the transcendent tone in reverse; starting from the loud yawn going to the soft falsetto.

Hey Jay Sin :).


When I started singing, I had a tiny range... I didn't even have that middle C, as I recall. It took so much work for me to get past that point, and I never would have made it without vast amounts of encouragement from my teacher.

The first thing I would suggest you do is find -something- about his voice to complement.


I also wouldn't suggest saying, "Oh, you cracked, okay you're doing something wrong." Don't point out 'mistakes' per say, but instead say, "Okay, so you're cracking on middle C. We'll get that taken care of. By the way the [tone/color/resonance/whatever you can think of] was much better today, lets really expand on that and work with it."

I know it sounds a new-age hippy, but I have found that it makes a huuuuge difference in the energy of the lesson to learn how to use positive, forward-moving language.

I.e. saying, 'oh, that was wrong, we'll fix that' isn't as effective as, 'okay, the breath support needs to be strengthened, now lets fix that.' Saying something is 'wrong' is like a 'stop' sign... it makes people say, "I'm doing something bad."

Some of the best coaches out there can fix the problem without ever telling you what they're doing till after they've fixed it :). They see the problem, fix it, and then later go, "Hey, do you remember how you had difficulty getting through the break before, and now you can do it smoothly? It's because we did [whatever], so just remember that if you have problems with it again."

Being a good teacher is incredibly challenging, and being a great teacher takes years of experience. I know I am certainly not a great teacher yet, but it's my goal to reach that level some day :).



Now down to the technical stuff:

I believe you need a base to work with. If he has one octave, then really work that octave and give him as much flexibility and resonance within that octave as he can get. Get him making solid sounds, give him a good sense of support, and just build and build on that resonance.

Because once you get those things working even the tiniest bit within that octave?... Another two will magically open up for him ;).



I suggest humming, buzzing, lip trills, tongue trills, sustained hisses, and having him stand on one leg with the other one raised in front of him to help get the breath engaged. Those tricks usually help.



This is how I have structured lessons in the past with people who have small ranges (i.e. one to 1.5 octaves) because I find this particular set up to be the most effective for them. I'm not saying you 'need' to do it my way, but if you're looking for ideas I hope this might help. Typically I only need to do it like this for a short time (a few weeks for the dedicated, a few months for the slightly-less ;)), because this really gets their ranges to open up.:

1. Breath exercises. I start with the inhale for 8, hold 4, exhale for 16 (although I build it up to that, even starting as small as inhale 5, hold 3, exhale 8--whatever they can handle). Then I have them do the hissing exercise. Then I have them do lip bubbles in various moving patterns. Lastly I'll have them pretend to be breathing in through a straw, and then try to blow the biggest bubble they possibly can (i.e. sustained, focused exhale).

With people who are struggling for range, I NEVER, EVER, EVER skip the breathing section like I might for someone with a larger range... I have found the breath work to be absolutely essential for people who are needing to increase their range.

In fact, given a short period to work with them, I would rather spend the full time on the breath and maybe just vocalize for two minutes rather than skip the breathing.

2. After that, I like to make sure the student gets a sip of water, and I talk to them for just a second or two. Just say hey, how are you... basically get them talking for ten-twenty seconds. Maybe ask if they've heard that new single on the radio and see if they like it or not.

I listen to their voice and see if the quality is any different... typically it will be richer and just a tiny bit stronger if the breath work is kicking in at all. In a few cases if the student is straining to hold in the breath too hard, it will be noticeable because their voice will sound a bit horse--just take notice of that and watch for it the next time to make sure they're not clenching their throat to keep the air from escaping.

3. I'll start them vocalizing doing just whatever their voice needs. If the problem is that their voice is too breathy, I might have them sing "goo, goo, goo" or "ka, ka, ka." If they need resonance I might have them go, "mmmmah," or say "naaaaah" like a friend has said something and they're saying no.

Basically I spend this time problem-shooting and trying to fix little things like an attack that's too glottal, or maybe they lean their whole body forward every time they go to sing, or they need more resonance/placement/whatever. I spend about 5-15 minutes on that but no more because it's pretty heavy work and lets face it--if their range is THAT small, it's because there are problems... and those problems are usually -extremely- wearing on the vocal cords. I don't like to have them vocalize for too long.

Once their voice is more solidly set, we can spend an entire lesson vocalizing and fixing things, but at first I start with shorter periods.


4. I do a little range stretching. Once we've made some tiny improvements with the spot-checking, I like to run a few scales through their entire range and try to apply the things we worked on to it all the way from the top to the bottom.

This is why I think it's imperative to not spend too long on the vocalizing at first---you want to spend the majority of time fixing problems, but you don't want to wear their voice out. I have found it to be more effective to fix problems and then go into the range stretching rather than trying to range stretch and -then- fix problems.


5. A gentle, but not drawn-out, cool down is essential. I don't even get anywhere near the outer edges of their range--I stay solidly in the middle, even if that middle is only about five or six notes. I like to do gentle 'oohs', 'mahs,' and of course the trusty lip bubbles.


I make sure to keep the whole process at or under 30 minutes because it can be difficult for a new student to keep their energy level high enough at first for longer periods.




Again this is JUST ME. This is a routine I have developed that has proved helpful in the past, and if you're having difficulty structuring your lesson then I hope this will be some help to you.

As a side note, just because I try not to say things like, "Oh that was wrong," that doesn't mean I don't push my students pretty hard. I do.

If we've fixed something, and we're in the middle of a scale, and they suddenly slip back into old habits I am not adverse to yelling, "Hey!!! Don't let the resonance die! Focus!" :P Or what ever the problem is. Of course it's all in how you say it... I said I yell, but in truth it's more like a very loud, encouraging voice :P.


Basically if we've fixed something, I have no problem with cracking down on them if it's obvious that they're letting their mind wander from the vocalizing. But I don't crack down on them for something I haven't taught them, or for something they've just learned.



Now if they're letting old stuff slip in just a little because we're working on something new and they're so focused on that.... well... Depends :). Usually I wont even mention it, and it'll fix itself once the 'new' thing is more comfortable. But if it's a real problem, or something that's been 100% solid in the past then I will bring it up.

Good God, I completely forgot to mention my whole point in both posts. That's what happens when you've been running around all day and try to do this right before going to bed :p. I apologize, I'm extremely tired right now.



My whole point is that if his range is that small, it's because there are some issues with his voice that need fixing before he could even solidly vocalize into head.


By the way--even most tenors have a B2 without having to fry. Most have at least a G2 before having to fry, if not a note or two lower. Hence why I think you need to work that lower range of his a little more.

And if he were a tenor, then... well it would just be VERY rare for him to be breaking at the C4. That's more of a baritone or bass thing to do, because they have a break right around that C4/C#4, where as most real tenors I've met don't break till the D/E4 at the -very- earliest unless there are MAJOR issues that need working out as far as throat tension.

im sure if youll find some people are harder to teach then others too. in my fitness bootcamp classes the same people make the same mistakes and i correct them every single time. even things as simple as a pushup i have to say "keep that butt down" and they respond by pushing it out and saying "am i doing it right?" which it sounds like they are just kidding but they arent. youll have quick learners and not so quick learners.

i picked up the kettlebell snatch in seconds. i have only had one student that has done a picture perfect one

I agree with being positive in your criticisms but remember that it is important to point out when the voice breaks (or other mistakes) so that a student can hear what a correct placement sounds like and recognize what an incorrect voice placement sounds like as well for example, when he/she works on his/her own. Otherwise he/she becomes reliant on the teacher and that's not good. Teach him/her that making mistakes is part of learning and there is nothing wrong with it. It's all about letting go of the ego...

does your friend stutter? maybe not, just a guess. anyway, have him do a 13531 scale on ah (as father) and watch his tongue, i would be willing to bet a ton of money his tongue is buckling up in the back.

I had him doing those. I was monitoring all his movements. I was making sure his neck wasn't stretching, and he wasn't clenching, making sure he wasn't balling his fists, looking up, standingon his toes, or anything else of that nature, including watching his tongue.

He doesn't stutter, in fact he's more well spoken than I am even.

I'll go on with what I did aside from watching for bad habits.

I started out having him do the vocal stress release thoroughly, then I made sure he was breathing properly. He was not, so I showed him how, and in a matter of minutes I had him sustaining hisses for 30+ seconds. He was thrilled by that. After that we did some lip bubble slides, then scales. Then we did some humming slides and scales and eventually onto sustained yahs and Ah scales. Before we did anything past hums I showed him how to place the sound into the soft pallate (Had him doing the HA HA HA's) and how to properly support. So we covered breathing, support, posture, placement, resonance, and how to warm up in roughly 45 minutes. His tone sounded much richer at the end, even when just speaking. I think a few more lessons is all he'll need before he's ready to start ascending to head voice. For now i'll see about developing his chest voice.