When I do TT exercises, higher notes (F#4 until tenor C, which is as high as I want to go right now), it goes from a very round, hooty falsetto, kinda like how you'd imagine a snooty British woman to speak, and gradually gets sharper, more piercing, and nasal (not to mention louder), until I'm in full voice and the nasal quality disappears and it's really like a baby crying, but with more low-resonance. I still FEEL resonance in my nasal cavity, but I've tried to make sure and focus the breath into my soft pallet, and I think that has helped immensely. Then I hold the note out and can bring in more bass slowly. So I think you are doing it correctly. I bought Brett Manning's course and yes, what he describes as the whiney witch voice is what I feel when I'm in my mixed voice area.

I am very familiar with SLS. In fact, Brett Manning and I are good friends. This "creaky" sound does occur for some students. I noticed how you mentioned that this happened down at C# for awhile. It seems this is the process that you will go through as an individual until you master each individual note, as you work week by week, gaining higher notes :) Don't be alarmed, it takes time, patience, and practice. When your voice creaks or breaks, just practice that individual note over and over again. If it takes you 5 seconds to transcend, start trying 10 seconds to slow down and controlo the process. That big hooty sound is reinforced falsetto. You are basically just making your falsetto louder and bigger, much like the E scream exercise in RYV. The other is most likely full voice, but I'd have to hear it. Keep in mind that as you transcend the tone from falsetto to full voice, about half way through is what Brett would call your "mixed voice", which is very beneficial to pop singers because it has a light but strong quality, without that full voice, in your face sound ;)

JV

Hey Jaime,

I also had a question about transcending the tone. Is it normal to get a vocal fry at a certain point while transcending? I also used to get the same thing while doing falsetto slides (which I do all the time while singing), when I first managed to make it smooth. However, I got rid of that by adjusting where in the scale exactly I switch between the two. When I try to transcend pretty much anywhere, either I crack (while still ending up in full voice at the right pitch, after a fluctuation) or I get that. I haven't been able to get rid of it yet, is there anything I must pay extra attention to?

Also, I when I go over a certain pitch, my larynx starts rising and eventually, I strain so much that I crack and so I've been doing some bullfrogs. Is the tongue supposed to move while moving the muscles that drop the larynx down?

And finally, at higher pitches, where I cannot use my full voice yet, whenever I try to transcend, I still end up going into reinforced falsetto, which is what I automatically do in my singing, anyway. However, it's not a breathy or hoody falsetto, it's my usual loud Halford-style tone. How can I *force* myself not to do this?

I could post a few examples of the tone I'm talking about and of the problems, if you need them.

The fry and cracking you are experiencing are typical but you MUST work through the transition VERY SLOWLY in order to eliminate it. For the Bullfrog, I usually apply the yawning sensation a bit and keep the tongue down while doing the exercises. THe last question is a toughy! There is absolutely nothing wrong with using falsetto for the Halford type stuff, but you should continue to work on trying to transcend it into full voice. If it isn't hooty or breathy, I'd say you are a little closer to full voice as opposed to a true falsetto. Yes there is a difference but sometimes it is hard to tell. Keep the rins expanded and concentrate on feeling the resonance in the teeth, while shooting the high notes out the top of your head.

JV