GOOD TONE PRODUCTION FOR

SINGING (PAGE 1 OF 4)
A major goal of serious students of voice is to learn how to produce smooth, even, fully
resonant, pleasant tone throughout the range.

Ideal tone is a complex product of breath control, vocal fold function, position of the
larynx, tongue, nose, and soft palate, as well as use of resonance in the head and throat
cavities, (amongst other functions of the vocal apparatus). Beyond these 'basics', there are
many other nuances and intricacies of tone, such as colour, quality, registration, etc., that
are best developed with some professional, expert guidance. Tone is far too complicated
for me to treat in depth in this article, and far too complicated to learn by merely reading
suggestions and advice from others on the internet.

I strongly recommend that you find a knowledgeable, experienced voice instructor who
will teach you correct singing technique and improve your overall tone. Opt for a
technique instructor who will focus a great deal on your tone development over a vocal
coach who will likely spend more time on having you sing songs than on fully
developing your technical skills. (Read my article Vocal Coaching or Vocal Technique
Instruction? to learn more about the difference between these two styles of teaching.)
Working with a vocal instructor who is highly knowledgeable about the science of
singing will help you to gain a better understanding of how to use your body to produce a
desirable, 'perfect' tone. Furthermore, with some help, you can become aware of and
eliminate tone production errors, and thus improve breath control, stamina, vocal agility,
volume, range and vocal health as a result.
The following subsections will address topics ranging from common technical errors that
produce poor tone, why they occur and how to correct them to finding ideal vocal
resonance to why our voices all sound different to the role of breathing in tone production
to register blending to exercises that will help a beginning student learn to feel and hear
correct tonal balance in the voice. (Again, I can't emphasize enough the inherent
inadequacy of this article to help a singer create balanced tone. It is merely intended to
provide some information to help guide a singer to a better understanding of his or her
voice. A singer who is truly serious about achieving a great vocal tone should study vocal
technique with a competent, knowledgeable instructor.)

This article is intended to go in tandem with the Singing With An Open Throat: Vocal
Tract Shaping article soon to appear on this same site, which will address other aspects of
tone creation, such as ideal positions of the tongue, jaw, lips, soft palate, larynx, etc. and
the acoustical science of formants, which add warmth and vibrancy to the singing voice.
COMMON TONE PRODUCTI ON ERRORS
Although there are numerous undesirable colours and 'shades' of tone, (such as 'pinched',
'sharp-' or 'shrill-sounding', 'flat-sounding', 'shaky', 'thin', etc.), I tend to divide the most
common tone production errors into three general categories: breathy, nasally and
throaty. In this article, I have also included a fourth tone production error, pressed
phonation, because it is also relatively common amongst untrained or incorrectly trained
singers. Each of these errors in sound or tone production is a product of poor singing
technique and results in a failure to create optimal resonance, which is an important part
of good singing. These faulty tones all tend to hamper loudness ability and limit range,
control, stamina and volume. Furthermore, since improper tone production is created
through improper use of the vocal apparatus, it can also lead to vocal fatigue, strain or
injury.

In some cases these tone production weaknesses may indicate the presence of a medical
condition (e.g., vocal fold dysfunction or other glottal incompetence, etc.) that is
preventing the vocal apparatus from functioning optimally. It is always in the singer's
best interest to have a doctor examine his or her vocal tract in cases where the singer
finds that he or she is unable to make improvements in singing tone after a reasonable
length of time working with a qualified vocal instructor, or where persistent pain or
discomfort is present during either singing or speech. A correct diagnosis and proper
treatment of such medical concerns can save the voice from (further) injury, and save the
singer from years of frustration and discouragement when he or she remains unable to
produce desirable tone.

It is important to understand that many singers may demonstrate these tone production
errors only at certain times, in certain places within their range, on certain vowels or at
certain pitches. Also, the voices of some singers may be described in more than one way.
For example, some singers are both nasally at points and throaty at other times during a
song.

BREATHINESS: THE 'AIRY' VOICE

Breathiness is by far the most common tonal weakness that I encounter in my teaching,
and most predominantly among my female students of all ages. There are numerous
explanations for why breathiness occurs in a singing or speaking voice, and I will explain
them in the paragraphs below. Many singers are not aware of the breathiness that is
present in their voices, nor of its undesirability and inefficiency, until it is pointed out to
them and until they become aware of what good tone and resonance should sound and
feel like.
A 'breathy' quality or an 'airy' tone can be heard as an audible passing or 'leaking' of air
through the mouth while singing, almost like the faint sound of air leaking out of a tire or
balloon. It is often described as an 'unfocused sound or tone', and tends to create a
diffuse and wispy sound, or a raspy, scratchy vocal quality (e.g., as in the case of ex-
president Bill Clinton's speaking voice). This mode of phonation, when habitually used,
is also termed hypofunctional.
During inhalation, the vocal folds come apart to allow air to enter the lungs. Directly after
inhalation and immediately prior to phonation (or singing, for our purposes here),
however, the vocal folds need to come together gently and firmly with the aid of the
laryngeal muscles. This closure cuts off the escaping air. When the air pressure in the
trachea rises as a result of this closure, the folds above it are blown apart, while the vocal
processes of the arytenoid cartilages - a pair of small, pyramid-shaped (three-sided)
cartilages that form part of the larynx, to which the vocal folds are attached - remain
in apposition (side by side). This creates an oval shaped gap between the folds and some
air escapes, lowering the pressure inside the trachea. Rhythmic repetition of this
movement, a certain number of times a second, creates a pitched note. Ideally, the vocal
folds should contact each other completely during each vibration, fully closing the gap
between them.
In order to oscillate, or vibrate, the vocal folds need to be brought near enough together -
this is known as vocal fold closure or approximation - so that air pressure builds up
beneath the larynx . This increased subglottal - the area below the glottis, or larynx -
pressure causes the folds to vibrate and make sound. The vibration of the vocal folds
modulates (regulates) the flow of air being expelled from the lungs during phonation.
When the vocal folds fail to close completely before singing, however, breathiness
results. In other words, a breathy style of singing is achieved by holding the vocal folds
apart. In breathy phonation, there is insufficient resistance by the vocal folds to the air
that sets them into vibration. As a result, airflow escapes the glottis during the quasi-
closed phase, which generates noise and produces a strong fundamental.
Poor approximation (closure) of the vocal folds explains much of the breathiness that I
encounter in my teaching, especially in my young female students. Students often need
help developing a good onset of sound or attack at the start of a sung phrase.
Many untrained and self-conscious singers produce this tone in order to soften the edges
of their voices so that they don't sound as loud. Oftentimes, new students who have never
taken lessons before are extremely nervous when they first meet me - a trained,
professional singer - assuming that I will critique them harshly or make fun of them for
their less-than-perfect singing voices. They then produce a very quiet, conservative, airy
sound while singing in front of me. In some cases, the issue of self-consciousness
becomes most pronounced during puberty, a time during which young students must
contend with an inconsistency in their changing and maturing voices and must come to
accept and embrace a newly emerging adult voice that sounds different than what they
have grown accustomed to hearing themselves produce. The voice is a significant part of
who we are as individuals, and if we don't feel as though what we have to share is worthy
of being heard by others, we may produce a non-projective, quiet singing or speaking
voice. Sometimes improvements happen immediately, once the student becomes more
comfortable singing in front of me, but most of the time, it takes some work to help them
get past their psychological hang-ups so that we can clean up their tone.

Often there may be certain sections of a singer's range, or certain notes, that seem to
come out particularly breathy or unclear. Sometimes this faulty tone emerges around
pivotal registration points or only within certain registers. Most often, breathiness in
untrained males occurs in head voice, as these students either are afraid of hurting
themselves by singing above speech-inflection range and hold back on breath energy to
reduce volume and strain or are simply unaccustomed to hearing themselves sing in
higher pitches and substitute a breathy falsetto-type voice for legitimate full voice. In
young untrained females, breathiness often emerges in the middle register because they
tend to relax their breath support and reduce their breath energy in this range where they
are more comfortable singing the notes or because of underdevelopment of this range. In
untrained females who have passed puberty, breathiness often occurs in head voice
because they fail to make appropriate vowel modifications and then produce a 'spread'
vowel sound rather than experiencing the necessary 'narrowing' of the vowels that would
otherwise enable them to maintain a clear, free tone in the upper register. In lighter- or
higher-voiced females, I sometimes notice a lack of focus in the tone when they are
singing at the bottom of their chest or natural voice ranges. (The bottom extreme of a
singer's range is impaired by breathiness because the marked shortening of the vocal
folds tends to set the folds apart and create a bulging mass within the vocal folds.) These
women tend to produce a vocal fry-type mode of phonation, which can be damaging to
the voice if used excessively. In all of these cases, improvement in vocal technique
corrects the problem of breathiness in the voice.
Many singers struggle to maintain clarity in their tone only while singing certain vowels.
More closed vowels - ones in which the tongue is positioned close to the roof of the
mouth - such as the [e] and [i], tend to give many students problems because, while
attempting to add openness to the vowel to prevent it from sounding tight or squeezed,
singers often end up spreading the vowel. For others, more open vowels - ones in which
the tongue is in a low position - such as [a], seem to invite breathiness. Front or back
vowels, as well as vowels that are either rounded or unrounded, may also be more or
less problematic for certain singers. Most singers seem to have difficulties with at least
one vowel when they first walk into my studio, and the reasons for these problems are
often easy to pinpoint but painstaking to correct. In most cases, articulation of vowels and
vocal tract shaping are what need to be addressed and corrected, and old habits are often
hard to break.
Insufficient breath energy accounts for the rest of the breathiness that I hear in my
students' voices. Often new students assume an overly relaxed posture and fail to use
good support of their breath. They need to learn how to manage their airflow by
balancing the resistance provided by the expansion of the intercostals muscles and the
controlled rise of the diaphragm (see Appoggio in Correct Breathing For Singing). When
trying to eliminate a breathy tone, many singers will attempt to force the sound out in
order to get more volume, pushing instead of supporting the voice, which only masks the
problem and creates tension in the neck and shoulder muscles and an unsteady flow of
air. Thinking in terms of 'allowing' or 'letting' more air out, rather than 'pushing' more air
out sometimes makes a significant difference both psychologically and physically. The
notion of letting more air out often helps a student to relax and control the breathing
mechanism better. There is an optimal balance of muscular involvement that needs to be
achieved for singing. A singer must remain neither too relaxed, nor too tense. Once
support improves, breathiness generally lessens.
Some students produce breathy tones only when descending in pitch. They tend to relax
their breath energy because the pitch demands are not as high going downward on a
scale. The laryngeal muscles may also become lax.

Some singers find that physical fatigue from inadequate rest makes it impossible for them
to find the energy needed to support their voices and coordinate their bodies well enough
to produce a clear tone. Better sleeping habits tend to immediately improve this kind of
breathy tone production.

Insufficient hydration (dryness) can also temporarily create a breathy tone in a singer's
voice, as the vocal folds do not function optimally when they lack sufficient moisture for
lubrication.

Some singers use a breathy tone in an effort to imitate the vocal stylings of their favourite
singers. If the students' vocal role models are singers like Britney Spears and Mariah
Carey, who employ breathy, raspy, scratchy sounds for artistic effect, they may, either
consciously or unconsciously, adopt the same tonal quality as their own, viewing it as
both desirable and marketable. Emulating or learning to sing in the same fashion as their
idols encourages the development of poor technique, and is potentially detrimental to the
vocal apparatus. It may take months or years to help students understand why this tone is
undesirable and to unlearn these bad vocal habits.

Of course, there is a place within contemporary music where breathiness may be

acceptable. This effect, when intentionally but sparingly used, can add some
thoughtfulness, sweetness, drama, sexiness and intimacy to a song, and can be an
intentional effect to increase artistry.

However, many of these famous singers are unable to produce a clean, focused tone due
to poor singing technique. They sing each song on their CDs with the same unfocused
tone. If this is the only way in which a singer is able to sing, then he or she lacks good
technique and should not be considered an ideal vocal model. He or she may make a
good living with this style of sound production, but success and popularity are not
necessarily synonymous with vocal talent, correctness and healthiness, and students of
voice should be cautioned to avoid imitating these tones. Just because a singer may have
a pleasing, albeit breathy, tone, does not mean that he or she is singing well or correctly,
and it doesn't mean that he or she isn't being limited by this tone production choice, if
indeed it is a choice. Again, this should not be the only way in which a singer is able to
sing.

Prepubescent girls and those who are in their early teens may not be able to fully
eliminate breathiness from their voices, as there may be a physiological (medical)
explanation for this tone - the mutational chink - that will require maturation to make
disappear completely. Although I tread lightly with the voices of younger students, it is
possible to safely and gently help to improve the singing tone of these maturing voices, in
spite of the mutational chink phenomenon, since some of the breathiness is also
attributable to improper singing technique, including inadequate breath support and
energy and poor attacks or onsets of sound.
Using gentle glottal onsets, achieved by singing notes in staccato, twang and energized
whining (like a baby) in the upper middle and upper range may be effective. Some
teachers find that lip and tongue-tip trills help to even out breathy (as well as pressed)
phonation. Also, forward consonants, like 'b' and 'v', may help to focus resonance or tone
during onset/staccato exercises. Eventually, once tone clears up, these consonants can be
removed from the exercises. Using front vowels, particularly the [i] and [e] is generally
not recommended for young female voices because they force a firmer adduction
(closure) of the vocal folds and thus a higher air pressure on the young instrument.
However, in order to produce a balanced training of the voice, these vowels, which occur
regularly in both speaking and singing, should not be altogether neglected, even by the
young singing voice.
I have had success with removing much of the breathiness in the middle registers of some
of my young female students by having them make excited statements like 'Whoo hoo!'
and 'Oh no!' in a range of pitches that would fall within their upper middle register. From
these exercises, I will often move onto having the young singer say a variety of English
words, formed with different vowel sounds, at specific pitches. (They always seem
surprised that this 'pitched talking' sounds a lot like singing, but doesn't feel as difficult!)
Once these students begin to become aware of the mechanism that maintains clarity of
tone during speech at these higher speech-inflection pitches - they can invariably produce
a clear 'calling' voice, which suggests to me that the problem of breathiness is often more
a matter of psychology than biology - they almost immediately find it easier to produce
the same clear tone during the extended vowels of singing. Sometimes just seeing how
the vowels that they train with during their lessons are applicable to the singing of songs
(i.e., with consonants added to create meaningful words) helps them to make the body-
mind connection.
Breathy tones in young singers may also be caused in part by their growing bodies. There
tends to be a fair bit of inconsistency in their placement - where they focus their tone -
because growth, including that of the vocal apparatus, may occur rapidly. One week,
placement works, and the following week, it doesn't. A mere millimetre of growth in the
larynx can significantly affect the voice. Often the simplest methods of achieving good
tone and placing resonance in the mask or masque (the bony structure of the face), such
as humming and the use of more resonant consonants, are the most successful ones with
this age group. Once these pre-adolescents are beyond puberty, the problem with
inconsistency generally disappears.
Additionally, young singers often lack coordination between their body alignment,
the actuator (the lungs and breathing system), the vibrator (the vocal folds) and
the resonator (the vocal tract). As they gain better awareness of their postural balance,
their breathing becomes more efficient, which in turn helps them to phonate and resonate
more efficiently.
Incorrect placement or focus of resonance also contributes to breathiness in students
whose voices have already matured. (Some teachers dislike using the term 'placement' to
describe where and how singers focus the resonance of their voices because it is both
subjective and inaccurate in the sense that tone can't actually be consciously placed.
However, I tend to find that it creates positive mental images for most of my students,
and helps them to effectively balance their tone with each vowel at each pitch.) Even with
a mild sensation of resonance in the resonating cavities of the head and throat, a singer's
tone may still not be clear, balanced or efficient. Making some minor adjustments will
enable the singer to notice a decrease in breathiness as well as an increase in resonance,
and thus a natural increase in volume, airflow and stamina.
Many students have other vocal habits that create impediments to clear, efficient vocal
tone. These practices in singing involve the closing of the throat, instability of the tongue,
the lowering of the soft palate, and poor vowel formation (bad articulation that changes
the natural timbre. I am currently writing an article dedicated entirely to the concept of
the open throat and on the ideal positions and shaping of the vocal tract during singing,
which will be posted soon.
Certain medical problems, such as vocal fold dysfunctions, can interfere with vocal fold
closure. Polyps, cysts and nodes (nodules) are some of the most common medical
hindrances to good, clear tone production.

Breathiness is not considered to be an ideal mode of phonation because it distorts vocal

resonance, robbing the voice of its full overtones. The breathy voice generally lacks the
beautiful 'ring' that is commonly heard in trained voices, and volume is lost because of
the imbalanced resonance.
Moreover, because the air escapes rapidly through the gap between the vocal folds, the
lungs empty quickly, and the sound is of short duration. In other words, breathy singers
tends to have less endurance and are unable to sing long vocal phrases or sustain notes for
several measures because they run out of breath too quickly. Because the supply of breath
has to be renewed so frequently, the singer's respiration also tends to be short and
unsteady.

Breathiness is not a poor tonal quality merely because certain voice instructors say that it
is. It isn't merely a matter of acoustical preference or personal taste. Science proves that it
is also an unhealthy and abusive one. Voice scientist and teacher Dr. Barbara Mathis did
research with fiberoptic cameras that revealed that singing with a breathy tone causes the
vocal folds to turn more and more red and the vocal lips to swell to almost twice their
normal thickness. This extra swelling of the folds can lead to vocal fatigue, inability to
get through vocal performances and other injury, such as vocal nodes. (Former president
Bill Clinton is a perfect example of someone who has suffered vocal fatigue due to
having a breathy tone.) Although it is scientifically proven that breathy singing is
damaging to the voice, many ill-informed teachers continue to teach this technique as a
way of 'lightening the voice'.

Holding the vocal folds apart creates muscle tension in the neck that can severely impair
singing. Sometimes an improper head and neck alignment can make singing difficult,
resulting in a breathy sound due to compensating muscle involvement. The head and neck
must be in alignment and must remain relaxed during singing, regardless of intensity
or tessitura.
When singers have been singing a certain way, with a certain tone, all their lives, they
become very comfortable with the sound that they produce. It feels natural and sounds
familiar. Not one of my students has been aware of the breathiness in his or her voice
until it has been pointed out to him or her during early lessons. New or untrained singers
don't know what to listen for, and they have become accustomed to hearing their voices
inside their heads sounding a certain way.

It is the conscientious student of voice, however, who learns to listen analytically to the
quality of the tone, judges the sensations produced in the body and understands where
changes and improvements ought to be made. (Many of my students respond best to a
mixture of scientific information and subjective analysis of physiological responses.)
Once a singer becomes aware of both the internal sound and the physical sensations of
effective resonance, significant progress in the areas of tone production, agility and
breath control begins to be made.

As mentioned above, breathiness is characterized by the audible sound of air 'leaking'

from the lungs. Ideally, the vocal folds will provide the correct amount of resistance so
that only the amount of air needed to produce sound at the desired pitch and dynamic
level escapes at any given moment.
If you are unable to determine simply by listening to yourself sing whether or not your
tone is breathy, there are a couple really simple self-monitoring tricks that you can try.
First, sing a single note on the vowel [a], (pronounced 'ah'), with your hand placed in
front of your mouth and nose, about an inch away. If you feel a lot of breath hitting your
palm, then you are likely producing a breathy tone, and using up your air too quickly.
(Some air necessarily escapes from your mouth, but it should be minimal.) Try singing all
five pure Italian vowels ([e]/'ay' without the 'y' at the end, [i]/'eeh', [a]/'ah', [o]/'oh',
[u]/'ooh'), as some vowels may present more of a challenge for you to maintain good tone
production while singing them.

A centuries old exercise for checking on airflow levels is the breath

management candle test. Sing a vowel with a candle flame placed about five inches from
the mouth. In breathy singers, the flame will flutter wildly, whereas in singers with more
efficient tone (e.g., with good vocal fold closure and breath control), the candle flame
will waver very little. Of course, there are inherent weaknesses to this test, as the room in
which the candle is burning needs to be free of drafts and movement.
A more effective test for breathy phonation than either the palm-of-the-hand or the
candle-flame methods of self-monitoring involves placing a hand mirror close to the
mouth while singing. If there is a lot of breath condensation on the mirror, the tone
production is breathy. A clean production, free of a high rate of air expulsion, will show
reduced condensation. (Avoid the use of non-voiced consonants for this test because they
register high levels of airflow.)

MUTATIONAL CHINK
The mutational chink is a medical term that describes a situation in which an oval
opening is left between the vocal folds during the vibratory portion of the cycle; that is,
when sound is being produced. (You may recall that I wrote earlier in this article that the
folds, ideally, should open during inhalation but gently and fully close just prior to
phonation. The closing of the vocal folds creates a degree of resistance to the air that is
exiting the lungs, and they begin to buzz in response to the pressure building up beneath
them. This buzzing is the basic sound of the voice, before it is shaped by the vocal tract
into specific speech sounds.)
In pre- and early adolescent girls, especially between the ages of 11 and 14, the
mutational chink creates a breathy tone. Typically, the interarytenoid muscles (the
muscles between the arytenoid cartilage that are responsible for closing the gap, or
'mutational chink', that occurs between the arytenoids when the muscular portion of the
glottis is closed) enable a singer to achieve a firm closure during the vibratory cycle.
However, they develop more slowly than the arytenoid cartilages themselves, leaving a
gap. (The arytenoid cartilages, to which the vocal folds are attached, control the folds.)
Girls within this age group tend to have a very well developed chest register that can be
carried up quite high, leaving only a small range of pitches in the middle register. If you
were to listen to girls within this age group singing in musical theatre, as in the movie
Annie, you would notice that they tend to sing mostly in chest (or natural) voice. This
extended chest register in young girls is common because the vocal fold muscle,
the thyroarytenoid, becomes quite developed while its antagonist, the cricothyroid
muscle, which elongates and thins the vocal folds for high pitches, remains somewhat
under-developed. With maturation, a lengthening of the middle register occurs.
Breathiness in female adolescent singers can be managed and improved with appropriate
exercises, such as staccato. (Read 'The Attack' section below for more exercises to
improve the effectiveness of onsets and eliminate breathiness.) However, these muscles
need to develop at their own pace, and should not be forced to work overly hard in young
voices. During vocal training, onset exercises should be limited to a few minutes per
lesson.
Typically, by the age of sixteen, the mutational chink is no longer a hindrance to clear,
efficient tone in the female voice.

The term mutational chink also applies to the oval-shaped gap that is left between the
vocal folds in order to produce a falsetto-type voice. In falsetto, the vocal folds blow
apart, creating an oval orifice in the middle between the edges of the two folds through
which a certain volume of air escapes continuously as long as the singer is singing in the
same register.
Singers can produce falsetto in a variety of different ways, involving more or less of the
vocal folds, and producing a tone with more or less breathiness in it. Some speakers and
singers leave the cartilaginous portion of the glottis open (sometimes called mutational
chink), and only the front two-thirds of the vocal ligaments enter the vibration. The
resulting sound, which is typical of the sound produced by many adolescents, while pure
and flutelike, is usually soft and anemic in quality. The mutational chink type of falsetto
is considered inefficient and weak.

THE 'ATTACK' (OR ONSET OF SOUND)

The perfect attack describes a vocal situation or technique in which the vocal folds are
allowed to gently and adequately come together after inhalation and just prior
to phonation. This 'sealing' of the vocal folds helps to ensure a clearer tone and more
efficient airflow, as only enough air passes between the vocal folds - in a steady stream -
to set them vibrating and to create the desired tone, pitch and volume.
The firmer and more complete the approximation of the lips of the glottis - the
combination of the vocal folds and the space in between the folds - the more resistance
they will offer to the air that escapes from the lungs, and the less air it will take to set the
vocal folds vibrating. The slower the expiration, the longer the sound will last. Therefore,
good vocal fold closure enables a singer to sing longer vocal phrases without having to
renew his or her breath as frequently because the folds do not 'leak' as much air. The
quality of tone is able to ride on a minimal yet healthy stream of breath. The
"compressed" sub-glottic breath allows the vocal folds to simply begin vibrating without
forced breath pressure. (It should be noted that vocal fold closure serves only to
strengthen the source of vibration. Tonal and breath control are strictly functions that are
controlled by the body support system.)
Some teachers may refer to this rapid and energetic approximation of the lips of the
glottis an instant before expiration as the coup de glotte. The coup de glotte is a natural
movement of the vocal organs, and is something that happens during speech as well as
during singing, assuming that the vocal folds are functioning optimally and correctly.
Singers need only prepare the mouth and glottis for the production of a vowel.
To 'attack' a tone, the breath must be decisively directed to a focal point on the hard
palate, which lies under the critical point for each different tone. (This is what many
teachers refer to as 'placement'. Each vowel has a different focal point, as do varying
pitches.) The breath strikes the top of the palate and sounds above the soft, elastic floor of
the mouth (e.g., tongue, etc.). Pressure on this place should be minimalized, however, so
that the overtones may be able to sound above and with the tone.
The 'perfect attack', so named by the late master teacher Alan Lindquest (1891-1984),
may be difficult to teach and to acquire because it elicits the involvement of many
support muscles that the student of voice is not accustomed to controlling intentionally.
However, the elasticity of the vocal organs can indeed be developed through vocal
training.

In speech, the closing of the vocal folds is an intermittent action, as the opening of the
glottis is quickly followed by its closing, or contraction. A good onset during singing is
more challenging, however, because of the length of the phonatory cycle, in which
vowels are sustained for significantly longer than they are during speech. The singer must
learn to keep the glottis contracted and together after its lips (the vocal folds) have been
brought together. Once a note has been 'attacked', the singer then needs to maintain the
same closed glottal position.

The singer must learn not to close his or her throat in order to close the vocal folds. This
problematic technique is often referred to as a closed-throated technique or high-
larynxed singing. The singer needs to learn to structure the voice without producing
excess laryngeal pressure. The body (fuel tank) must learn to stay somewhat open
without too much tension in order for the vocal folds to stay properly approximated.
A good attack or 'onset of sound' is desirable not only because it eliminates breathiness
in the tone, but also because it creates an immediate access to healthy vocal tone and
resonance. Balanced singing timbre is initiated and perpetuated throughout the entire
phrase. When breath and resonation are coordinated actions, pitch targeting and
exactitude of spectral balance immediately occur. In other words, mastery of the onset of
sound enables a singer to begin a pitch at the perfect centre, and is essential to good
sound production. Additionally, it allows the acoustical space in the throat to stay open,
which enables the voice to begin vibrating in a healthy fashion. Problems with vibrato
disappear quickly. Balance in registration can also begin to develop.
The perfect attack must not be confused with "glottic shock", which is a situation in
which the vocal folds are held together with too much glottic pressure (an over-
approximation of the folds) and then pushed or forced apart with an explosion of breath
pressure. This is very injurious to the vocal instrument, potentially creating vocal fatigue,
strain or damage, and encouraging the singer in an injurious technique of singing. A
singer must always remember that the breath line is controlled with the body support
system, not the glottis. If the breath is controlled correctly with the body, it is virtually
impossible to use or produce glottic shock.
Simple exercises that enable the folds to approximate in a healthy manner can help
students with vocal fold approximation problems learn to feel the closure mechanism at
work. Speaking brief, energized expressions such as 'Every orange' or 'Ah ha!' with a
hand placed gently on the larynx can accomplish this. It's also often helpful to speak
single-consonant words at various pitches. I find that using staccato on simple three-note
exercises or arpeggios elicits a clean and rapid voice onset, establishing a dominant mode
of vibration. Staccato exercises train the adductor-abductor muscles simultaneously with
the tensor muscles during pitch change. (I am careful to listen for signs of pressed
phonation, or a squeezing of the sound, at the beginning of the vowels. Ideally, the folds
should be closed with the ideal amount of pressure while the throat remains open in order
to prevent this tight or squeezing sound from being produced.) I usually immediately
follow up staccato exercises with the same exercise in legato so that my students can
attempt to reproduce the same tone as they do on the staccato exercises.
'SINGING THROUGH THE NOSE': THE
NASALLY VOICE
A nasally kind of voice production is marked by the presence of too much nasality in the
tone, which is often more noticeable on high notes. The singer may sound whiny, or sing
with a very strong twang.
Some singers with pronounced or evident nasally tones are Vanessa Hudgens, Sia, Gary
Levox, lead singer of Rascal Flatts and Wesley Scantlin, lead singer of Puddle of Mudd.
Nasally singing is stereotypical of country singers with a southern twang. This particular
style of singing has also become increasingly popular amongst R&B and hip-hop singers,
both male and female, as these singers tend to employ this type of tone production in
order to sing the type of embellishments and improvisations that are characteristic of this
genre. (Internally, it creates a feeling of greater control over the voice.)

Followers of the American Idol competition likely remember one airing of the show
during its sixth season when contestant Chris Richardson declared, "Nasally is a form of
singing! I don't know if you knew that." in response to a critique by judge Simon Cowell,
who had described Chris' voice as nasally and tin-y. I would argue that Chris
Richardson's retort was not only a demonstration of his arrogance and unwillingness to
accept constructive criticism, but also a reflection of his lack of knowledge about good
singing tone.

While hypernasality, also known as nasalance, may indeed be a tone with which some
people intentionally sing, and although some listeners may even enjoy certain nasally
voices, it is not generally considered to be a desirable tone, a pleasing sound or a valid
nuance in singing. In fact, most people find it annoying and grating.
Nasally singers subconsciously create a tone that sounds good to them internally and that
has a characteristic timbre of the sound that they believe that they should be achieving.
However, the sound that they hear inside their heads does not translate to the audience.
They misinterpret the biofeedback that they receive while singing because nasal sounds
seem to produce more volume and more 'presence'. The listener, though, simply hears
how restricted the vocal sound is. This false sound and imbalanced resonance is not rich
and full, and it may take years to undo the tensions that are created by this vocal habit.
Beyond the subjective critique of nasally singing in which listeners find the vocal sound
to be acoustically unappealing, there is nearly universal agreement among vocal teachers
and vocal scientists about what makes for good, balanced, healthy speaking and singing
tone. Apart from that which naturally occurs during intended, intermittent
nasal phonemes - the smallest contrastive structural units in the sound system of a
language that distinguish meaning, though they carry no semantic content themselves in
language - a nasally tone is considered to be a less acceptable and technically incorrect
vocal element in most genres of music. It encourages singers to sing with poor technique
and does nothing to expand, enhance or develop the voice. In fact, it severely limits the
voice. Perhaps most importantly, though, nasality is not a healthy approach to singing.
Nasality is a combination of several vocal issues working together to distort true vocal
resonance. The voice's resonance needs to be balanced throughout the resonating cavities
of the body during singing in order for the voice to produce a warm, fully resonant tone.
Closing off the voice in the nose not only produces less resonance, and thus less volume
and a thinner tone, but it also limits a singer's range, particularly as he or she moves
upward in pitch. Focusing one's resonance in the nasal cavity produces nearly the same
'closed off' effect as a head cold or nasal allergies.

Most often, nasality is a result of a few factors, including a raised back of the tongue, a
lowered soft palate (or velum, or muscular palate, which is the soft tissue constituting
the back of the roof of the mouth) and a forward jaw position.
First, a nasal sound is produced by raising the back of the tongue toward the soft palate
and lowering the soft palate toward the tongue. During speaking or singing, the velum is
lowered only for the formation of nasal consonants. However, nasality will also occur in
non-nasal vowels if closure of the velopharyngeal port (the entrance to the nasal
chambers from the pharyngeal and oral cavities, lying between the velum and the walls of
the pharynx) is lacking. This port can be closed by elevating and backing the velum, like
a flap, until it approximates the posterior pharyngeal wall. Pharyngeal wall movement
normally accompanies velopharyngeal closure to form a tighter seal at the port. The
degree of constriction or closure of the velopharyngeal mechanism varies according to
phonetic context from the low positions typical of nasal vowels and consonants to the
intermediate positions typical of low vowels to the more closed positions typical of high
vowels to the highest positions typical of oral consonants.
Helpful in demonstrating the movement of the soft palate for nasal and non-nasal sounds
is the use of a hand mirror. (Wall mirrors are fine, too, if you can get close enough to see
inside your mouth clearly.) If you were to say 'Ah' with your mouth opened enough to see
the back of your mouth (e.g., the soft palate and posterior pharyngeal wall), you would
see that the uvula lifts up and moves backward and the fauces also push back along with
it. This action of the velum closes the port to the nasal cavity. Speaking a nasal vowel, as
in the French 'in' or 'an', would involve little or no movement of the soft palate. In fact,
the velum remains lowered in order to allow the velopharyngeal port to remain open and
sound to enter the nasal cavity. (It may be difficult to witness the lowering of the soft
palate on such nasal vowels because the middle of the tongue tends to move upward
when forming them, obstructing the view of the back of the mouth.)

When nasal consonants are spoken or sung, the velopharyngeal port is open, permitting
open resonation of the voiced air stream in the nasal cavity. At the same time, the oral
cavity is closed off at some point, forcing the airflow through the nasal cavity. For
example, for [m] production, the resonating cavity consists of the open nasal cavity and
the oral cavity occluded (shut off) at the lips. For [n] production, it is closed by the tip of
the tongue resting on the gums behind the upper front teeth and the body of the tongue
against the upper teeth themselves. For [ng] production, the oral cavity is closed off by
the back of the tongue and the raised soft palate. In order to pronounce the word 'hanger',
which has a nasally sound, for instance, we need to lower the soft palate and raise the
back of the tongue.
Apart from these three sounds that require more resonance in the nasal cavity, almost all
speech sounds in the English language are oral sounds. Therefore, the entrance to the
chamber of the nose must be closed off most of the time.
To understand a little better how the role of nasality in singing, try this demonstration.
First, sing the vowel [a] at a comfortable pitch. While you are singing the note, gently
pinch your nose, closing off the nostrils completely. Because the velopharyngeal port is
closed during non-nasal sounds - that is, it should be closed if your tone is not nasally -
the air from your lungs filters out through your mouth rather than your nose. Your tone
should change little, if at all, when you pinch your nose while singing a non-nasal vowel.
Now, try humming, and then pinch your nostrils again. You will notice that the voice
ceases to make sound. When you hum, you are singing an extended [m] sound or
consonant. During nasal consonants, such as [m], the air from your body is filtered out
through the nose. Occluding (closing) the nose puts a stop to the stream of air, and thus to
the tone.
You may also wish to try singing the phoneme [ng], as in the word 'sung', for a few
seconds. Without pause, sing a vowel. Try singing [ng-a-ng-a-ng-a] on the same note.
During the nasal, the velopharyngeal port is open, allowing for the nasal sound of the
[ng] to be created. However, the velum rises and closes off that port for the elimination of
nasality as soon as the vowel appears. In this exercise, you should be able to feel an
immediate velar shifting from open to closed nasal port every time that you sing the
vowel.

Focusing the resonance of the voice in the nasal cavity during the singing of non-nasals
works against the laws of articulation and vocal acoustics. Raising the back of the tongue
decreases the amount of space available, cuts off the breath (e.g., nasally singers tend to
lock the airflow with the back or root of their tongues) and makes it impossible to form
vowels properly. Vowel distortion can be a huge problem in nasal singing because the
tongue is not placed in the proper position for the pure vowel sound to be produced. It is
important to know how to form pure vowel sounds with an open throat.

Second, the pushing of too much breath pressure through the larynx (resulting in high-
larynx singing or a closed throat) tends to contribute to a nasally sound. This produces a
tremendous amount of tension at the root of the tongue, which is usually accompanied by
a forward jaw position.
The forward jaw position does not allow for the full adduction (closing) of the vocal
folds. The air is then expelled chiefly through the nose. This thrusting forward of the jaw
encourages a backward pull of the tongue. Without enough opening of the back of the
throat, the voice is driven toward the nasal port. The forward thrust of the jaw creates a
brighter sound inside the singer's internal hearing, which is a major factor in why singers
assume this kind of jaw function. Instead, for good tone production, the jaw should
actually gently wrap back after every consonant. (I will be discussing jaw position in
greater detail in my upcoming article on Singing With An Open Throat: Vocal Tract
Shaping.)
Registration shifts can't occur in a healthy manner if the throat is closed and the vocal
sound is driven toward the point of nasality.

In some cases, too much nasality in the tone is the result of severe and chronic nasal
allergies or nasal congestion. Oftentimes, treating the symptoms of allergies and
congestion is sufficient to improve tone, although sometimes singers with long-term
allergy problems have developed compensatory vocal habits that need to be corrected.
Usually, they have grown accustomed to hearing how their voices sound inside their
heads when their nasal passages aren't clear, and it may take some time getting used to
how their voices resonate when there is no longer excess mucous and congestion
obstructing resonance. (See the section on dealing with nasal allergies in my
article Caring For Your Voice.)
GOOD NASAL RESONANCE
It needs to be understood that the nasal cavity plays an important role in the production of
a good vocal tone, and aids in the execution of certain specific vocal techniques.
However, as I have already discussed, the nasal cavity can produce a less-than-pleasing
overall tone when used inappropriately. There is, therefore, an important distinction to be
made between the squeezed or compressed nasally sound that can be heard in singers like
Chris Richardson and authentic, good nasal resonance, which is the true 'ring' in the
voice that results from an open throat, or the three primary open pharyngeal chambers
(naso-pharynx, oro-pharynx and laryngeo-pharynx) and good support in breathing.
In order for sound to be able to filter through the nasal cavity, the tongue and soft palate
must be out of the way, rather than bunched up in the back of the throat, and the three
pharyngeal chambers need to be open. The singer also needs to have a small stream of air
escaping through the nasal port and a sense of a sustaining ring in the voice. When
healthy nasal resonance is achieved, the root of the tongue is released, making healthy
vocal fold adduction possible.

When true resonance is achieved (beyond nasality), the singer can produce a pure legato
line, and have greater volume, more control, smoother registration and complete vocal
freedom.

Learning to sing without sounding overly nasally can be difficult for many students who
have long been in the habit of singing in this manner. They need to learn to 'place' their
tone so that it settles in the three resonating cavities of the vocal tract in a balanced
manner, and get used to both the sensations and the sound of singing with more openness
in the throat and balance in the tone. This retraining entails lessons in vocal posture,
which will include an examination of jaw and tongue positioning during singing. Some
students may initially get the feeling that they have less control over their voices once
their tone is freed from the nasal cavity because their nasality has always given them a
sense of better management and containing of the voice. They have come to trust in the
comfortable sensation and seemingly stronger internal sound of nasality, but once the
tone begins to enter the other cavities more, they feel as though they have less control
over it. However, because there is less space in the oropharynx when the velum hangs
low, and more space when the velum rises to close off the velopharyngeal port, in time
most singers do come to feel a greater sense of openness when the velopharyngeal port is
properly closed. These singers also come to experience this new openness as vocal
freedom, much like the comfortable phonation that they experience during speech.
A simple trick to check if you are 'singing through your nose' is to gently pinch your
nostrils with your fingers, then sing non-nasal vowels and pitch consonants. Sustaining
the same note, release the fingers. If the velopharyngeal port is properly closed during
non-nasal vowels - that is, if your tone is not hypernasally - the tone should change very
little, if at all, when the nostrils are allowed to open again because sound is not actually
emitted through the nose on non-nasal vowels. However, if your tone is nasally, you will
find that your voice becomes noticeably thinner when your nostrils are occluded.

One tool for ridding the voice of nasality suggested by master teacher David L. Jones is
to shape the hand flat, then place it laterally in the mouth and breathe above it. This will
stretch the soft palate and, ideally, lift it.

THE 'THROATY' TONE

The throaty voice is characterized by too much pharyngeal resonance and/or excessive
pharyngeal tension. This technique can produce a hollow sound within the voice. I like to
describe the sound produced by 'throaty singers', which seems to have become popular in
recent years amongst certain pop, Gospel and R&B singers, as something that you might
hear from Kermit the Frog, Pee Wee Herman or the cartoon martian that Bugs Bunny
encounters in space. Of course, these are examples in which pharyngeal tone production
is extreme. David Archuleta from American Idol's seventh season is a more practical
example of a singer with a 'throaty' tone production that is present both in his singing and
in his speaking voice. In the chorus of Fly, the lead singer of Sugar Ray, Mark McGrath,
demonstrates a particularly pronounced pharyngeal tone on the words "I" and "fly".
Some singers employ this technique of tone production because they are under the
impression that it makes their voices sound 'bigger' and deeper. They tend to use it
whenever they want to 'belt' out a note or add a 'growl', falsely darkening the timbre of
their vowels and tone.

Other singers produce a throaty tone in a misguided attempt to open the throat and
increase resonating space. However, this extra space is often created through techniques
such as mimicking the feeling or pharyngeal action of a yawn, which inevitably produces
the hollow quality of tone with distorted resonance that is heard when one is attempting
to talk while yawning.

In reality, though, their ability to produce volume is severely limited because they are not
making full use of all of the resonating cavities in their bodies, which strips the voice of
its overtones. Essentially, the resonance from sound production during throaty singing is
being pushed back into the soft tissue of the upper throat (the soft palate). The fauces -
the two pillars, (which include the soft palate, the base of the tongue, and the palatine
arches), that constitute the passage from the back of the mouth to the pharynx - tend to
rise, separate and push back. The tip of the tongue separates from its ideal position
behind the lower teeth, which is often accompanied by an unnatural spreading of the
sides of the mouth and tension in the cheek muscles. This technique can lead to tension in
the deep tongue muscles, since the tongue is being pushed back unnaturally in order to
close off the throat and restrict airflow when a gruff or growling sound is desired. Neck
muscle tension, particularly in the submandibular (below the jaw) region, is also
common among singers who employ this kind of technique. Furthermore, with the tongue
being pushed back, tension is often placed on the larynx because the root of the tongue is
closely connected to it.
Correcting this faulty technique entails not only educating a singer on the potentially
damaging effects of the pushed back tongue position and excessive soft palate
involvement, but also having the singer hear the hollow quality of tone that is produced
when the tongue is pushed back and down when demonstrated by someone else (e.g., the
vocal instructor). Oftentimes, a singer need only hear how unpleasant the throaty tone is,
and he or she is willing to make changes to his or her approach to singing. Therefore,
some exercises in correct tongue positioning (relaxed, with the tip of the tongue placed
gently behind the lower teeth and the middle, not the back, of the tongue raising or
lowering depending on the particular vowel being articulated) immediately improves tone
and reduces tongue and neck tension.

I have taught a few students for whom the throaty quality of their voices has not been the
result of intentional stylistic choice. These students struggle with excessive pharyngeal
quality in their voices only as they approach their passaggi. Their voices seem to deepen -
likely because of the lowering of the base of the tongue so that it depresses the larynx -
and adopt a hollow, throaty character as a result of the pharyngeal spreading and the
erroneous elongation of the resonator tube, but only for a few notes within their range.
Usually, they have developed bad compensatory habits - resorting to altering the timbre
of their voices - in an attempt to navigate register changes with more smoothness and
muscular control. However, there is not an evenness of timbre throughout the range.
Once they pass their lower passaggio, the pleasant, balanced quality of their voices
returns.
For many singers, certain vowels, most typically the back vowels or open vowels, seem
to make this throatiness more pronounced. The vowel sounds 'ah' and 'oh' seem to present
the most problems with this kind of pharyngeal spreading, and it is made even more
noticeable within certain vowel combinations (e.g., when going from a front to a back
vowel). Timbre falsification or altering is almost always successfully eliminated when
improper tongue behaviour is addressed and corrected.
PRESSED PHONATION: FORCING OR
PUSHING
I would be remiss if I did not include in this discussion on tone the poor vocal technique
that leads to what is typically called pressed phonation, which is
a hyperfunctional mode of phonation. Pressed phonation occurs quite commonly in
speech, in brief instances, but is difficult to consciously control or deliberately create
during singing, which makes it somewhat challenging to correct.
Although pressed voices are easily identified by auditory impression, a clear definition or
description based on acoustic features and the production mechanisms are unclear. (As a
result, many voice instructors with less experience fail to diagnose this problem in their
students.) Generally, though, the pressed voice usually has a tense voice quality and is
sometimes accompanied by vocal fry or harsh sounds. Oftentimes, at the beginning of a
sung vowel, the singer's voice will sound squeezed and tight, and then there is a sound of
'release' of this tightness once the vocal folds relax their resistance and begin vibrating
more optimally. This is sometimes described as 'grabbing at the onset.
In pressed phonation, airflow is too energetically resisted by the adducted vocal folds. In
other words, the vocal folds are brought together with excessive instrinsic
muscular effort, which makes it harder to set them vibrating. The folds then have an
elongated closed phase in response to this high airflow and elevated rates of subglottic
pressure, and a great deal of air pressure is needed to blow them apart. The result is a
forced, 'shouty' quality to the voice that is very tiring for the singer to maintain. Besides
demanding a strong effort from the singer, pressed phonation is deleterious to the vocal
organs.
In pressed phonation, the open phase of the vocal folds is also much shorter than the
closed phase, representing irregularities in periodicity (vibratory rate). The completely
closed intervals of the vocal folds are predominant to (or much longer than) the open
intervals, which creates the tight or pressed sound. When vibrato is used, the closure
gesture of each vibratory cycle also lasts longer than it should, creating an uneven vibrato
rate. In pressed phonation, an asymmetry in the movements of the left and right folds can
also be noted.
The peak amplitude of the flow pulses in pressed phonation is small - the spectrum of
such a voice displays low amplitude of the fundamental frequency - which generates a
relatively low level of sound pressure. Harmonic partials that lie beyond 2000 Hz become
dominant and the first formant grows excessively prominent, accompanied by a loss of
overtones in the region of 3000 Hz, where the Singer's Formant is generated. The pressed
voice, then, lacks the overtones necessary to create a balanced, pleasant, rich tone.
Pressed phonation is typically associated with an elevated larynx position, (whereas the
healthiest mode of phonation, free-flow phonation, is typically produced with a lower,
relaxed larynx).
The popular technique of 'belting' relies heavily upon pressed phonation to give the
belting voice its characteristically 'bigger' and brighter sound. A study on belting by
singing voice researcher Jo Estill revealed that, just as in pressed phonation, belters have
a longer closed quotient phase than in any other type of phonation. With the folds so
tightly closed for so long during the vibratory cycle, breath pressure builds up beneath the
larynx, supplying the extra 'push' that is needed in order to increase pitch and volume.
This amount of breath compression is far greater than that which is necessary in order to
produce the voice. This excessive breath pressure, along with the unnatural constrictions
of the vocal tract that enable the belting voice to be produced, oftentimes causes damage
to the vocal folds, and many belters find themselves unable to keep up with the demands
of their performance schedules, canceling shows due to vocal strain, fatigue or injury.
Belters also use thyroarytenoid dominant vocal fold activity (responsible for chest voice)
higher in the scale than non-belters, maximum muscular involvement of the torso, as well
as of the head and neck (in order to stabilize the larynx), a raised larynx, a narrower
pharyngeal space, a lowered velum, as well as a flattened tongue and other incorrect
vocal posturing. (I have written more about healthy postures of the entire vocal tract
in Singing With An 'Open Throat': Vocal Tract Shaping.) Any kind of forcing can lead to
vocal deterioration.
Pressed phonation is most commonly seen in male singers as they approach and reach
their upper-middle and high range, although many women who fear singing higher notes
and incorrectly navigate the upper parts of their range also have pressed tendencies.
When singing pitches that lie above speech-inflection range, vocal fold closure is
aggressive and subglottic pressure is increased. In attempting to sufficiently energize the
body to meet the demands of long phrases and high-lying tessitura and intensity (volume)
levels, some singers induce too much laryngeal resistance to airflow. In other words,
singers will tend to resort to pressed phonation when they are singing in mid to upper
range and are mistakenly substituting increased effort for increased energy. A singer
needs to find the proper balance between vocal freedom and energization. I remind my
students with pressed phonation problems to allow the tone of their voices to ride on a
minimal, steady stream of breath - to use only enough breath energy and air to create a
steady, balanced tone for the duration of the sung phrase. This often helps these singers to
abandon their habits of 'over supporting' their tone, or feeling as though they need to use
a lot of breath in order to sing in the upper registers.
Faulty breath coordination is a major cause of pressed phonation. Unfortunately, many
vocal instructors offer misguided solutions when striving to eliminate pressed phonation
in their students. Many teachers encourage their students to either insert an imaginary or
real "h" at the beginning of phrases or to consciously introduce higher airflow levels
(e.g., breathiness, sighing or yawning) as a means of alleviating or eliminating pressed
phonation. However, these are not the best approaches to take when dealing with pressed
phonation. These are merely compensatory solutions that may end up producing
problematic side effects, as one bad technique (i.e., pressed phonation) is merely being
replaced with another (i.e., breathy phonation). These techniques only offer temporary
relief of the pressure at the vocal fold level without ultimately curing the problem.
Many contemporary singers already habitually insert "h's" before all vowels when they
sing, either as an intentional stylistic choice or as an unconscious or instinctive response
to incorrect technique (usually to alleviate the mounting vocal fold and muscular tension
that they would otherwise feel as they are forcing their voices because of an overly firm
glottal closure). The inserted aspirant "h" allows easier production at the climactic
(higher) notes of a phrase, but it can easily become a crutch for singers. The letter "h" is
an unvoiced consonant - an aspirated sound - meaning that the glottis remains open
during its production and the folds don't vibrate or produce sound because the sound is
produced by the exiting puff of breath alone, which in turn introduces more air into the
tone. As a result, air is lost between the slightly parted vocal folds at the onset of the
phrase, just when effective breath management is needed the most. Instead of substituting
breathy phonation for the proper balance between airflow and laryngeal response, it
would be preferable to learn how to achieve ideal vocal fold approximation through the
discipline of the precise onset (the 'attack' and the release. In other words, instead of
inserting an "h" or introducing breathiness into the tone, the proper cure for pressed
phonation is to learn how to correlate breath emission and vocal tract filtering of the
laryngeally generated sound.
Another technique to help alleviate forced phonation in males is to use falsetto exercises.
In falsetto production, the vocal folds are not fully occluded (closed), and resistance to
airflow is slackened a little. Nevertheless, in falsetto, the vocal fold elongation necessary
for pitch elevation still takes place. Temporary and brief substitution of falsetto timbre
that is followed immediately by legitimate full voice timbre may be a useful practice
device because a lighter onset is produced. The closure mechanism therefore avoids over
activation, and more appropriately matches the degree of vocal fold stretching. These
exercises can be attempted on a single note, beginning in falsetto, then moving
immediately to legitimate full (head) voice without pause. For example, singing a five-
note descending scale, a male singer can begin in falsetto timbre at the top note and
gradually shift into full voice by the last (bottom) note of the scale.
Yet another corrective technique for addressing pressed phonation is having the student
speak short phrases with short syllables, such as 'Ah ha!' and 'Oh, yes!' then sing the same
expressions in a corresponding range with comparable intensity. This will help the singer
to become aware of the sound and the feel of free timbre as it occurs in the energized
singing voice in contrast to the tension inherent in manufactured, pressed, sung
phonation. (There should be no greater sensation in the larynx during singing than in
clear, energized speech.) However, if the singer also tends to speak with an overly
pressed voice, this exercise will not benefit him or her and will not help to correct the
problem.

As mentioned in the first paragraph of this section, pressed phonation is quite common
during speaking tasks. However it is not as recognizable (noticeable) because the open
phase of the glottis is significantly shorter during speech than it is during singing. Every
vowel must start out with the feeling of openness in the throat, and every singer must
learn to encourage this openness at the beginning of each sung vowel. A particularly
useful technique for ridding the voice of the tension and squeezed sound associated with
pressed phonation is encouraging such openness in the throat before the tone is brought
into focus. The singer can imagine and form the neutral 'uh' vowel in the throat before
shaping the desired vowel with the articulators (jaw, tongue, lips, etc.). This will open the
pharynx before the tone is created at the laryngeal level. Practicing singing only vowels -
without consonants preceding them - is a good idea until pressed phonation tendencies
are eliminated, as consonants will sometimes make the squeezed sound less obvious or
mask the signs of pressed phonation.

WHAT IS GOOD TONE?

Ideal tone is balanced (between all the resonating cavities of the vocal tract), free flowing
(free from tension and constrictions), resonant (with all the overtones present and a
'ring'), pure (the timbre is not made to be something that it isn't naturally), and supported
(by good, steady breath pressure). It is characterized by clean vowel definition and a
balancing of qualities often referred to as 'focus', 'ring', 'ping', 'placement', 'depth',
'roundness' and 'warmth' to produce a complete voice in which all appropriate resonance
factors are present in the singing voice.

When freedom of breath application, unhampered laryngeal response, and resonator

configurations are in accord with each other, desirable tonal balances exist. (This
combination of ideal characteristics is what defines flow phonation.)
Although we do not hear our voices as others hear them, most singers are capable of
differentiating among sounds and thus analyzing the quality of their own vocal tone.
Sensation associated with the chiaroscuro tonal balance is identifiable, repeatable, and
above all, freedom-inducing. Hearing and seeing the ideal tone becomes a reliable means
of self-monitoring, and the student's goal should be to develop an awareness of his or her
own body. The student of voice needs to consider how the voice sounds, how it feels and
how it looks (e.g., vocal posture, such as position of the jaw and tongue, alignment of the
head over the shoulders, etc. when seen in a mirror).
All singers are individuals. Therefore the sensations that one singer might experience
during singing may not be felt in the same manner by another singer. Although I will
often describe to my students what I feel as I'm singing, I always make sure that they
understand that they may not feel the exact same sensations in the same areas of their
bodies, nor describe them in the same manner as I do. Technical complications could
arise within my students if they strive to achieve the sensations that I do.

Learning to recognize the new sensations experienced during well balanced singing
ideally leads to a replacement of previous faulty perceptions. Sometimes, students need a
little extra help in learning to recognize when they are singing with good, balanced tone. I
will often have my students sing individual notes throughout the chromatic scale and
have them attempt to alter their focus or placement - this usually involves making
conscious and deliberate adjustments of the vocal tract, allowing the tone to become more
nasally, then more breathy, then more centered - until I hear a resonant 'ring' in their
voices. I will then draw the students' attention to their vocal quality at that point, and
have them make a mental note of both the sensations and the sound experienced when
their tone is good.
Generally, after students achieve and identify a tone with ideal resonance balance, I will
ask them to describe the sensations, including the locations at which they occur.
Describing these sensations in their own words helps them to memorize where and how
sensations are felt. They then gain an effective self-monitoring checklist that will later
help them to repeat the same methods for creating the same, ideal balanced tone. In time,
the students learn to both recognize and reproduce this balanced tone immediately at the
onset of sound, without having to make adjustments mid-way.

The results of correct, healthy tone production (and correct and effective use of the
resonating cavities of the body) include a more pleasant sound or tone, an extended
range, especially in the higher end, better control of breath and thus more vocal stamina
(e.g., the ability to sustain notes for longer and sing longer phrases without the need for
breath renewal), increased volume due to improved resonation, smoother vocal
registration, improved vibrancy (often accompanied by a subtly shimmering naturally
occurring vibrato), more physical comfort, and a healthier vocal apparatus due to less
stress and strain.

FLOW PHONATION
The most desirable regime for singers involves singing with a flow phonation,
(sometimes called free-flow phonation), which enables them to generate the maximum
sound without risk of damaging the voice. Flow phonation refers to appropriate levels of
airflow - breath is never consciously held back at the laryngeal level, the vocal folds offer
sufficient resistance to the exiting breath, etc. - that match the requirements of the task at
hand. For example, degrees of breath energy may alter continuously during singing as the
demands and dynamics of a song may change from section to section, yet the goal of the
singer is to maintain 'freedom' of the voice at all times.
Flow phonation describes the process that permits the chiaroscuro tone. In addition, it is
characterized by a high level of upper partials in the voice source spectrum. These
upper partials contribute to the voice's overall quality. Without them, the voice sounds
almost one-dimensional and dull (or shrill, depending on the pitch).
In the case of flow phonation, for which a relatively low sub-glottal pressure is
combined with a strong flow pulse and a high overall energy level, the maximum energy
can be transferred to the voice. Flow phonation is characterized by a shorter closed
quotient (a measure of the amount of times that the vocal folds are together as a
proportion of the entire open/closing cycle) than pressed phonation, but it is longer than
the closed quotient typical of breathy phonation. Flow phonation encourages a higher
fundamental frequency amplitude in the voice source spectrum than pressed phonation.
TIMBRE
Vocal timbre refers to the quality or colour of tone being produced by a singer. Often
qualities of timbre are described by analogy to colour or texture (e.g. bright, dark, rough,
smooth, etc.). Describing a voice as 'warm' or 'shrill', for instance, would also be making
a statement about that particular voice's timbre.
Vocal timbre can be effected or influenced by numerous factors. What the ear perceives
as colour or quality is really a Gestalt impression of the voice that is reflective of the
entire sound, and seldom as a function of its analytic or separate components (all the
properties of tone). The physical characteristics of sound that affect and create the
perception of timbre include spectrum (the richness of the sound or tone, sometimes
described in terms of a sum of a number of distinct frequencies,
or overtones and envelope (the overall amplitude structure of a sound, which includes
attack time, decay, sustain, release, transients, etc.).
Vocal timbre is part of what makes some voices suitable for soloing or lead singing and
other voices more suited to singing in groups or choirs, while still other voices are more
suited to shower stalls.

Chiaroscuro timbre is a voice-pedagogy term that is used universally to refer to the

balancing of the light or clear (chiaro) and dark (oscuro) aspects of timbre, or balancing
tonal brilliance and depth of the resonance. In vocalism, it specifically refers to the
equilibrium of acoustic strength manifested by an ideal distribution of lower and upper
harmonic partials (overtones), clustered in formants. Specific balances among the
formants are characteristic of the resonant voice of premier singers, regardless of vocal
category. That is to say, the chiaroscuro timbre of the classic international school
demands balance among the prominent areas of acoustic strength, the fundamental and
the first, third, fourth, and fifth formants. (This balance has been confirmed by
spectrographic analysis.)
Every vocal instrument has its own individual quality, but all timbres must adhere to the
chiaroscuro principle. Good singers are able to avoid 'noise' elements that are non-
integers of the fundamental frequency. Acceptable timbre will display predictable
relationships between the first, second, third, fourth and fifth formants, without by-noises.
(Please read the article on Vocal Tract Shaping for more information on how to adjust the
formants of the voice in order to achieve better tone.)
The nature of the vocal instrument itself does not need to be altered to produce
advantageous harmonic integration. False manipulation of a voice to either augment or
diminish the balance between breath application, laryngeal response, and resonator
configurations will not produce a commendable outcome. Instead, the quality of the tone
will be diminished.

FORMANTS
The term formant refers to peaks in the harmonic spectrum of a complex sound, such as
the human voice, that is produced by some sort of resonance. This area of acoustic
strength results from the cumulative distribution of upper harmonic partials, which are
also known as harmonics (integer or whole number multiples of the fundamental
frequency of a tone - the lowest frequency of a complex sound, which corresponds to the
unique pitch heard in such a complex tone) or overtones.
Partials that are not multiples of the fundamental frequency produce what is called noise
in the singing voice.
Formant regions are not directly related to the pitch of the fundamental frequency and
may remain more or less constant even as the fundamental changes. If the fundamental is
well below or low in the formant range, the quality of the sound is rich. However, if the
fundamental is above the formant regions the sound is thin and often shrill in quality and,
in the case of vowels, may make them impossible to produce accurately. (This is part of
the reason why singers often seem to have poor diction, or their vowels are
indistinguishable, on very high notes.)

Formants are essential components in the intelligibility of speech (e.g., different sustained
vowel sounds are distinguishable because of the differences in their first three formant
frequencies). In other words, formants define, or help us to distinguish between, vowels.
Producing different vowel sounds amounts to 'retuning' these formants (by shaping the
vocal tract in specific ways) within a general range of frequencies. If, as the mouth opens
naturally with rising pitch and amplitude, the integrity of the vowel is retained, the first
formant will grow in strength and there will be no loss of upper harmonic partials ('ring').
Resonance balance will pertain throughout the scale.

Formant frequencies are determined largely by the shape of the vocal tract (the cavity
where the sound that is produced at the sound source - the larynx - is filtered), which is
able to produce a highly variable structure of overtones. For instance, opening the jaw,
which constricts the vocal tract toward the glottal end and expands it toward the lip end,
is the deciding factor for the first formant. This formant frequency rises as the jaw is
opens wider. The second formant is most sensitive to the shape of the body of the tongue,
and the third formant is most sensitive to the tip of the tongue. Therefore, as the tongue
shape changes to produce a different vowel, the formant frequencies will also change.
Swedish physician and medical researcher in the area of human physiology, Johan
Sundberg, identified an extra formant in the range of 2500 to 3000 Hz, or concentration
of intense acoustic energy, between the third and fourth formants - which he called
the Singer's Formant - that is present in the frequency spectrum of trained singers but
absent in speech and in the spectra of untrained singers. Developed through vocal training
and created by the special resonance of the vocal tract when the larynx is lowered, the
Singer's Formant produces the 'ring of the voice' that enables a singer's voice to be heard
and understood over an orchestra. The classically trained singer strives to develop a
Singer's Formant that enhances the overall richness and ringing in his or her voice.
The Singer's Formant ideally consists of strong third, fourth and fifth formants. It is
produced by the frequencies of the third, fourth and fifth formants of the singing voice
moving so close to each other that the resulting cluster appears as a prominent,
consolidated region in the frequency spectrum of the voice. The potential strength of the
Singer's Formant depends on voice category, being somewhat weaker in basses than in
tenors, and altogether questionable in sopranos. (The relative intensity of a soprano
Singer's Formant is lower than those of other voice types. Additionally, it has a different
shape, being higher and wider as compared to that of the alto, and is split into two peaks -
one in the range of 2.5-3.5 kHz and another between 3.3 and 4.3 kHz. It is unclear as to
whether each peak contains only a single formant, as in an untrained singer's voice, or
whether one of the peaks contains two formants, which would indicate the presence of
a Singer's Formant.)
The articulatory way to achieve the Singer's Formant lies through dilation of the
pharyngeal opening so that it becomes wider than the tracheal opening. This happens if a
dilated pharynx is combined with a low laryngeal position.

A lot of contemporary singers believe that they don't really need to know anything about
formants. The science seems too complicated, and they are under the impression that the
information will help them little in their singing. They would rather have their teachers
use different, more seemingly practical methods (e.g., giving illusory descriptions of
acoustic events) for explaining chiaroscuro balance in the singing voice. Although
scientifically based, the concept of formants can be learned by anyone of average
intelligence. It may not be necessary to memorize the frequencies of pitches (numerical
values) and the specific harmonic content of each vowel, but it is beneficial to the student
of voice to be equipped with a basic understanding of what formants are and how they
affect overall tone. One especially important reason for studying formants is to gain a
better understanding of, and thus be able to take advantage of, the relationship between
articulation and vocal tract resonance. Information will enhance, not detract from,
learning.
(I will explain the relationship of vowel formation to formants a little more in-depth in
my upcoming article on Singing With An Open Throat: Vocal Tract Shaping. My
article Anatomy of the Voice on this site has additional information about formants, as
well.)
VOCAL RESONATION
Vocal resonation is the process by which the basic product of phonation - voiced sound,
which is the buzzing sound produced by the vibrations of the vocal folds - is enhanced in
timbre and/or intensity by the air-filled cavities through which it passes on its way to the
outside air. Resonance, therefore, is voiced sound that is amplified and modified by the
vocal tract resonators (the throat, mouth cavity, and nasal passages), and is the result of
an acoustic alliance between vibrating bodies at an identical fundamental pitch.
The strength of tone must be gained not only by good, steady breath pressure (see The
Role of Breathing in Tone Production below) but also by the focal point on the palate, by
the complete utilization of the palatal resonance. In other words, tone quality is
determined or enhanced by the way in which a singer uses his or her vocal resonance.
The end result of resonation is, or should be, to make a better sound. Therefore, a key
factor in achieving good, balanced tone is mastering use of resonance. Every singer needs
to train the voice to distribute the sound into the three cavities in a balanced manner.
Singing involves the utilization of more of the supraglottic (above the glottis) spaces for
resonance than does speaking, and the vowels are prolonged. Otherwise, speaking and
singing are almost identical.
Resonance can be either sympathetic or forced. The sounds of singing are the result
of sympathetic resonance. This sympathetic vibration is not to be confused with
resonance, which is restricted to the vocal tract - the open chambers, not the bony
structures - conjoined with the nasal cavities only for nasal phonemes.) For instance, the
cartilaginous external nose, as well as the bony structures of the skull (sinuses, cheeks,
foreheads, occipital bones, etc.), can be set into sympathetic vibration - bone is a
remarkable conveyor of sympathetic vibration - but not into actual resonance because
they are not resonators; they do not contribute to the complex tone that the listener hears
and cannot contribute to the actual resonance of the voice. However, the resonator
filtering of laryngeal tone includes only the areas that are open cavities.
For example, although a misnomer, chest voice is named such because many singers feel
a sensation of resonance in the chest cavity. In this case, sympathetic vibration is
conveyed by bony and cartilaginous parts of the sternum and rib cage. Of course, it is not
resonance itself that is felt in the face or head. Rather, it is sympathetic vibrations that are
felt, since the bones of the face conduct the vibrations of sound bouncing off the hard
surfaces.

This does not preclude the fact that singers often feel sympathetic vibratory responses in
one or more areas of the body. Indeed, the sensations that are produced by sympathetic
vibrations are realistic to the singer, and they may become reliable indicators of
resonance balance. However, the registering of sympathetic vibration, or the perception
of resonance, is highly individual and can be experienced only personally. Sympathetic
vibration during singing varies greatly from person to person. Therefore, to expect
everyone to experience the same sensations while singing is both unrealistic and unwise.

Placement of the voice generally describes both how the vibration of the air column
interacts with the resonating structures of the body to accentuate or diminish the size of
the formant and where one feels the augmented vibration due to the change in the
relationship of the formants to areas of the body. For most singers, placement is used to
describe where they feel the sympathetic vibrations most. For example, head voice is
so-named because most of the resonance is felt on the bony surfaces of the face or head.
(Some techniques refer to this area as the 'mask', or 'masque'.)
Much of what singers may describe as placement is really sympathetic vibration. The
sensations associated with sympathetic vibration help the performer monitor the sounds
of singing. When the spectral balance is complete, a singer is aware of sensations in the
bony structures of the head, throat or chest that are quite different than those of
imbalanced phonation. Once an association with ideal sound has been established, these
proprioceptive sensations become dependable indicators of tonal balance.
For some singers, the notion of placement suggests that they can direct the resonance of
their voices. However tone, which originates in the larynx, can't actually be placed, so
attempts at placing the voice or inducing sensations in specific parts of the body are
generally considered to be futile.
One example of placement lingo is the concept of 'forwardness', which denotes the idea
of keeping the tone placed in the front of the face, or 'singing through the mask', or
imagining the voice as a line in front of the face. Some teachers avoid talking about
placement or forwardness of tone because they are subjective terms that don't take into
consideration the individual experiences and sensations associated with singing. These
same instructors may also fear that their students will focus too much on producing the
buzz of resonance and, in turn, induce tensions.
Furthermore, teaching the concept of forwardness may also be somewhat
counterproductive, if not dangerous, because certain forms of sympathetic vibration felt
in the mask are actually the product of undesirable timbres. Hypernasality, for example,
may produce a great deal of sensation in the nasal cavity, but it is not representative of
good, balanced tone. Being instructed to place tone may exacerbate existing technical
problems, if not create new ones.

Rather than speaking of placement, it may be preferable to make certain that

buccopharyngeal resonator shapes properly match laryngeal configurations. (I will be
discussing how to balanced tone in more detail in the upcoming companion to this article
entitled Singing with An Open Throat: Vocal Tract Shaping.) However, I find that talking
about the notion of forward placement can be a useful imagery tool for some, more
'visual' students - as it was for me in my vocal training - so long as they are equipped with
correct information about acoustical science.

After experiencing the presence of sympathetic vibration that results from efficient
resonance balancing, students can develop their own imagery or subjective terminology
that can then be utilized and reinforced by the teacher during their private lessons. The
goal in studying voice, ultimately, is to learn to produce a good resonance balance, and
each student may take a different path to finding his or her ideal tone.

(For more detail about resonance, read my article on the Anatomy of the Voice.)
'PROJECTION'
There are some voice instructors, musical theatre professors and choir directors who
teach the concept of 'projection' as a means of increasing volume so that the voice may be
heard better by an audience.

This philosophy that the voice needs to be 'projected' can lead to bad technique, however,
as it tends to conjure up mental images (i.e., throwing the voice to the people in the back
row, etc.) that are followed by vocal habits (e.g., opening up the mouth excessively, like a
'horn', etc.) that aren't usually very healthy, neither psychologically nor physically. Even
if supported by diaphragmatic breathing, this technique can be injurious to the vocal
instrument. While it is true that the buzzing sound created by the vocal folds needs to
resonate effectively off the hard surfaces of the vocal tract, be shaped, and then escape
through the mouth, the notion of having to project the voice tends to lead to vocal health
problems including tension, strain and injury, as well as a diminished air supply (and thus
less stamina), because an excessive amount of air is being forcibly pushed out of the
lungs and past the vocal folds.

When singers are told to project, they often feel the need to shout in order to make their
voices sound louder. However, shouting, or actively increasing volume beyond natural,
comfortable levels, does not necessarily create more carrying power, as natural resonance
is often lost. In fact, pushing merely distorts resonance. Instead, it is the correct shaping
of the vocal tract in order to maximize resonating space and increase the strength of
the vocal formants that makes the voice more audible in a theatre or concert hall.
Articulation and diction (enunciation) play a key role in creating more effective
resonation because they ensure that ideal acoustical configurations of the vocal tract are
assumed. (I will be discussing vocal tract shaping in more depth in an upcoming follow-
up to this article entitled Singing With An Open Throat: Vocal Tract Shaping.)
Instead of thinking in terms of getting more sound out, or making the voice louder by
increasing volume, a singer should focus on achieving a balanced, fully resonant tone,
which will carry itself without the need for pushing or shouting. When resonance is ideal,
the voice will be heard, and it will be healthy.

It is my belief that it would be in the best interest of vocal students everywhere for
teachers and directors to remove the term 'projection' altogether from their vocabulary.

WHY OUR VOICES ALL SOUND

DIFFERENT
Everyone singer has a natural, unique sound, although some voices are more distinctive
than others (e.g., Alanis Morrissette, Amy Whinehouse, Michael Jackson, etc.). Some
singers have unmistakable qualities in their voices, such as 'richness', 'warmth', 'depth',
'relaxedness', 'maturity', 'bluesy-ness', 'thickness', 'sultriness', etc. that make them
instantly recognizable to the listener and set them apart from the crowd, or the rest of the
choir at the very least.

Although we can effect some change on our natural timbre, doing so comes with both the
possibility of creating an imbalanced, worsened tone and the risk of potential harm to the
vocal apparatus through the development of bad technique and unhealthy habits. Our
voices seem to be better and more naturally suited for specific sounds and timbres. Some
voices are ideal for opera, while others are able to produce a grungy, heavy rock sound,
for instance. (You can read about voice types, vocal classifications and vocal weights in
the Glossary article on this site. The definitions listed there provide further information
about the different types and qualities of voices that are common amongst singers.)
Our speaking and singing voices are created from the same anatomical structures. The
respiratory system (lungs, diaphragm and abdominal muscles), laryngeal mechanism
(vocal folds, laryngeal cartilages, muscles and nerves) and the supraglottic tract (the
spaces above the vocal folds, including the back of the throat, mouth, nasal passages and
sinus cavities) all work to produce our vocal sounds. (Please read Anatomy of the
Voice for an overview of these anatomical structures that help to produce our voices. I
will be including more detail about the anatomy of the vocal tract in my upcoming article
about the open throat.) In general, voice characteristics are determined by the interactions
of breathing mechanisms, the vibrating vocal folds and resonances of the vocal tract.
As mentioned above in Vocal Resonation, the human voice utilizes three resonant
cavities to aid in the production of desired frequencies: the larynx, the mouth, and the
nasal cavity. The different sizes and shapes of these cavities produce distinctive tonal
qualities. There are few reasons why every singing voice sounds different, which includes
the size of the vocal tract (larynx, pharynx, mouth, etc.), as well as other parts of the
body, articulation (manipulation of the vocal tract and formant tracking) and use of
resonance.
One deciding factor in how different voices sound is the fact that our vocal tracts (the
distance from the larynx to the lips) have varying lengths, although the average of which
is about four inches. Before puberty, the average speaking pitch and size of the larynx are
about the same for both males and females. The lengthening and corresponding mass
increase of the larynx that is brought on by puberty reduces normal average speaking
pitches - the fundamental frequency of the voice, strongly related to the perception of the
pitch of the voice.

Men, generally speaking, have larger vocal tracts, which essentially gives the voice a
lower tonal quality, independent of the vocal folds themselves. The female's larynx
typically will appear to have a little more space between the arytenoids than the male's
larynx does. This is thought to be primarily an anatomical difference and secondarily a
cultural difference. This glottal shaping helps to give the female voice a typically softer
quality due to the corresponding airflow through the larynx.

Men and women have different vocal folds sizes; adult male voices usually have longer
folds with more mass. The difference in vocal folds size between men and women means
that they have differently pitched voices. Laryngeal size and structure play a significant
role in determining a singer's range. The greater the length and the vibrating mass of the
vocal folds, the lower the fundamental frequency (the lowest frequency in a harmonic
series) of pitch.
In addition to these gender differences, genetics creates variances amongst the same
sexes - different singers will have different ranges and tessituras - which lead to voices
being categorized into types. The singing voice is partly categorized by the range of
fundamental frequencies that the person can sing in performance, as well as by the
quality, agility, and how big a sound that particular voice can produce, referred to
as vocal weight. The size and shape of a singer's vocal tract will affect not only the
singer's range but also his or her registration change points.
The resonance frequencies of the vocal tract tend to emphasize a series of frequencies
that relate to the vocal tract size and shape. The vocal tract is not a simple tube. Rather, it
is a tube of varying sizes and shapes, and is highly adjustable. For this reason, it tends to
emphasize some overtones of the phonated sound and de-emphasize others.
The sound of each individual's voice is entirely unique not only because of the actual
shape and size of an individual's vocal folds and larynx, but also due to the size and shape
of the rest of that person's body. Humans have vocal folds which can loosen, tighten, or
change their thickness, and over which breath can be transferred at varying pressures.
The shape of chest and neck, the position of the tongue, and the tightness of otherwise
unrelated muscles can be altered. Any one of these actions results in a change in pitch,
volume, timbre, or tone of the sound produced. Sound also resonates within different
parts of the body, and an individual's size and bone structure can affect the sound
produced by an individual.

Singers can also learn to project sound in certain ways so that it resonates better within
their vocal tract. This is known as vocal resonation.
Another major influence on vocal sound and production is the function of the larynx,
which people can manipulate in different ways to produce different sounds. These
different kinds of laryngeal functions are described as different kinds of vocal
registers and phonatory modes.
In addition to these natural deviations listed above (i.e., the size and shape of the
individual's vocal tract and body), how singers pronounce their words has a lot to do with
the uniqueness of their singing. How the vocal tract articulators (the tongue, soft palate,
jaw and lips, all of which work together to produce recognizable words) modify the
voiced sound that is created by the vocal folds is an important part of achieving balanced
vocal timbre. The adjusting of the articulators affects the frequencies of the vocal tract
resonances (formants), and thus how a listener hears vowels, as well as the overall tone of
the voice. My upcoming article, Singing with An Open Throat: Vocal Tract Shaping will
provide specific information on correct usage of the articulators in order to maximize
resonance and balance tone.

BLENDING THE REGISTERS

In singing, blending may refer to two areas of study: blending the registers (eliminating
'breaks' in the voice that tend to occur between registers) and blending chest and head
resonances (to produce a 'mixed' or blended tone that is characteristic of the middle
register). I'll attempt to address both concepts here.
To begin a discussion about blending (also known as 'bridging') the registers, it is
important to define the term register. A vocal register in the human voice is a particular
series of tones, produced in the same vibratory pattern of the vocal folds, and possessing
the same quality. Registers originate in laryngeal function - the larynx, where the vocal
folds are housed. They occur because the vocal folds produce several different vibratory
patterns. Each of these vibratory patterns appears within a particular range of pitches and
produces certain characteristic sounds or qualities. The term register can be somewhat
confusing, as it encompasses several aspects of the human voice, and can be used to refer
to any of the following: a particular part of the vocal range, (such as the upper, middle, or
lower registers), a resonance area (such as chest voice or head voice), a phonatory
process or a certain vocal timbre.
In order to move smoothly up or down in pitch between the chest, middle and head voice
registers (or between any two adjacent registers), the registers must blend. If they don't,
noticeable voice breaks, or register breaks, will occur. When a register break occurs,
the tone of the voice will often suddenly become weak, thin and lacking in intensity and
volume, and pitch changes will sound abrupt. Sometimes the voice will crack, or there
may even be a momentary cessation of sound. These problem spots in a singer's range are
believed to be caused by mal-coordination of the laryngeal mechanism - or static
laryngeal adjustment, in which the vocal folds fail to make necessary changes as the
next set of pitches (or register) approaches. These changes to the folds and the laryngeal
muscles need to happen gradually rather than suddenly, and need to be accompanied by
an adjustment of breath energy.
When a singer is moving from one register to another, the goal is to have an evenness of
tone so that there is no perceptible "break" or shifting between the registers. Ideally, the
singer's voice shouldn't sound like an entirely different voice when a different register has
been entered. Achieving smoothness and a consistency of tone throughout the scale
demands a knowledgeable teacher who can instruct the student in how to effectively
adjust the mechanism of registration. The good singer knows how to coordinate the
registers in such a way that there is a smooth, imperceptible transition from one register
to another.

To blend these registers, a singer needs to slightly close the two last notes of the lower
register when ascending in pitch and slightly open them when descending in pitch. If too
much power or volume is put into singing the highest notes of the lower register, it will
become more difficult to develop the power, volume and warmth or fullness of tone in
the lower notes in the next (higher) register. Essentially, singers must rein in their voices
a little just before attempting to shift into the next register. If they don't have control, they
will find a large difference in tone quality when they switch into their head voice, and
this poorer quality usually sounds thin, weak, shaky and breathy.

Many vocal registration problems are really problems of resonance adjustment. The
treatment of vowels has a strong effect on the transitions from register to register. (I delve
more deeply into this issue in Part Two of this article entitled Singing with An 'Open
Throat': Vocal Tract Shaping .) Vowel modification, in which the vowel is 'narrowed' or
'darkened' just prior to the point where the voice would naturally flip into the next
register, is necessary, and is a part of the closing and opening processes that need to
happen when ascending and descending in pitch, respectively. When transitioning up to
the head voice register, if a 'rounding' of the vowels does not happen, the singer will be
pulling up too much weight (thicker vocal cord mass) into the higher register. It should be
noted that the darkening of the vowels should only be done by increasing the acoustical
space, not by pulling down the soft palate or the back of the tongue, as these latter
techniques lead to inconsistency and diminish the upper overtones.
Achieving mastery of the head register involves opening the closed vowels and closing
the open ones. For example, as the [i] is carried higher and higher, it needs to taper
toward a short 'i', as in the word 'it', and then continue to change subtly as the scale
ascends. Some instructors make use of vowel modification charts to help their students
understand how each vowel should change within the head register. However, I find that
most singers can make the correct modifications once they understand that the changes
need to occur, and that they can't maintain the same vowel sound in their head register as
they do when singing at speech-level pitches. Letting go of their previous notions about
how their voices should sound in head voice and hearing their instructor demonstrate the
gradual modification process is usually enough to help them access head voice.

When a singer fails to modify the vowel, a register break is likely to occur, and clear, free
tone in head voice becomes impossible. Whenever my students have difficulties
transitioning into full head voice, it is most often a problem with failure to allow the
vowel to modify. The students often attempt in vain to maintain the same distinctive
vowel sound and feel in head register as they do in their speech-inflection range. The
vowel then spreads and breathiness occurs, or the larynx begins to rise in an unhealthy
manner and phonation becomes tight or squeezed in both sound and feel. Pitch inevitably
begins to go flat, and the singer begins to feel tension at the laryngeal level. Allowing the
vowel to 'narrow' and the jaw to lower slightly usually produces an almost instant
correction of the registration problem, as the laryngeal muscles and the vocal folds are
allowed to make their natural adjustments.

One approach to helping singers access the head voice range when attempts at modifying
the vowel are not successful is the use of healthy nasality, usually the [NG] sound. (The
addition of some subtle nasality also works for the very bottom of a singer's range when a
vocal fry quality starts to enter the voice because it keeps the voice from slipping back
into the throat and creating discomfort and strain. With the sound placed just slightly in
the nose, a pleasant tone can be produced because it is less likely for the vowel to
spread.) Once the singer can successfully and consistently bridge into the head register,
the tone will even out and become balanced.
With my students, I emphasize the importance of anticipating these pivotal registration
points so that they can begin making the necessary muscular, breath energy and vowel
adjustments a couple notes before the voice would naturally shift into the next register.
These registration activity points may differ slightly from singer to singer, depending on
their ranges and voice types, and with different vowels for the same singers. Anticipating
the register changes allows the necessary modifications to take place in advance of the
break point, which in turn produces a blended or mixed voice that is, both functionally
and tonally, a cross between the laryngeal mechanisms and tonal qualities of the two
abutting registers. The end result of anticipating the register changes is seamless, healthy
transitions between registers, created by an evenness of tone throughout the range. (It
sometimes helps to think of the voice as one continuous or linear mechanism or tone
rather than a series of separate registers that must be linked together.)

Accessing the head register poses particular problems for many untrained singers, and a
great deal of those problems occur because of a failure to anticipate and allow
adjustments to occur naturally and gradually. Head voice, (within the changed voice),
occurs at a specific pitch within a scale as a result of the thickness and length of the vocal
folds. Minor acoustical changes must be allowed to occur each half step within the head
register to prevent the voice from sounding squeezed. Depending on the individual
singer's folds, it can be a different acoustical changing point. Also, this point of change
may be located at a slightly different spot depending on the singer's vocal fach or vocal
type. For example, a tenor might need to switch into head voice by the C4 or B4, whereas
a bass might need to make the switch around the A4. A soprano might make the change
to head voice around the F#5, whereas an alto might make it around the E5.

Changing into head voice timbre a little earlier or lower in the scale, rather than waiting
until the voice absolutely must switch, however, may free up the upper register,
improving tone and ease of transition. I find that, even as a mezzo-soprano, I naturally
start incorporating head voice timbre into my voice around the C#5 or D5 depending on
the vowel and the day, even though my voice could probably hold onto the middle voice
timbre and not need to modify the vowels for yet another couple steps. However, if I
were to maintain the timbre of the lower register until my voice absolutely must switch,
the transition to head voice would be abrupt and highly perceptible, and my voice would
start to sound and feel a little pinched or squeezed. Beginning the transition into head
voice early enough in the scale allows the singer to find freedom and release in the head
register so that a perfect blending of the registers is created.

One of the most noticeable consequences of failing to glide smoothly upward into the
next register is a flattening of pitch. When a student begins to sing flat on certain notes, it
is a telltale sign that he or she has likely reached the end of a certain register and has not
made the necessary adjustments to continue singing on pitch.
It is possible to extend the natural or chest voice upward by a few more notes past the
first passaggio. (In a male singer, this extra range of the lower register would represent
his zona di passaggio, and would end at his second passaggio. In a female singer, the
chest voice would merely be carried up into the lower part of the middle register.) Doing
so, however, invites registration problems, as well as the potential for strain or injury.
The voice will inevitably 'break' when it reaches the point where it can no longer sustain
the same muscular control or vibratory pattern. Over-extension of the chest register is a
very common occurrence with young, pre-adolescent female singers because of the over
development of this range. Untrained males will often switch into falsetto tone, rather
than full, legitimate head voice, because the decreased involvement of the vocal folds
creates a release of the tension that has been mounting since the first passaggio was
reached. It is always ideal to learn to blend the registers rather than push the vocal
instrument in such an unhealthy, unnatural manner.
In my studio, I have noticed that singers of different voice types and vocal weights
experience difficulties with negotiating different register transition points. Typically, a
heavier or more dramatic voice with a lower-lying tessitura has more difficulty
smoothening out the transition between the natural (chest) and the middle registers (in
females) or the natural and head registers (in males) because there is often a mismatch
between the fullness or heaviness of the lower range and the lightness of the higher range,
and because they have a tendency to want to carry the lower mechanism of the voice
(the 'natural' quality of the voice that they are most comfortable singing with) up as high
as it can go until it ultimately cracks and shifts into another vibratory pattern (register).
Lighter, lyric voices and voices with higher-lying tessituras tend to glide through both the
lower passaggio (registration change point) and the upper passaggio into head voice with
greater ease because the tone in the lower range doesn't differ substantially from the
fullness of the middle and higher registers. Lower-voiced men tend to have more
difficulty moving smoothly into head voice than do women in general,
although altos seem to frequently struggle with the register changes between their natural
(chest) voice and middle register. Throaty or hollow sounding voices tend to have a great
deal of difficulty smoothening out the registers.
Of course, all of the above challenges are remedied, though not often easily or quickly,
with vocal study that focuses on the adjustment of breath control and vowel modification,
(referred to as aggiustamento in the international or Italian school), that will retrain the
singer to navigate register shifts correctly.
Proper execution of register shifts - ones that are smooth and comfortable - requires the
simultaneity of correct muscular balance of the voice, efficient phonation, appropriate
laryngeal depth and balanced tuning of the vocal tract (formant tracking). Many
techniques are used to blend the registers. These techniques must address coordination of
the muscles of the larynx to prevent voice breaks, and maintenance of the acoustic
pressures in the airways to avoid undesirable quality changes.
One exercise that I find to be helpful with my students who are struggling with register
breaks in the lower passaggio is a series of five-note chromatic scales beginning a few
notes below the register break point, then moving up to a few notes above it. I have the
students sing these scales in both ascending and descending patterns because the
adjustments that need to be made in terms of breath energy and vowel modification are
different when going up and when going down in pitch. Often, the students and I will
slow down the exercise and insert a glide between notes so that they can feel the subtle
adjustments being made at the level of the larynx with every note change. This exercise
helps to retrain the muscles of the larynx over time.

While it may be appropriate at times during a lesson to isolate the different registers
during certain exercises (e.g., to shorten the exercise so that others can also be fit into the
lesson time or to work on a specific range of pitches or register that may be giving the
singer some problems, etc.), it is preferable and wise to also include exercises that
encourage the successful blending of registers, in which singers move from one register
to the next, both ascending and descending in pitch. Smoothness of registration can be
obtained in no other way than by practicing the skill.

Repairing a register break requires time and patience. Some students find it to be the most
challenging and frustrating aspect of vocal technique study. Once it is repaired, though,
the singer can refine it further and practice to maintain a seamless voice throughout his or
her entire range.

For blending the registers and allowing the laryngeal muscles to learn to gradually make
the necessary changes, slides or portamentos through the passaggios are sometimes
helpful, as are five-note chromatic or diatonic scales that begin a couple notes below the
passaggio and end a couple notes on the other side of it.

For further discussion on vocal registration and register breaks, read Understanding
Vocal Range, Vocal Registers and Voice Type - A Glossary of Vocal Terms. For some
practical tips and exercises for encouraging a more unified (blended) vocal scale,
read Blending the Registers in Tips For Practicing Singing: A Practical Guide To Vocal
Development.
MIDDLE REGISTER OR
MIXED/BLENDED VOICE OR THE ZONA
DI PASSAGGIO
Blending chest voice and head voice qualities and colours is a major source of confusion
and frustration for many aspiring singers. It may take years to master. However, once
they understand how the voice works, blending becomes easier and nearly automatic, and
the singer is able to sing with more emotion and passion.

Although chiaroscuro timbre - characterized by a balance between the light (clear) and
dark aspects of the voice's spectrum - is important throughout the voice's
entire compass (range), it seems to become particularly important in the middle register
where the voices mix. Some singers respond to a mathematical 'formula' for blending, in
which the voice's tone is imagined to be comprised of fifty percent head resonance and
fifty percent chest resonance - the actual proportions change with the pitch being sung, so
that more head resonance and less chest resonance will be present as pitch ascends, and
more chest resonance and less head resonance would be present in the balance on lower
pitches. Other students respond to visualizations that involve the tone creating a smooth
line in the front of the face or accepting the notion of a 'grey' area in which the voice is
neither entirely head (white) nor entirely chest (black). Some students appreciate the
concept of equalizing the voice between the lower and upper passaggios (the middle
register in women and the zona di passaggio in men) so that there is a balance of 'bass'
and 'treble'. Still others find it most successful and relaxing to simply focus on making
the voice sound beautiful and free on every note rather than focusing too much attention
on the complicated physical mechanism involved in blending.
Regardless of the imagery that singers adopts to make blending the different voice
qualities make more sense to them, the goal should always be to achieve balanced tone
with every note sung in the range.

CHEST VOICE
When singers refer to chest resonance, they are actually talking about vocal tone that is
characterized by darker vowel qualities or mellowness, sometimes accompanied by a
distinct sensation of vibration in the chest, especially in the sternum and breastbone area.
This register mode occurs in the lower to middle range of speaking pitch. The term itself,
however, is a misnomer since an effective resonating chamber is a hollow place
surrounded by hard surfaces, (such as bone), and the chest is too full of organs to be
suitable for amplifying the singing tone. Since resonance occurs where there is plenty of
empty space for amplification of the lower vibrations created by the vocal folds, what
singers may associate with chest resonance is actually sympathetic vibration; that is,
vibrations being conducted through the bones of the chest cavity. Not all singers
experience sympathetic vibrations in the chest when singing in this register. Some only
feel it when their hands are placed on their chests.
I prefer to use the term natural voice when referring to this register in the singing voice
because it denotes the natural disposition or mode of the vocal folds. Within speech level
pitch range, the singing voice should sound almost identical to the speaking voice, and so
using this term seems to be a better description of the type of 'natural' voice production
that is desirable within this range. It removes from the description of the vocal register all
subjectivity or mislabeling.
HEAD VOICE
Head resonance, when properly supported, has a brilliant ringing tone quality as
compared to the chest resonance singing tone. This bright voice tone is developed in the
bones and cavities above, behind and around the nose that is often called the 'mask', or
'masque'.
Since the head voice is seldom used during everyday speech - in women, the head
register begins on the notes at the top of the staff - the muscles and the tone tend to be
underdeveloped. Most classical technique instructors tend to spend more time developing
the tone, intensity and volume of this high register because it needs more work than the
chest (natural) and medium voices do, as they are more commonly used in speech and in
contemporary styles of singing.
When singing in head voice, a singer must maintain a forward "placement" so that the
vibratory sensations - the resonance of the voice - can be felt in the bones of the face. If
the tone is allowed to slip back into the throat or spread, it will be impossible to produce
a good tone with effective resonance and volume. In this register, the jaw must also relax
and slightly lower to create more space and to promote equilibrium among the overtones,
which will reduce shrillness in these high pitches. (I explain more about why this is the
case in Formant Tuning In the Female High Range in my article on vocal tract shaping
and in the section on vowel modification in Vowels, Vowel Formants and Vowel
Modification.)
If head resonance is not supported, the singer usually produces a false falsetto tone
because the singer must switch into a 'choir boy' tone in order to sing the high pitches.

Head voice occurs as a result of the laryngeal tilt (or cricothyroid adjustment, in which
the larynx rocks forward and elevates slightly as pitch rises). Without this laryngeal
adjustment, the singer will find singing in the higher register extremely difficult.
FALSETTO
The term falsetto designates a timbre in the male upper range that is imitative of the
female timbre. Science shows that women are capable of producing a falsetto voice.
However, this phonation mode or tone quality is not typically recognized in the singing
world because an incomplete vocal fold closure in females merely produces a breathy
tone that sounds very different than the falsetto tone that males produce. It will not sound
as though the woman has switched to another register.

Many singers incorrectly think that falsetto and head voice are two names for the same
technique. This, however, is not the case. Although head voice and falsetto may be
produced at the same pitches in male voices - those pitches that lie above his primo
passaggio - and may be described as 'running parallel' to each other in range, the
techniques and resulting sounds between the two voice productions are different. In other
words, falsetto is recognized in historic voice pedagogy as being distinct from full head
voice. Unlike the sound of head voice, which is richer in overtones and has the potential
to produce a substantial Singer's Formant - that is, it has a strong 'ring' - falsetto voice is
weak in overtones, has a more 'flute-like' quality, and therefore produces no Singer's
Formant.
The main differences between the sounds of falsetto and head voice production lie in the
amount of laryngeal involvement. Falsetto is a voice production in which the vocalis
muscles (the thryroarytenoids) are inactive and lengthened by the action of
the cricothyroid muscles, which are nearly fully contracted. The sound of falsetto is
produced by the air blowing over the very thin edges of the thyroarytenoids, which are
easily blown open or apart by the breath because the thin, lengthened edges of the vocal
folds display little tension in opposition to the stretching action of the thyroarytenoids,
and little resistance to breath flow. The pitch is controlled mostly by a regulation of the
breath flow.
In order to create head voice, increasing tension of the thyroarytenoids creates a tauter,
more substantial edge to the vocal fold, which in turn creates more resistance to the flow
of breath, and building subglottic pressure - pressure below the closed vocal folds - can
be felt. Increasing the activity of the thyroarytenoids in resistance to the stretching action
of the cricothyroids will increase the subglottic pressure and change from the tone quality
of falsetto to the ringing sound of the head voice. (The male singer can easily sense this
difference in breath pressure between falsetto and his true head voice.)
In voice training, sometimes falsetto tones are used to help male singers with pressed
phonation reduce vocal-fold tension in the zona di passaggio and in the upper range.
The falsetto voice is produced by the vibration of the extreme membranous or
ligamentous edges of the vocal cords either in whole or in part, while the main body of
the fold is more or less relaxed. In other words, edges appear to be the only parts
vibrating, while the mass corresponding to the innermost part of the thyro-aryntenoid
muscle remains still and motionless. However, in more skilled singers, the mucous
membrane of the vocal folds contact with each other completely during each vibration
cycle. The arytenoid cartilages are held in firm apposition - they are touching - in this
voice register. (This tends to produce a sound that mimics a clear female voice rather than
a breathy falsetto-type tone.) Also the length or size of the oval orifice or separation
between the folds can vary, but it is known to get bigger in size as the pressure of air
pushed out is increased.
In others, often seen in more trained singers, the full length of the glottis opens and closes
in each cycle. In still others, a phenomenon known as damping appears, with the amount
of glottal opening becoming less and less as the pitch rises, until only a tiny slit appears
on the highest pitches. To some extent, damping is natural and healthy. However, it can
quickly deteriorate to 'pressed phonation'.
For more details on falsetto tone production, refer to the falsetto section in Understanding
Vocal Range, Vocal Registers and Voice Type.
VOCAL FRY REGISTER
Singing teachers don't often refer to the vocal fry register because it is not regularly
produced by singers - it is not easily accessible to them - and because it is not considered
a legitimate performance mode of phonation.

The vocal fry register (also known as pulse register, laryngealisation, pulse
phonation, creak, glottal fry, glottal rattle, glottal scrape or strohbass), is the lowest
vocal register. It is produced through a loose glottal closure that permits air to bubble
through slowly with a popping, rattling or crackling or 'static' sound of a very low
frequency. The voice sounds as though it is 'frying'.
During the vocal fry mode of phonation, the arytenoid cartilages in the larynx come
together in such a fashion that the vocal folds compress tightly and become relatively
compact and slack. This process forms a large and irregularly vibrating mass within the
vocal folds that produces the characteristic low popping or rattling sound when air passes
through the glottal closure.
The vocal fry register is chiefly used in singing to help a singer reach low pitches that
would not be available to the singer if he or she were singing in the modal (chest or
natural) register. The physiological production of vocal fry can be potentially damaging
to the vocal folds if used frequently, particulary if it is brought up into the chest register.
It may also cause singers to lose some of the upper notes in the chest register. However,
in some cases, the use of vocal fry may help students learn to produce lower notes if they
have previously been unable to due to excessive tension of the laryngeal muscles and of
the support mechanism that leads to too much breath pressure in this range of pitches.

I find that most of my female students tend to resort to a vocal fry production as they
descend below F#3 or F3 in pitch (the F# or F below middle C). It is possible to teach
students to produce a clearer tone that more closely matches that of the chest voice in this
range of pitches by simply focusing the tone better through envisioning a narrowing of
the tone and preventing the placement from slipping back into the throat. This action
frees the voice of excess laryngeal slackness and enables the students to sing lower notes
more comfortably and to sound a little more pleasant. The lower range is often extended
by several notes when the tone becomes clearer.

THE ROLE OF BREATHING IN TONE

PRODUCTION
Many aspiring singers are tempted to brush over breathing technique and to forego
breathing exercises or 'homework' because breathing seems far too basic and tedious a
skill to fit with their lofty aspirations. They want to jump right into the more challenging
and fun aspects of vocal study, even before they have laid a solid foundation, and this is a
detrimental temptation to fall into.
What all students of voice must come to understand and appreciate is the important role
that breathing plays in tone production. Good management or regulation of airflow will
encourage a clear, pure, free, natural, seemingly effortless tone. With good breath control,
a singer can give volume, stability, strength and quality to a note, change imperceptibly
from one register to another or increase or diminish the power of a tone within the same
register, or alter the voice's volume in order to introduce softer effects. Perfect control of
the voice can safely and easily produce volume without degradation of tone (e.g., a
shrieking or shouting sound), and allow the kind of purity and freedom that are essential
to good singing.

Singing requires more lung pressure than speaking does. The entire duration of a sung
note or phrase must be 'supported' or secured by a gentle, uninterrupted stream of breath
behind it. A singer should be able to take a full breath easily, quickly and silently, and
then regulate the rate or pace at which that air is expired (appoggio) during phonation. A
steady, controlled stream of air enables a singer to produce a steady, controlled tone. The
equal and continuous pressure of the air against the vibrating vocal folds produces equal
vibrations, and maintains equality of sound throughout its entire duration. The quality of
tone should ride on a minimal yet healthy breath stream. This small stream of breath must
travel at an even rate.
Without good breath control, on the other hand, a singer's tone will be shaky and thin,
and possibly breathy, even before it escapes from the mouth. Sudden changes in sub-
glottic breath pressure will not only distort tonal quality and lessen the singer's ability to
sustain longer musical phrases (due to the loss of excess air from the breathiness of tone),
but they may also cause problems with pitch.

Please take some time to read over my article Correct Breathing For Singing. In it, you
will find information about the breathing mechanism and an explanation of why
diaphragmatic breathing is the body's correct and natural way, as well as some basic
exercises to start you on your way toward correcting and strengthening your breathing.
With breathing technique mastered, you can then turn your attention toward achieving
better clarity, smoothness and pleasantness in your tone.
Once good breath support is examined, it needs to be applied to singing. Breath should
seem to turn into tone, without any perceptible or noticeable effort behind it.

EXERCISES
As with the exercises that I've included in my article on breathing, these tone
development exercises are very basic, and are not intended to replace the expert guidance
of a vocal instructor in a 'live' lesson situation who can give you direct feedback on your
vocal tone and guide you to improvement. (Remember that you don't hear your voice
inside your head as others hear it, and you may initially need someone to help you
recognize when you are producing desirable tone.) A good teacher will check your
breathing technique, helping you turn breath into tone, as well as how you adjust your
vocal tract - your vocal posture - in order to help you achieve a balanced tone.
It is important to become aware of your tone and 'placement'. We have several resonators
in our bodies, including our facial cavities such as the nose and mouth. (Read my article
on the Anatomy of the Voice to get more detail.) The smaller, thinner bones and the more
narrow cavity of the nose are meant to support the sympathetic vibrations of higher
pitches, whereas the larger, more open spaces of the mouth and throat respond to the
resonance of lower pitches. To experience this vocal phenomenon, try tapping with your
finger on your chin and listen to the echo of the sound inside your head. Now try tapping
on the spot between your nose and upper lip, just above your upper teeth. You should
notice a rise in pitch from the first spot to the second. If you tap on the bony bridge of
your nose, you will notice that the sound is higher yet in pitch. Finally, tap on your
forehead.
Second, the higher the pitch that you are singing, the higher up on your body you will
likely feel the sensations associated with resonance. (Again, these sensations are really
the result of sympathetic vibration. The way in which we describe or label our registers -
e.g., 'chest voice', 'head voice', etc. - generally indicates the location in which we feel the
most resonance, rather than the location at which it is actually produced; that is, the
larynx.) If you were to practice humming a musical scale, and if you were to hum
correctly (i.e., with appropriate volume and focused tone, you should be able to feel the
sympathetic vibrations from your voice move higher as the notes get higher and,
conversely, lower as the notes get lower. (If you do not feel your face vibrating, you are
likely not humming correctly and may need to make some adjustments.) These vibratory
sensations should be felt especially in the bony structures of the head, even at lower
pitches. This area is often referred to as 'the mask'. You will probably feel your teeth
vibrating, which may tickle your lips, at times. (Even though all singers have different
physiological experiences while singing, there should be some sensation somewhere in
the head while you are singing.)

Try humming a single note that is comfortably within the middle of your range. When
you feel a strong vibration in your face, open your mouth. The vibration should still be
there, and in the same place. Try using all five pure Italian vowels ([e], [i], [a], [o], [u])
when you open your mouth. (Don't exaggerate how you form the vowels with your
mouth, such as opening up more widely than you would in ordinary speech, because that
will create distorted vowels and an imbalanced, unpleasant tone, as well as excess tension
in the jaw, tongue and neck.) You may find that some vowels, such as open vowels, are
easier to sing than others, such as closed or lateral vowels. Avoid the tendency to add a
diphthong to the [e] vowel (e.g., singing 'ay', with the 'y' pronounced at the end). Instead,
maintain the fist, more open part of the vowel.
Now try humming a few notes at a time, then scales, and pay close attention to where you
can feel the resonance of your voice. When you are actually singing these scales and
notes, this is where your voice should also be resonating. It shouldn't become closed off
in your nose so that your tone is nasally nor drop back into your throat. Think of keeping
the sound 'forward'. Also, it shouldn't sound breathy or airy. (You may recall that
breathiness, or unfocused tone, is caused by incomplete vocal fold closure during
phonation - sound production - and a lack of breath energy or good support.) If it does, or
if the tone is shaky or weak, go back to practicing your breathing exercises and then
apply better breath management skills to the more basic humming exercises, one note at a
time, opening up to a single vowel. If the tone is still not clear after you have mastered
breath support, work on improving the onset of your tone.
Sometimes it helps to place an 'm' or an 'n' before the vowels, at least initially, because
these naturally resonant consonants can help to 'ground' the tone, allowing you to feel
more resonance or 'buzz' and keeping the vowel from spreading. Many of the exercises
that I have my students sing during lessons, particularly in the lower parts of their range,
include 'm's' and 'n's' at the beginning of the vocal phrase (or series of notes) with the rest
of the phrase being sung strictly on the vowel. When a student has mastered placement
and consistently produces a clearer, more efficient tone, these consonants are usually
removed from the exercises.

Some Bel Canto (meaning 'beautiful singing' in Italian, and referring to an Italian mode
of singing or a classical singing technique developed in seventeenth century Italy)
instructors believe that it makes little sense to train a singer on a consonant because Bel
Canto singing is characterized by the ability to sustain a line from vowel to vowel
without allowing consonants to get in the way of vowel production - in other words, it is
the vowels that are sustained during singing, not the consonants, which serve the purpose
only of forming different words - and because the resonance that is felt in these positions
is nasal and false. However, I have seen success with my newer students who have never
really felt the 'buzz' in their singing voices before. Although these nasal vowels may
create a false sense of resonance because it is felt so strongly in the nasal cavity, tone
tends to balance itself out once the velopharyngeal port is closed to produce the vowel,
and the student is able to produce more clarity of tone due to better vocal fold
approximation.
I would also argue that, since 'm's' and 'n's' are consonants that are indeed present in all
vocal literature (songs), it is both safe and practical to include them in technique training,
so long as they are not used to the exclusion of other consonants. If a student of voice
never has an opportunity to use consonants during vocal training exercises, he or she may
struggle to keep them from posing obstructions to good vowel tone when they are added
later in his or her performance repertoire. In my studio, I find that some students allow
back-formed consonants like 'g' to move the placement of the vowel back, and forward
consonants like 'd' or fricatives - consonants that are formed by impeding the flow of air
somewhere in the vocal apparatus so that a friction-sound is produced - are often sung too
harshly. (Fricatives may be either voiced, as in the case of 'v' and 'z', in which the vocal
folds vibrate during the articulation of the fricative, or voiceless, as in the case of 'h' and
'f', in which the vocal folds do not vibrate during the articulation of the fricative.) It is
always a more balanced approach to vocal training to include all consonants in exercises
at some point because they can easily affect the quality of the resonance produced, which
will be noticeable on the following vowel. Bel Canto, after all, means 'beautiful singing',
and a singer's voice can't be beautiful if any element is missing from his or her training.
Finally, experiment with focusing your vocal tone in various parts of the resonating
chamber that consists of your throat, oral cavity and nasal cavity. Begin by directing the
tone out through your nose and sinuses - intentionally producing a nasally tone - to see
what that feels and sounds like. (This sound is usually accompanied by a bunched up
tongue.) Next, try creating a 'throaty' sound, and take note of how this sounds and feels.
Then, try centering the sound in the large, more forward resonating space and note the
way that this sounds and feels. You'll find that the former methods create a tone that does
little to complement your natural voice, while the latter creates a richer, fuller, more
compelling sound. I sometimes have my new students sustain a single note on an 'ah'
while they experiment with their tone placement - while they learn to tune their
formants and achieve balance in their resonance. When they hear that fully resonant 'ring'
inside their heads, they take note of it, and I usually give them the proverbial 'thumbs up'
as an external listener when their tone sounds balanced or centered. This exercise can be
very effective, as most students with relatively good breath support and vocal fold closure
can hear and feel when their tone seems to be 'perfect' because it rings so strongly inside
their heads.
Practice singing in the more centered tone mentioned in the previous step, being certain
to keep the throat open and note the resonance that indicates correct use of all the
resonating spaces together. Before trying for a more individualized tone, you need to
master keeping your tone consistently centered.

Initially do not strive for a 'beautiful', rich or even 'big' voice. Don't attempt to make your
voice into anything that it isn't naturally because you are under the impression that this is
how singing should be approached and how it should sound. Rather, let your aim be
simply to achieve complete freedom of the vocal mechanism, which will result in
healthy, balanced resonance. In time, with good technique applied to singing, timbre will
improve in all areas of the range (vocal compass), and your own personal style can be
added.