Singing Exercises to Improve Vocal Control

Vocal Training to Rid the Breaking Point Between Head & Chest Voice

Oct 14, 2009

Improving a student's vocal technique involves singing up and down the scales without becoming croaky or breathy in the middle.

Some singers have a problem with the middle range of the scales when singing from high notes to low notes, crossing what is known as a “bridge” or a “breaking point.” This can come across as breathlessness, croaky or out of tune. With appropriate singing lessons, this problem can be eradicated.

Learning to Sing Properly

The head voice deals with the high notes of the range and has a clear, bright sound; the chest voice deals with the low notes and has a richer, fuller sound. Some singing teachers make the mistake of treating the two as separate entities, assigning both different voice exercises. However, to rid the problematic area of the middle range, the voice needs to be treated as one. This means allowing one voice to dominate all.

Vocal Exercises to Strengthen the Voice

Just about every song involves the singer moving over this breaking point, and if that part requires volume, the singing voice could end up sounding ugly rather than resonant.

In order to develop this middle range, the vocal teacher must work upon forward placement (the shape of the mouth and the throat). This will make it easier for the voice to move from the low notes to the high notes and vice versa.

Singing Vowels

The following singing exercise may help the student achieve a seamless sound when singing a series of notes without taking a breath. The voice teacher may demonstrate the following exercise before the student has a go.

Starting quietly and slowly building volume, the student must sing gradually from one vowel to another.

The student must be discouraged put consonants in front of the vowels or to contort the lips. Some students may find it difficult to correctly place the AH, singing it at the back of the throat rather than towards the front of the mouth. Whilst practicing this exercise, the teacher should encourage the student to change pitch with each vowel exercise. The student should endeavour to keep the sound aimed towards the front of the mouth at all times. This will help retain the sound’s brightness as the student sings over the middle range.

The Singer's Breaking Point

In order to learn how to sing, the student must address the middle range of the voice. Many singers have a breaking point, which is a series of notes that lay between the chest voice and the head voice. In order to eradicate the croaky or breathy sound this might cause, the singing coach may devise vocal exercises to practice voice placement and sustained vowel singing. In time, the student will be able to retain a bright sound between the high and the low ranges.

The copyright of the article Singing Exercises to Improve Vocal Control in Music Education is owned by Rachel Wills. Permission to republish Singing Exercises to Improve Vocal Control in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.