(“whoo”) can be helpful. I once had a teacher tell me that she had success with a child finding the head voice by imitating the giggle of the Pillsbury Doughboy.
For children and mature females, the exclusive shift into the upper CT register is at or around c above middle c, and upward an octave. If the singer continues to produce pitch in this range with some of the TA mechanism being used, the top or soprano range will be limited, as in the case of second sopranos.
Boys with changing voices and mature males also need to exercise the CT register with the upper “wheelie” exercise.
Strengthening the CT
muscles is most important to developing the upper range of the male singer, and is the secret to developing high school tenors.
The third or middle vocal register is a combination of both TA and CT mechanisms (TA/CT). For children and mature females, this “mixed” registration is used between pitches middle c and the octave above. For males with changing voices and mature males, the “mixed” registration begins around middle c and the octave above to the male “high c.” For the mature male voice, this upper octave is known as the passaggio, or what the Italian school of bel canto singing calls the passageway from the lower register to the upper register. From middle c upward, more and more of the CT register is engaged while less and less of the TA register is employed. This is a demanding technique and one not easily mastered until the voice is settled and mature. With younger voices, even in high school, it is sometimes preferable to ask boys to “break” between the TA and CT registers at or around pitch e above middle c. This eliminates the mixing of registers while the voice settles, and works well in ensemble singing.
It also
keeps the boys from vocal strain in the upper register of the voice.
Children and mature female voices should never break between registers, and must develop a smooth transition upward from the TA to the CT registers resulting in an overlapping or “mixed” register between middle c and an octave above (TA/CT).
There should be an
approximate sharing of registers at or around pitch f# above middle c. The best way to develop this middle register is from the top— down. Descending arpeggios on “loo” should begin in the upper (CT) register, and gain a fullness as pitch descends.
If breath support is
maintained throughout the vocalise, the TA muscles will automatically engage as the pitch descends. Below pitch f above middle c, more and more of the TA mechanism should engage until only the chest voice appears at pitch middle c and downward.
It is imperative that children and mature female singers learn to sing in “mixed” registration
ala breve
between middle c and an octave above. However, someone like the pop singer, Adele, will lose the edge of her tone because she will no longer be singing only in the TA register. By using a mixed or shared registration, her vocal cords will make less contact, and in the end, she will gain longer vocal life.
The same can be said for male pop singers who push hard on TA vocal production throughout their vocal range, causing maximum vocal cord contact even in the highest pitches. The mature male begins to thin the vocal folds at pitch g below middle c. As pitches rises, more and more of the CT register engages until middle c when the passaggio register involves more and more CT support. However, for younger male singers, and even the majority of male choral singers, if can be beneficial if the shift into the upper or male-alto register begins at or around pitch e above middle c.
Phillips, Williams, and Edwinvi believe that
students can learn to sing pop music through “safe belting,” which involves bringing the top voice down and mixing it with the chest or lower vocal register, thus producing vocal cords that are thinner and less able to make a lot of contact.
The authors state: Good and healthy belting is a mix of TA and CT muscle activity combined with resonance coupling that does not overload or overtax the instrument. This requires specific breath management technique. Belting requires a vocal quality specific to popular culture, and that quality must be embraced if a teacher is tohelp a child singer successfully negotiate belt and mix voice.
High school music teacher, Roger Amesvii concurs: “Every young singer, including my male singers, learns how to bring the high register down into the chest voice and blend the two. This is harder than it sounds, but it is the only way to provide some sort of Broadway-style singing.”
There is no escaping the fact that pop music has invaded the school music program, and in some cases, dominates it. This being the case, vocal music teachers have an obligation to teach students how to sing in such a way that they do not harm their voices. A clear understanding of the three vocal registers (TA, CT, TA/CT) and how these are used separately and together is necessary if students are to escape the position that many pop vocal “stars” come to with surgery or loss of voice. Foremost to healthy singing is learning to mix or share the TA and CT vocal registers correctly balanced with regard to vocal range. In the middle voice, the less vocal cord contact the better. Engaging more of the CT mechanism always thins the cords, while more of the TA mechanism thickens them.
In summary, the safe-belting of pop music in show choirs and Broadway musicals requires that pressure on the vocal cords in the middle voice be lessened by a combination of TA and CT register production. This is learned by using vocalises that exercise the voice from the top— down (CT register to mixed TA/CT register). While the quality of the sound might not, at first, sound “edgy” enough, in time and with practice the voice will grow stronger and project without being forced. We owe it to our students to teach them to sing all styles of music in ways that result in good vocal health.
i
Based on the author’s books: Directing the Choral Music Program, 2nd
ed. (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2016), and Teaching Kids to Sing, 2nd
Learning 2014). ii
ed. (Boston: Schirmer, Cengage Kenneth H. Phillips and Sandra M. Doneski,
“Research on Elementary and Secondary School Singing,” in MENC Handbook of Research on Music Learning, vol. 2: Applications, eds. Richard Colwell and Peter Webster (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2011), 176–232. iii
Keith Hatschek, Vocal Health Basics—How to
Properly Care for Your Voice. Retrieved from: http:/
blog.discmakers.com/2012/01/vocal-
health-basics/. iv
Cornelius Reid, A Dictionary of Vocal Terminology: An Analysis. (New York: Joseph
Duane Cottrell, “Building Vocal Strength with Sustained Tone Warm-Ups” (Choral
Patelson Music House, 1983), p. 296. v
Journal, 56/3, 2015), 73–79. vi
Kenneth Phillips, Jenevora Williams, and
Robert Edwin, “The Young Singer,” in The Oxford Handbook of Music Education, vol. 1, eds. Gary McPherson and Graham Welch (New
Roger Ames, “Preparing for the High School Musical,” in The School Choral Program: Philosophy, Planning, Organizing, and Teaching, eds. Michelle Holt and James Jordan (Chicago: GIA, 2008), 481.
York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 602. vii
Dr. Ken Phillips is Professor Emeritus, The University of Iowa.
An award-
winning researcher in the area of child and adolescent vocal pedagogy, he is the author of Teaching Kids to Sing (Cengage), and Directing the Choral Music Program (OUP), both now in second editions. Dr. Phillips has been recognized by NAfME as one of the nation’s most accomplished music educators (Teaching Music, October 2000).
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