Do I have to sing in chest voice?

“I was wondering whether I HAVE to sing in chest voice? I feel like when it’s only chest voice it’s a bit monotone and lacking variation”

Many students ask or wonder this when they first start with the technique and approach that we utilise in lessons. Just for a bit of context, often these kinds of singers are capable in their originals or own artistry, but it’s important to note that such singers are relatively fledgling in their vocal development.

THE START

Firstly, when we build a voice, we HAVE to start with chest voice. I’ve blogged about this extensively and the reasons why. The obvious consequence of this approach is that we have to spend some time in chest voice, establish it fully, and build from there. This can often make it feel (at first) like we’re advocating ONLY singing in chest voice, or that only ONE specific sound is correct. This is not the case – what we’re trying to do is start with chest voice to properly build your instrument – which to do involves some restriction of choices during voice-work – to give you the CHOICE of whichever sounds you want later on.

BUT! We only impose those restrictions most severely when we need to establish chest voice. It’s a necessary place to start, and right at the start the sound will seem less vibrant due to the inherently narrower range we are singing in.

THE CONSISTENCY OF SOUND

As we ascend higher through your various bridges, provided you (as the singer) maintain that establishment of chest you will find that there is a remarkable consistency of sound. That sound will inevitably gain brightness and harmonic richness as we ascend, giving that tonal vibrancy and variation that we seek… all without losing the depth and consistency of your natural voice, i.e. your chest voice.

The higher we go as well, the brighter the sound progressively becomes. However, we CANNOT leave chest voice too quickly otherwise we hear a “flip” in the voice, and even an untrained ear can hear this. If we don’t leave chest voice quick enough we end up straining and yelling. Many singers try to manipulate their voice to avoid either of these two extremes, leading to an unnatural sound, or at least a sound that deviates heavily from our own voce. However, when we hear our natural speaking voice, we are hearing predominantly chest voice, and this is the template that we use to fully build the voice.

The important point of this: the consistency of sound we need starts with the somewhat boring task of being able to stay grounded in chest voice. This needs to be in-built into each voice on songs that are manageable for said voice, before we try to add more range and build upwards. Without this stability and grounding, we can go no further.

This philosophical approach leads to an unexpected side-effect that is beyond the sound, but is linked to the feeling of singing for the vocalist:

PHILOSOPHY: SPEAKING ON PITCH

Remember that for that period of time we’ve spent just establishing chest voice, the whole experience of singing will feel just like chest (i.e. your normal voice) because it literally is your normal chest voice. But if we keep this approach the same even as we ascend in pitch, i.e. we match the next few notes to be the same quality as our chest voice such that the next portion of our range literally feels the same as chest voice, then we don’t notice that they are higher (even though such notes will be part of the next register up). And the process keeps repeating. As such, because of the extensive establishment and tone-matching undertaken, your singing voice will “FEEL” literally like you are still only singing in your normal voice throughout your range. This is a dramatic feeling for clients, because suddenly high notes they once struggled with feel as easy as singing in a low and comfortable range.

Consider this further point: if you feel like you are still singing in chest voice even when you’ve left chest voice and are singing in your upper registers, then not only do you have a full and powerful sound with great tonal connection but you will have a great emotional connection to your voice when singing.

Most of the emotional “disconnect” people experience when singing is from “trying” to do things with their voice that don’t feel natural, e.g. reaching for high notes, intentionally flipping and singing in a lighter sound, or mangling our voice to try and create a unique sound. When we constantly keep switching between different gears/modes in your voice, when you’re never sure what sound or tonal quality is going to come out, that’s when we start to lose emotional connection, as well as range connection.

These are not only shortcuts that (in my opinion) don’t work and just lead you further and further away from your own in-built unique sound, but they also require the singer to constantly be operating manual gears in their head – e.g. remembering to switch here, change there, etc – and all the while they are not sounding like themselves as they hear themselves every day when they speak.

Instead, if we build the voice so that even the upper registers are an extension of chest voice, maintaining fullness but adding brightness of head voice as we go, then the singer gets to feel like they’ve never left chest voice… and that’s the real philosophy benefit of building the voice and singing in this voice.

“Do I have to sing in chest voice?”

The answer in short:
– at the beginning of building your voice, yes, you need to begin by singing in chest voice to establish it.
– as you progress as a singer, yes and no – yes, you will continue to sing as if you were in chest voice, and yet simultaneously “no”, because you will not always be in chest voice (even when you think you are!).
– as an artist – of course not! artistically many songs are valid… but don’t try and take the shortcut. Build your voice properly and you’ll have LOADS of artistic choices, and you’ll always know where that solid home-base is to give you great emotional connection to your instrument.

Learn More: Related Articles

If you want to learn more about vocal technique and great singing, you may enjoy these related articles:
Our Vocal Technique
The Difference between Amateurs and Pros
The problem with trying to teach voice using ONLY voice science
Vocal Pedagogy: Past, present and future
Singers: The Difference Between Vocalists and Performers
Can vocal technique help laryngitis?
What is vocal fach?
The Key to Vocal Consistency

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