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WHAT IS PLACEMENT?
The voice can be divided into 2 parts, the chest and the head sounds.
The chest is the fuller sounding voice from the bottom notes in your range to the upper middle and the head takes you from the upper middle to the top of your range.
Where these two parts cross is called the “break” or “bridge”. If you try to take your chest sound (or core speaking voice sound) up and over the bridge, the sound that is produced can sound tight and strained and you may have to raise your chin to squeeze the notes out. This can be described as "pulling chest". However, if you swap over immediately to the head voice sound, then it can sound weak as it is too low in the range to produce any strength. This can be described as "flipping over to falsetto". It happens around the bridge in the voice. The larynx is not stable and the voice is not able to produce a "mix" between the head and chest sounds (A pop/musical singer's "money" notes lie in the mix not in straining). If you don't fall into these two categories it possible that you have sung traditional classical or simply feel shy about your voice and it sits as "light or no chest" which just means that you take the head voice sound all the way down to the bottom speaking voice range - the result is often a light, breathy or weak sound in the lower notes instead of a resonant chest voice sound leading up to a correct "mix" and on into head voice.
Just about every pop song covers the middle “break” - it is usually the belting part, the singer that can cover it well sells millions of records. Methods such as Estill also explain that the voice needs continual adjustment on each note to create balance using figure positions to achieve this (core,twang,sob etc)
HOW
Forward placement of the note and air flow allows you to cross between the chest and head voice in one sound. There are singing methods that help you achieve this using a combination of vowels and consonants as well as larynx positions or figures so that the singer can feel where that sound is without strain.
WHERE TO PLACE THE VOICE
As the air travels up from the lungs, the cords are drawn together to produce sound. The key to the sound you produce is where the air and sound is directed. The different surfaces of the mouth and head produce different sounds and act as resonators creating the quality of tone.
The Soft Palette
You will feel this by running your tongue along the roof of your mouth, about 2/3rd back it goes soft. If you are aiming the air here the sound produced is dark and hollow and cannot give a bright sound because it is not a hard surface. In your mind it can sound to you that you are producing a big sound but in reality this muffled sound has no projection to it and will seem dull to the listener.
The Hard Palette
If we mentally aim the sound toward the front of the mouth – you will hit the cavities by the cheekbones, nose and teeth. The hard palettte is shaped like a dome and the sound produced when the air has circulated here can be awesome. Speech Level Singing and Estill use certain sounds or positions to achieve this from a physical perspective, more traditional methods rely on mental imagery, both can be extremely useful depending on the person.
Because each face is different, the sound produced is individual and a microphone will pick up more resonance and brilliant quality making it more record able.
NOTE OF CAUTION: We don't get that bright, forward sound by pushing out, or up to notes. If you ever experience tightness or pain in the area of the larynx, you've gone too far!
SINGING AND SPEAKING
Your speaking voice has a big influence on the way you sing. If you speak via the soft palette (certain southern accents), the sound is further back in the throat. If your voice is placed forward towards the hard palette (northern or Mediterranean accents) it is a far brighter sound – try and think where your speaking voice is - it could be affecting things more than you know!
The Chin
If you are trying too hard to take your chest voice higher you may find that you are raising your chin to reach the higher notes. When the chin is raised it closes the gap at the back of the throat and the air is trapped in the middle of the roof of the mouth, It gives a hard sound, but sounds strangled as you go up your range. It is not a safe way of singing. Find a good teacher to help mix the upper chest/head sound without yodelling!
The Jaw
If you look at a skeleton and watch the jaw open it doesn't actually openstraight down but rotates slightly backwards and down. Most important is to try not to lock the lower jaw as you sing (especially upwards). If there is tension in the breath flow, neck or jaw you will feel like you are fighting to get the sound out and your ability to extend your range of notes will be restricted.
PITCHING AND TUNING PROBLEMS
The most common causes are
● Bad placement of sound at various points in the voice.
● Breathing issues and ability to use the low breath and diaphragm.
● Difficulty with concentrated listening.
● Ill-health or tiredness
If the sound is aimed towards the back of the throat and soft-palette, it can be hard to keep on tune in the middle of the voice.
If the ends of the notes become shaky or fall off, it is usually because you are running out of breath, remember to breathe low and relax the tummy muscles on the in-breath and gently pull them in all the while you are singing to keep air flowing. Use some speaking exercises to help develop good vocal cord closure (see a good teacher).
EAR TRAINING
Most singers are not great listeners as they are usually more interested in the sound of their own voice (for better or worse!). Practice the intervals between notes, playing them on a piano and singing them can help your brain understand the relationship between the notes. Try to retain the bottom and top notes in your mind so that you can repeat them.
THE TONGUE
The tongue should remain flat and relaxed while singing in order to make way for the air and sound. If you are having trouble with tension in the tongue try resting it against the back of the bottom teeth and try some rolled “r's” to release tension in the root of the tongue. Remember that the tongue shapes the vowels and the shape of the vowels shape the space behind the nose cavity called naso-pharynx. It is in accessing this space with your sound that creates the most commercial part of any persons voice no what what the style.
