Learning About Vocal Registers Versus Vocal Ranges


            I want to talk to you about the different Vocal Registers.  This is NOT about your vocal RANGE.  A Vocal Register is a particular range of tones in the voice that is produced by a specific vibratory pattern of the Vocal Folds.  Vocal RANGE is the length and breadth of all the notes a person can produce, from the lowest to the highest note.  I will explain below which registers utilize which muscles in the vocal mechanism.  The types of Vocal Registers are:  Vocal Fry or Pulse, Modal or Chest Voice, Falsetto or Head Voice, and the Whistle Register.  The human vocal mechanism is capable of creating vibratory patterns to produce only these four registers, though not everyone has the possibility of this much range.  Each voice is unique but if you don’t have the physiology, it’s difficult to “create” it.  Professional voice lessons can help you access all the areas of your voice, and practice coupled with your lessons, yields increased range, control, and consistency.  Many people have “pieces” of registers but lack the ability to connect those pieces into one whole, continuous voice.  This will hopefully help you understand what is going on with your voice, and how you can alleviate problems or challenges, and move toward building one healthy, consistent, unchanging sound.  Every vocal sound is created by the passage of air through vibrating vocal folds but the muscles of the vocal mechanism affect different registers, different areas within a vocal range.  The muscles that affect vocal production in the Vocal Mechanism are primarily the Thyroarytenoid and the Cricothyroid. 
            The Vocal Folds are composed of FIVE layers of tissue:  1 - Squamous epithelium - This is just the outermost covering for the Folds.  It helps maintain the shape of the vocal folds, provides protection for the remaining Fold tissue, and aids Vocal Fold hydration; 2 - (SLP) Superficial Lamina Propria or “Reinke’s Space” - this is mostly loose, fibrous, and elastic, and it forms a kind of cushion to the area; 3 - Intermediate Lamina Propria (ILP) - elastic fibers; 4 - Deep Lamina Propria (DLP) - this layer has the look of a “bunch of cotton thread” and mainly contains collagenous fibers, which add to the durability of this layer; 5 - Vocalis Muscle - this is the muscle that acts as a sphincter muscle for the top of the body.  It seals air into the lungs and food into the stomach; these are its active mechanical actions.  In its passive state, it has the appearance and consistency of stiff rubber bands.  Overall, the Vocalis Muscle helps control stiffness in the Vocal Folds.
            To understand your own voice, the best way to comprehend where your limitations and strengths are is to refine your knowledge of the mechanism itself.  You need to work with your voice teacher to strengthen the muscles you need for production.  For the lowest Vocal Fry or Pulse Register, you need only work on the Thyroaryteniod Muscle and make use of all the layers of your Vocal Folds.  For the Modal or Chest Register, sound is MOSTLY produced using the Thyroarytenoid but also with some access to the Cricothyroid, and again, most of the layers of the Vocal Folds.  To work in the Head or Falsetto Register, primary muscle responsibility is with the Cricothyroid muscle but with additional help from the Thyroarytenoid, and only the cover of the Vocal Folds.  Lastly, to sing in the Whistle Register, the Thyroarytenoid must be completely relaxed.  Only the Cricothyroid muscle is engaged for sound production, and the Vocal Folds are not affected significantly, as only the outer cover layers are employed.
            I recognize that these are all highly technical and probably bothersomely scholarly terms but the more accomplished you can be in your KNOWLEDGE of the Vocal Mechanism, the more tools you have for perfecting your own voice.  Singers seem obsessed with their vocal RANGE.  What is not often understood is that many times range limitations are due to a need to develop and connect the various Vocal Registers.  Learning to adjust breath, vowel shape, and some Laryngeal alterations make the transition between registers much easier to negotiate.
            Check out the following Blog Posts on the specifics of the Fry or Pulse Register, the Modal or Chest Register, the Head Voice or Falsetto Register, the Whistle Register, and finally, a post on “breaks”, the Mix, and those marvelous Transition areas.  This is all good stuff, and adds more and more “tools” for your performing toll kit.  Send me any questions you have.  If you have questions about my lessons or me, check out my website at www. SingitForward.net.  Otherwise, I’d love to hear from you here with questions, comments, and/or ideas for future blog post topics.  Thanks for reading!  Sing it Forward!

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