Private lessons · Voice
Voice lessons in Miami
Your voice is the one instrument you carry everywhere. Here is how it makes sound, and the stages a singer's technique moves through.
- Sound sourceVocal folds vibrating in the larynx
- Voice typesSoprano, mezzo, contralto, countertenor, tenor, baritone, bass
- ChoirsSorted into SATB parts by range
The basics
- Singing relies on four processes in sequence: respiration, phonation, resonation and articulation.
- Sound starts in the larynx, where the vocal folds vibrate.
- Pitch is controlled by the tension and thickness of the vocal folds; together with breath pressure they also shape loudness and timbre.
- Women are usually classed as soprano, mezzo-soprano or contralto; men as countertenor, tenor, baritone or bass.
- Choirs usually sort voices into soprano, alto, tenor and bass (SATB) by range. Most people have medium voices, so they may be placed in a part that is a little too high or too low.
- Speech pathologists describe four registers (vocal fry, modal, falsetto, whistle); classical teaching describes chest, middle and head registers.
How technique develops
A map of the stages, taken from published exam-board requirements (named below). It is a map of what each stage can look like, not Green Hat's own method; your teacher adapts the path to you.
Breath and sound
The chain is respiration, phonation, resonation, articulation: breath becomes vibration in the larynx, then colour in the resonating spaces, then words.
Breath support
Singing breath has four stages: inhalation, setting up the controls (suspension), controlled exhalation (phonation) and recovery. They are controlled consciously until they become reflexive.
Registers and the passaggio
The passaggio is the transition between registers. A major goal of classical training is to keep an even tone through it.
Songs, sight-singing and listening
ABRSM singing grades ask for songs chosen from set lists (three lists at Grades 1–5, five at Grades 6–8), plus sight-singing and aural tests. The programme grows from about 6 minutes at Grade 1 to 25 minutes at Grade 8.
Sources
Facts come from the sources below; check them if you need exact details.