Falsetto
A man's voice suddenly floats up, light and high, almost like a different singer. That's falsetto: a light, high register above the normal chest (or modal) voice. See what the vocal folds do in each register (the full thickness vibrates in chest voice, only the thin edges in falsetto), hear why falsetto sounds lighter, breathier and higher, and watch the two ranges and the break between them over the keyboard. Then find your own break, gently, and sing our short phrase low and an octave up. Stayin' Alive, Kiss and Sherry are named only; every voice is our own synthetic demonstration.
In this lesson you'll
- Hear the two registers of the voice, chest (modal) and falsetto, and tell them apart by their sound: full and rich versus light and thin.
- Explain what the vocal folds do in each: they vibrate along their full thickness in chest voice and only at their thin edges in falsetto, so falsetto is lighter, breathier and higher (fewer strong overtones means a lighter sound, lesson 50).
- Find your own break gently (a comfortable note, then a soft slide up until the voice flips light) and sing a short phrase low in chest voice and an octave up in falsetto, without pushing or straining.
Music in this lesson
- Stayin' AliveBee Gees · 1977 (named only: sung in Barry Gibb's falsetto)
- KissPrince · 1986 (named only: falsetto lead vocal)
- SherryFrankie Valli & the Four Seasons · 1962 (named only: famous falsetto hook)
Remember
Falsetto is a light, high register above the normal chest (modal) voice. In chest voice the vocal folds vibrate along their full thickness; in falsetto only their thin edges vibrate, so the sound is lighter, breathier and higher.
Falsetto lets men sing in a range normally associated with women's voices, and the voice sounds more fragile and intimate. You hear it in Stayin' Alive (Barry Gibb's falsetto), Prince's Kiss (a falsetto lead vocal) and Sherry (a famous falsetto hook).
The break, where the voice flips between registers, is part of the effect: yodelling exploits it on purpose, and in classical music countertenors use a related technique.