sign in sign up
<<
Home , Chest voice, Coloratura, Countertenor, Modal voice, Passaggio, Singing

{ -4'l^.}:,t?.5.b."'

i::: Pedagogy AssoclArEEDrroR: Richard Miller

FemaleChest Voice

with all other rangesof the female tinent than ever.While there still may voice, not only in iow range,but be pedagogueswhobelieve that chest well into upper range as well. register is "bacl" and should be .) J. Chestshould never be carried avoided,most singerstoday, both male upwardbeyond Eb+(above middle and female,need, to utilize this qual- Cn)by most ,and no ity in orcler to have viable careers. higher than Ea or Fnby amezzo. Indeed, chestregister has long been can carry it up to F#a a componentof the time honored tra- or Gaabove middle C. Carryrng it ditions of classicalvocal training. It beyond these points may prove is referred to by both Lamperti and physically dan$erous. Garcia and is discussedat length in 4. Itis an essentialcomponent of the the books of Vennatd, Reid, and Broadwavsound. Bunch, as well as many others. JeannetteLoVetri In classicalsinging, the chestreg- RESPONSE ister can be addressedin the female Writtenquestions that teachersand voice in a number of ways, d"epend- performershav e submittedfor discus- Untjl relatively recenfly, it was not ing upon the results desired.In all sionat sessionsdevoted to systernatic uncommon for a in the voices,it needsto be handledwith carg voicetechnique are wide ranging,oftto United Statesto speakin a headreg- as there ate certatn side effects in the penetratingthe v ery heart of voic e pe d- ister dominant quality. In the last use of this register qualify, both in eglgu.Thiscolurnn continues to exam- twenty-five years,however, there has acousticparameters-or - inesorne of them. been a trend for women's voicesto and in function. be lower in pitch and chest register If one is working with a young voice ISSUE dominant. In addition, since rock withlittle or no training,both registers Whatis your opinion as to the func- took over as the dominant influ- must be developed,but headregister tionand useof female chestvoice? I ence of in the 60s, isbest developedfirst, asit allows the haveheard a number of views ex- mainstreammusic hasbeen chestreg- voice to rise easily and stretchesthe pressed,including the following: ister driven for female asweIl as male upper limits of the pitch range.A light 1. Femalechestvoice shoulclbe used singers.i Finally, with the continued is not fatiguing to most voices very sparingly, if at all, and only increase in the decibel level of all and can be strengthenedover time. with mature singers. amplified musigz including music the- Although there often is a tendencyto 2. Chestis an important assetin ater3and now some , the breathinessin a head register , developin$the 1ow female ratt{e, of the averagelistener have become this clearsup asthe voice strengthens and for providing an expressive accustomedto heavy,fiill,loud and the breath managementbecomes anduseful color possibility. It asthe norm in most . One more deliberate.After these vocai shouldbe introduced early. By only needlisten to recordingsofyoung behaviors are established,it is possi- developingthe , the Gigli or LilyPons to know thatvoices ble tobring in a spokenquality (chest entireinstrument is strengthened. as light as these would have a diffi- register or ) on the lower It shouldbe exerciseddaily along cult time establishing major careers tones and graduallystrengthen it and today,especialiy in the United States. a1lowit to rise to Ea. Journalof ,November/December 2003 Given all of the above,the question In an older singer or a singer with Volume60, No. Z,pp. L6L-764 Copyright2003 concerning the use of chest register a stronger voice, the lower register NationalAssociation of Teachersof Singing in the female voice seemsmore per- mayhe more naturally present and

Novuunnn/Drcnt'anrn 20 0 3 161 Jeannette LoV,etri

may rise without difficulty several what we mean when we talk about In the caseof contemPortry com- pitcheshigher. Ideally all other tech- "weight" in a voice and how it func- mercial musig or CCM (anYthingnot nical work progressesapace, allow- tions, l:oth positively and negatively, classical),an entirely different under- ing for ablending of the notesaround particulatly it relationship to tech- standingof chestre$ister is necessary' the E+to Gapassaggio until the sin$er nique rather than natural capacity.I When dealingwith any style of CCM, reachesa high leve1of skill and full believg neverflneless,that avoice delib- thereis a gooddeal of confusion about vocal function. eratelycanbecome chestier over time what exactly chest re$ister is, partic- The light (think quite efTectively,as in the caseof a ularly in women. SomePeoPle think again of Pons or Mado Robin) can , but that the trainin$ mustbe that anybright, brassysound is chesty, sing in what could be called a donecarefuliyin order to avoidprob- period.This is not correct.Some think "" quality, or pure head reg- 1ems. that anything that is spoken is auto- ister. At the level of the folds, this is There traditionally has been debate matically chest re$ister, but that primarily a cricothyroid.driven sourrd. among pedagoguesas to whether or dependson the speechof aqY $iven I speculatethat it perhaps could be not chest register is responsiblefor individual. Itis important tobe ableto rcIated to the vibratory function of the deeper,darker color of the sound hear what is and what is not a re$is- the 'sfolds. The very or for the "edge" or brilliartce in the ter quality. It is imperative also to be light coloratura has iittle color or resonance.Many studiesindicate that able to hear a differencebeFxteenthe weight, particularly in the lower head registerproduced tones al1ow sound quality or resonarlce pitches, but makes up for it in flexi- the 1a4mxto remain comfortablylow adjuslment and the re$ister quality' bility and high range. If the instru- in the vo.caltract, which would more Without this ability, the entire sub- ment is beautiful in its own right and easily al1owit to remain in a lon$er, jectbecomesmurkY. the musical ability is there, no one more open configuration, hence,Pro- Cerrain teachershave proposedthat minds that the chestregister is miss- ducrng a darker, fi.rller tone. The chest belting, which is simply the chest re$- ing. This hasbecome quite register quality has been shown to ister quality carried up abovethe fra- rare,particularly in the United States, have more compressionat the level ditional E-F+break at a loud decibei perhapsbecause it doesnot carry well of the folds and may causethe level, is a separatere$ister unto itself' that in the middle andlower pitches over itself to changeconfiguration andver- Researchhas strongly suggested a large orchestrain a big house. tical height. Dependin$upon the phi- all register balarrceis a combination The other female voice that can losophy of the training, it could be of cricothyroid and thyroarytenoid laryn- managewithout an obvious chest re$- that the high frequency amplification activity, and that, coupled with ister quality is the . thatwe call "ring" is enhancedbythis gealheight, vocal tr actconfiguration, Voicesthat are naturallylar$e without chestregister response. These obser- subglottic pressure,and trans$lottaI astonal weigfrt, such as those of Bir$it Nilsson vations would seemto run counter airflow; is what the hears isjust a label andJoan Sutherland,are able to fill to the subjective exPeriencemost texhrre.Therefore, b elting cLtestregis- a house without using a noticeable singershave that head re$ister is given t0 e certain aspectof is sup- chest register quality in their lower responsiblefor brilliance and chest terfancti.oz. This definition in the pitches. register for warmth in the tone. It is ported by decadesof use actertze It has long been stated that chest fair to say that the jury is still out as theatrical community to chat and sin$er register will make the voice more to the causeof these a specifictype of singing back of a impressivebut will pu1l it down in responses,because it cannot Yetbe who could be heard at the electronic range,and I believe that to be true, ascertained what is strictly source houselongbefore there was (The famous not just for women, but for everyone. and what is filter. We.canspeculate amplification. two most place, of coutse, exponentsin the 30s were AlJolson Fi, Singing roles that were too heavy or from an empirical *irr. singing them too soon has deraiied but whatever school one fal1sinto, and Ethe1Merman.) fii, Whatis not clearfrom the research ff', many careers,and Ibelieve this is the the subjective choicesneed to be f,i: of research), $i,, source of the fear that chest re$ister ciearly made. In terms of music the- (or more accutate\y,lack but is known to those who Perform fto: is "bad" for the voice. ater, the vocal quality changesmustbe fiit, is that it is possible to sin$ in a #t,. From an objective or more scien- addresseddirectly or problems will CCM fiir: is soft and tific standpoint,it is still veryunclear surely arise. chest register quality that $' $r |;i, 162 Jounxal or StNcrNc $; iil h Voice Pedagogy

light.(That's what "crooning" is.) It Through conditioning, it is Possr- and often asks women to sin$ in chest, a standsto reasonthat if it is possible b1e,over time, to take the chestre$is- mixed [chestwithhead), and "Leg,rt" to make a loud head re$ister sound ter quality higher in pitch without head within the same show and some- In order like the aforementioned classical damagingthe vocal folds,particularly times within the same son$. injury, it is singers(countertenor and coloratura) if the singer is well trained, i.e.,has to do this safely, without women andcarry it down in pitch, it must goodbreath managfementand excel- absolutely necessary that alsobe possibleto make a soft chest lent posture,is physically in very $ood learn to feel specificallywhat "weigfirt" to registersound andcarry that quality condition, has learned to eliminate means in their sound, and learn up higher aswell. In fact, this is very anyunnecessarytensionin the mech- make the sound have a sPoken extra pres- muchwhat happensin a beginning anism, and is using this quality with a (modal) quality without this studentwho has a "rLtcevoice" and high level of awareness.Sin$in$ a well sure in the throat itself. While it isn't any singspop music exclusively,butdoes- preparedchesty F5 once an evenin$is isn't necessarily easy, a good n't belt. The confusion has arisen not the sameas sin$in$ a nontrained harder than learning to be becauseoperatic trainin$ eliminates chesty Fa over and over for several ope a singer! this vocalbehavior. Chestre$ister in hours very loudly, which is worse. an operasinger behavesentirely dif- Chestregiister d,oes not make ttre voice NOTES often that's the ferently than chest re$ister in a pop more beautiful, but 1. Richard Middleton, "Rock Sin$in$," singer.If one's experiencewith this desiredgoa1. Obviously somewomen n Thr Cambridge Comp anion to Singing, quality comesentirely from opera wil1be able to sin$ in chest re$ister ,ed. (Calrbridge: Cambrid$e singing,the only conclusion possible more easilythan others, and PerhaPs University Press,2A00), 29. would be that chestre$ister doesn't it is a more stressedquality no matter 2. Robert Trace, " No Lon$er want to go up easily, and that would how it is handled,but it is not neces- Turn A Deaf Ear To Hearing Conser- betrue.In the caseof a natural chest sarily automatically damaging. vation, " in ADVANCE for Speech-Lan- Audiologists registerdriven speakingand sin$ing It is true, however, that sin$in$ in guage Pathologists and (september2I, 7992): 10-11. voice,where the lar;rnx rides easily the abovemanner would make it dif- high in the throat, it is not difficult ficult, if not impossible,to sin$ with 3. Anthony Tommasini, "Some Advice REIII From A Friend," The New to take the chest re$ister quality up equal facility in a lower larytx, head For York Times,Arts and Leisure Section in pitch, provided there is no other register dominant Position, as the 0tt1y 26,2002). unnecessarytensiqn anywherein the muscular coordination would be at phonatorysystem and ofherphysical oppositefunctional extremes.In factorsarc favorable. essence,I am sayin$ that Aretha JeannetteLoWtri is in dewand as a spe- In a1lbut the rarest of cases,female Franklin couldn't sing like Ren6e cialist in training singersfor contempo- singersmusthave someaccess to their Fleming, and vice Yersa,even if theY rerryclnTrnercial music of all stgles.Her chestregister quality in contempo- were inclined to try. There are vocal expertisehas beenrecognized world'wide rary , and it is not uncom- reasonswhy "crossover"is difficult, throughinvitations forlectures at national mon to find this quality carried to and why no one has asYetbeen able and intnnational sympo sin, seminars, and very high pitches in many styles.The to successfullyne$otiate both classi- professionalcongresses, and for master dehateused to ra$e as to whether it cal and nonclassicalmusic at the salne classesat universitiesand conservatories. accePt- wassafe to take chestre$ister above time in a way that has been LoVetrihas recentlytaught at the Univer- Ga,but it is quite possible todaY to able to either the professional com- sity of SouthAlabama in the VocalPeda- hearwomen singin$ an octavehigher munity or the $eneral Public. gogyandVocologg Weele with natedlpere than that in chest register on Broad- It is possible,however, to "cross- teacherOrenBrown. Shehas also just com- it way eight times a week. The number train" the vocal mechanismso that pletedthe first-ever for creditgraduate of womenwho take chestre$isterinto producesmore than one kind of vocal coarsein Music Theater Vocal'Pedagogy tlris high pitch ransehasbeen steadily quality, and this is in fact a necessity for ShenandoahConservatory in Win- growingfor many years,and not all of in the femalecommercial sin$er, espe- chester,Virginiafeaturirg her own method thesepeople are damagingthemselves, cially one who sings music theater of voicetraining calledSomatic VoicaaorW*, vocalfreaks, or unaware of what theY material. Music theater requires Shetaught inJulg at theNational Center soundlike and are doing. singersto be as versatile as possible for Voiceand Speech,Denver Center for the

Novnvrsnn/DBceMrnn200 3 153 ,.:i

Jeannette, LoVetri :,,: ,l:": '....,...-...... -

ican Academyof Teacher s of Singing,vuhere was recipientof theprestigious Van Latu- PerformingArts, i,n the nationally recog- sheholds the of secretary. renceFellowship givenby The VoiceFoun- nizedEum,merVocologg Institate, in coop- ffice dation andNATS inrecognitionof thettse erationwith the Universitgof lowa. Shehas worked in liaisonwith notedmed- of voicescience inthe tkteteaching of si.nging. ical and clinical specialistsretraining As Director of The VoiceWorkshop,Jean- injuredsinging voices, andhas a consult- Jeannette is on thefaculty of th.eVoice privatepractice nettehas rnaintaineda ant at the GrabscheiclVoice Center at Mt. Fowndation'sSymposiurn: Care of thePro- teachingsince 1971. Her studentshave Sinai H ospir al i.nN ew York.J eanne tt e has fessi.onalVoice. She was guest teacher-in- appearedon and Off-Broadway,on net- presentedtvuo joint vuorl<,shopsin New York residenceat theHonston Grand Operafor vuorkT\ in rnajor films, national tours withDanielR.Boone,PhD, one of theJbund- Mered.ithMonk, her student,who mounted andregionaltheater aswell as at Carnegie prernier ingfathers of voicescience resea.rch in speech the'yuorld of Monk's oper&Atlas and TownHalls. Shehas been on facuhg pathologyand ProfessorEmerittts at the ther e and has be e n work ing "uuith Ms luIo nk theSchool of Education andTisch Jbrboth Universityof Arizona. Shewas the subject for rnorethan h,uentyUeLrrs. Jeannetie wcts Schoolof at Nnu Yot*Unittersitlt. of a researchstttdy condu,ctedby The twiceleeynote speak,er and international is alsoDirector of Vocal.Studies Jeannette St'uedishInsfirute of Technology'sDr.Johan glLestlectarerfor theNational Cabnrerand for theawardwinning BrooklynYouth Cho- NfusicT-h.eaterTraining Seruinarin Syd- Su.nclberg,one of theworld's forenLost voice nts Academg (BYC) scientists,and the'lateDr. P&tricia Grant- neg,Australict. Jeanwetteis a past presidentof the Netu ming,of theKaroli,nskaHospital in Stock- Shewas gaestlecturer at Freie Universitcit YorleSinging Teachers' Associatio n holnt. in Berl.in,add,ressing the Depa,rtmerut of ArvSruJ Sheis a memberof the New York Speech,Aud.iology and. Phoniatrics, Jean- J eann e tt e is prim ary au.thor of nvo res e ar ch City Chapterof theNational Association nette has participateclin researchstttdy pepersand secondaryauthor on tvuooth- of Teachers Sing,ng and theAm"er- conductedbyDr. at the Univer- fNATSj erspttblished in theJournal of Yotceand sity of Utah on the origins of . She wasthe opening speaker at theApril.2000 Conference,Science and Singing Teacher inNaa York.InMarch/April2007 shewas guest teacher/Iecturerfor theBritish Voice Association'sAnnual Conferenceand for theH&rnburg University Hospital D epart' n'tentof Otolaryngologyin Germany.

November's sky is du1l and drear', Novernber'sleaf is red and sear. sir walterscott (1771-1s32) Marmion(tso8) s

April is in my mistress' face, AndJuly in her eyeshath place, Within her bosom is September, But in her heart a cold December. From Thon'tasN[orley, Madrigals to Fau.rVoices (tSg+)

164 JounNar oF STNGING