How common is it for people to have a really good, solid head voice and a chest voice that needs work? I am able to hit head voice notes fairly easily but I still need to improve my chest voice. (Also I am only asking about guy voices)
-Aaron
Hey Aaron,
It’s really common that a singer, especially in the beginning, will be stronger in either head voice or chest voice. I will say though that having a stronger head voice as a guy is somewhat less common.
Regardless, it can be a real asset. As a general rule, singers that are more comfortable in their chest voice often times make the mistake of taking too much chest voice into the upper parts of their range, causing tension. So, they have to pull back and get used to a different muscle coordination.
For you though, it’s likely that you’ll need to learn how to lean into the voice more (keep in mind I haven’t heard your voice, so I can’t say this with 100% certainty). If this is the case though, playing with different, comfortable ways of projecting your voice in your lower range is going to be the next step.
When doing this, your goal will be to keep the outer muscles in your neck, as well as the tongue relaxed. You can easily see if the muscles in your neck are tense by looking into a mirror. You can check and see if the tongue is tense by pushing up underneath your chin… if you can press and the base of your tongue is loose and you can move it around, you’re good. If it’s solid and hurts when you press into it, then it’s tense and you want to play around with it until you find a way to relax it.
Well, this should get you started. Let me know how this works for ya!
Best,
Vocal Coach Ken Taylor