5 Exercises to Make Smooth Transitions (Improve Mixed Voice)
These simple exercises will make your voice smoother than ever before
At some point, every singer must confront the breaks that occur in their vocal range. These hiccups from the bottom note to the top can wreak havoc on your performance, separating out good singers from great ones. Luckily, this skill is highly trainable. You just need to know the right exercises!
Below, we discuss what causes these breaks, how to improve your transitions, and exercises you can do to improve your mixed voice.
Why Smooth Transitions Are Hard (What is mixed voice?)
When you move through your vocal range, you might come across a place with some difficulty. That’s where you are moving from your head voice to chest voice or vice versa.
So what is going on? First, we need to understand the two main ways we produce our singing voice.
- Chest voice is the use of the lower vocal folds. These are heartier, causing a fuller sound and lower notes. The resonance happens in your chest, creating a buttery bass effect.
- Head voice is the use of stretched, thinner vocal folds. This means you can reach higher notes, but it also leads to a more ethereal sound.
The mixed voice combines these two approaches, creating a mixture of effects from chest and head voice. When you are using mixed voice, you don’t have to switch between these two to move across your vocal range.
That makes mastering mixed voice an extremely valuable technique for any singer. It makes transitions seamless, and it provides a better all-around sound for each note along the way.
5 Exercises to Improve Transitions
1. Posture
Practicing correct posture might not seem particularly focused on training your transitions and mixed voice, but it can be make or break for singers — especially if they are just starting. Proper posture opens up your body’s full resources, giving you the air you need as well as the space to move your resonance from your chest to your head.
2. Accentuate the Difference
It might seem counterintuitive, but a great way to move into smooth transitions is to practice flipping between head and chest voice without a transition. Why is that? Because by mindfully going from one to the other, you’ll get a much better appreciation for what these voices do, how it feels to use them, and what parts of your body create them.
3. Sirens
These warm up your entire vocal range, which has obvious benefits for training your transitions. The key here is to not stress yourself. Start slow and gentle, beginning at the very bottom of your natural vocal range and gliding up to the very top before coming all the way back down again. Experiment with different vowel shapes for added spice.
4. Ng Sound
The “ng” sound (like in the word sing) is a great way to move through your vocal range, protecting yourself while learning how to glide gracefully. It also works as a wonderful exercise for improving your vocal range in general. Because it does double duty, this exercise is a must-have in any daily exercise regimen.
5. Nay Sound
“Nay” gives you a great consonant to push off of, both firm and smooth. Then you get a diphthong with “ay,” a wonderful place to warm up and expand vocal agility. A pro tip here is to smile, relaxing your throat and making it even easier to slip and slide around your entire vocal range.
How to Train Your Transitions
Mixed voice training benefits from going slowly. Trying to do too much at first could result in an injury, which can cause training setbacks and even lasting injury.
The best way to protect yourself and make steady progress is to fold these exercises into a daily warm-up routine. This will give you well-rounded improvement while also fast-tracking your mixed voice singing.
Learn More Choir Singing Tips from INTERKULTUR
Want to learn more about improving your voice? Keep an eye on our Newsroom, where we post tips for choir singers all the time. Who knows? Maybe one day soon, you’ll be ready to compete at an INTERKULTUR event!
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