How to Sing High Notes without Falsetto--Works for Guys and Girls!

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Introduction: 0:00
Why the “Nay” exercise helps: 1:40
Octave Repeat Nay for Males: 3:09
Octave Repeat Nay for Females: 4:14
What You Might Do Wrong: 5:08

Whether you want to sing high notes like Sam Smith or Jeff Buckley, the name of the game is understanding and getting comfortable in head voice.

So what is head voice? First, let’s talk a little science, then we’ll get into how to use it.

The body has different registers that resonate more or less according to the notes you’re singing. The best known of these registers are chest and head voice. The names chest voice and head voice come from an old understanding of where the voice comes from.

With the help of modern science, we know that chest voice does not really come from the chest. And head voice does not come from the head. But singers from the Bel Canto era of Italian singing called these registers chest voice and head voice because that’s where they felt vibration.

For example, if you’re singing lower notes, you are more likely to feel vibrations in the thoracic part of your body. Then if you then sing a much higher note, you will notice that the vibrations that you used to feel in your chest moved to your cranial cavity, or head.

If you’re not familiar with head voice, there are lots of easy tricks to experience the very top part of your voice. The easiest and most familiar way is by going into an airy, light, falsetto on a high note.

But the problem with falsetto is that it’s not a strong sound. There’s no flexibility or power in falsetto.

So to go back to our original question: how to hit those high notes without the falsetto?

One great tip is adding in what I call a “bratty” sound. Like you’re the wicked witch of the west. That’s right. “I’m gonna get you my pretty” wicked. Get it all out! Remember, this sound is unfinished and you won’t be performing with it.

Now, try to add a little bit of that bratty sound to the high notes that you’re trying to hit. For example, if you’re trying to hit a high C with power, try to add that bratty sound to the word “Nay”. Repeat the high C a few times while repeating the “Nay Nay” and you should hear an immediate difference. All of a sudden, the note is there and it’s not light and airy.

Work this exercise gradually. One tradeoff with the bratty sound is that it can be a bit tiring for the voice at first. So don’t overdo this exercise initially. Take it slow and let those top notes develop on their own. Eventually, you will get the point where you won’t need the bratty sound and can hit those high notes without falsetto.