Chest, mix, head
Same song, different part of the voice. Low notes feel like speaking. High notes feel lighter. The middle is where people usually push. These are called chest, mix, and head — feelings, not buttons. Pick a do you can sing eight notes up without strain. Stop if the throat pinches.
Registration language varies by teacher — chest, mix, and head here are maps, not moral labels.
Pick do where eight notes up still feel like speech, not a climb.
The table is a compass for the drills below, not a diagnosis.
Stop on pinching — range expands with coordination over months, not with one hard session.
| Term | Where | Feel |
|---|---|---|
| Chest voice | Low / speaking zone | Full, easy “speech on pitch” |
| Mix | Passaggio (fa–sol–la) | Depth + ring, not yelled |
| Head voice | Upper scale | Lighter, forward, still connected |
| Falsetto | Very top, optional | Thin, airy, folds barely meet |
| Power | Usually chest / mix | Supported forte — not throat squeeze |
Range
Your range on this site is movable do: tị (dot below) through dȯ (dot above). Map it before you push volume.
Range on this site is tị to dȯ in movable do — your bar chooses where that lives in Hz.
Low boundary drills find ti below do; high boundary finds dȯ above.
If either fails, move do — do not bulldoze the throat.
Range on this site is tị to dȯ in movable do — your bar chooses where that lives in Hz.
Low boundary
Low ti is a half step under the drone — the same syllable as lock ti on the hub.
Chest often handles this zone easily; still keep the throat loose.
If ti reads as te, you dropped a whole step — slide up toward do.
Men and women both use this drill; absolute Hz differs, syllable job does not.
Low ti is a half step under the drone — the same syllable as lock ti on the hub.
Middle note is tị — a half step under the drone.
High boundary
High dȯ is the octave dot above do — lighter than chest shouting.
Head voice should still connect to the body, not flip to air.
If dȯ will not lock, try mix on the way up before you force head.
Record whether the passaggio felt like a crack or a slide — that tells you the next drill.
High dȯ is the octave dot above do — lighter than chest shouting.
- If tị or dȯ will not stay in tune, move do in the bar and try again.
- Range grows with mix and support, not with louder yelling.
Chest voice
Where most speaking lives. Singing here should still feel like speech on pitch: the throat is open, the vowel is full.
Chest voice feels like speech on pitch — easy for do through sol on many voices.
Power drills add volume here first before they ask higher.
If chest feels pushed, you are probably too high or too loud for true chest.
Lab C card C1 mirrors this page.
do up to sol and back, still in the speaking part of the voice.
- Your turn. Five notes up, four back. Each one names itself on the check.
- If sol pinches, that note has left chest. Stop, lighten, and sing the five again a step quieter.
Power (supported forte)
Power is more breath behind the same pitch, not a tighter throat. Pop belting, mix belt, and high notes are on Belting & high voice. This drill is a clean forte on do–sol–do. If the check leaves do, you pushed pitch up instead of volume.
Press Play once and listen before you sing. Your turn is for testing, not for guessing.
The check names the pitch you actually sang — adjust until it matches the lit syllable in tune.
If anything pinches, stop and reset on SOVT or a lower do in the practice bar.
Stepped soft/loud and hairpins live on Tone & agility · Dynamics.
Mix voice & passaggio
The passaggio is the bridge around fa–sol–la. Mix keeps chest depth with head ring — chin down, vowel a little taller, volume moderate.
Mix is the bridge — depth from chest habits, ring from head habits, without either extreme.
Fa–sol–la lines are the usual homework zone.
Mix is trained slowly; labels online oversimplify how long it takes.
If mix feels like yelling, subtract volume until the throat opens.
Connected glide through the passaggio up and down.
- Your turn on the mix line. Each syllable should name cleanly on the check.
- On the siren, no break into breathy air — if you flip, lighten before the break point.
Head voice
Head voice is still connected — not a different instrument. la–ti–dȯ should feel forward in the mask, lighter than chest, but not whisper.
Head voice is lighter and often feels forward in the mask — still on pitch, not breathy whistle.
Sol through dȯ drills belong here for many singers.
Head is not “weaker” — it is a different balance of resonance.
Falsetto is optional and thinner; head stays connected for classical and musical theatre lines.
sol la ti high do, then back to sol. Lighter than chest, still connected.
- Your turn. The check should reach high do and come back to sol.
- A flip into air on ti means you let go. Sing sol–la–ti again, a little more cord, same lightness.
Falsetto
Falsetto is the very light top: folds barely meet, a thin “hooty” color. Useful for style and for finding head without push — not the same as a strong head voice, and not required for beginners on every high note.
Falsetto folds barely meet — useful for pop tops and stylistic breaks.
It is not a substitute for head when the song asks for a connected top.
If falsetto is your only high note, range work on mix may help repertoire.
Play is deliberately thin. Your turn: float la–ti–dȯ; check should still name those syllables.
Compare: repeat the same notes in head (section above) with a little more cord connection — fuller tone, same pitches.
One line through the range
After each register makes sense alone, use the siren and your major scale on Western singing as one continuous journey. Agility lives on Tone & agility and can sit beside this page. Belting waits.
Siren slides connect registers on one breath — the daily test for breaks you did not choose.
Slow slides beat fast slides for learning; speed comes later.
Lab C4 is the same job in the vocal lab.
When siren is smooth, belt and repertoire high notes become safer to explore.
You may leave this page when
- You can name chest, mix, and head on a siren without pain.
- High dȯ in head does not require a louder chest voice to “get there.”
- Falsetto, if you use it, is a choice — the check still names the syllable.
Next is harmony: sing a second line while another part sounds. Loud high notes are Belting & high voice, after songs, and only if the three bullets above are true.
Also watch: Madeleine Harvey — chest vs head, NYVC — mix voice, Phil Moufarrege — falsetto vs head.
Press Play once and listen before you sing. Your turn is for testing, not for guessing.
The check names the pitch you actually sang — adjust until it matches the lit syllable in tune.
If anything pinches, stop and reset on SOVT or a lower do in the practice bar.
Short daily reps here beat one long session on the weekend.