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Singing Tips: Smoothing the Vocal Break or Passaggio

One of the most troubling aspects of singing for young or untrained vocalists is the break, or "passaggio". A singer's "break" is the note range at which they naturally switch from chest voice to head voice. Vocal breaks differ greatly from person to person. Some people can sing quite easily over their break and may not even be aware of it even if they have not had any training, but these people are by far the exception.

Most singers will at some point have a problem of some sort with their break. Many untrained singers have a break that is so pronounced that they may actually have a small range of notes that they cannot sing at all, or can only sing very quietly. Even singers that are able to sing over their break may notice other problems, such as lack of stability or control, or a very noticeable difference in vocal quality between the chest and head voice. In general, those that suffer the most problems with their break are those who have not yet learned basic technique.

Before a singer can begin working on smoothing the break, they must be very comfortable with the proper technique associated with singing in the chest and head voice. It is important to remember that the break does not have a range of its own. In order for the break notes to be sung properly, they must be sung from either the chest or head voice. Basically, you must extend your chest range up and/or your head range down enough to eventually cover the break notes. Ideally, you should eventually be able to sing your break range in either the head or chest voice, giving your voice more flexibility, strengthening the break, and allowing you to choose whether these notes are sung in the chest or head depending on the particular song. There are some who will argue that the break can be sung in a "mixed" voice. This can also work, but is much more likely to encourage poor technique and so I do not recommend it.

The number one thing we want to avoid when dealing with the break is ending up singing in the throat. In general, it is better to concentrate on extending the head voice, so exercises should start comfortably in the head voice and slowly work downward towards the break while keeping headvoice technique consistent. Do not worry about volume in the break area until you can comfortably sing the notes in either range. There are a number of exercises that help smooth the break in my free singing e-book.

More Links & Resources for Smoothing the Vocal Break

Passagio: An Introduction to Voice Transitions

Tipbook - Vocals : The Best Guide to Your Singing Voice

CDSM: Ultimate Collection of Vocal Exercises