The yin and yang of chest voice and head voice.

Much of the voice work I do has roots in functional vocal training.

You can think of it like physical therapy in that I use body based exercises to restore or discover optimal function with your voice. When I say function, I’m referring to how your vocal folds (vocal cords) close when you make a sound. I won’t detail all the specifics here, but in short, the folds come together in a wave that closes with more or less efficiency.

More efficiency = freer, clearer, easier singing

Less efficiency = more constriction, less clear, more physical effort

That wave determines two things: pitch and register.

Simply put, pitch refers to the note you’re singing and register refers to the type of sound you’re using to sing that note. They are not the same, but the combination of the two is what we hear when we hear your voice, both when you speak and when you sing.

(Stick with me. I’ll get less technical in a minute.)

There are two predominant registers that you can make sound in: your chest voice and your head voice. (The combination of the two is called mix or mixed voice, but that’s for another post.)

Lower pitches default (or should default) to chest register / head voice (or chestier sound) and higher pitches default (or should defualt) to head register / head voice (or headier sounds.) Ultimately, the goal of functional vocal training is to help you find better defaults which will allow you more coordination and freedom when you sing.

Ok, but what does that have to do with yin and yang?

Well, fundamentally, chest voice and head voice are two opposite halves to the big beautiful whole that is your unique voice.

Chest is dark while head is light.

Chest is earthy while head is airy.

Chest is strength and stability while head is agility and flexibility.

Chest is warm while head is cool.

Chest is boundaries.
Chest is saying “no!”
Chest is standing your ground.

Head is softness.
Compassion.
Understanding.
Head is not getting stuck in your ways.

See where I’m going here? There are physical functional truths to your head voice and chest voice. There are objective qualities to the sound! But, there are also metaphorical, archetypal truths that are particularly evident when your voice isn’t balanced, and let’s be honest, it never is. There is a yin and yang to your voice.

When I work with people in private voice coaching, it is almost always the case that the ways in which their voice is out of balance corresponds with what I observe about their lives. Too much yin and not enough yang, or vice versa. And this is where the rubber meets the road.

Working on your voice, inevitably reveals imbalance and offers the opportunity for greater balance not only in how you sing, but in the whole of your life.