How to Sing Falsetto

Falsetto, or "false voice," is a singing technique that lets male voices reach notes in ranges commonly sung by women. Its name derives from when choirs in the Middle Ages featured castrated males singing the high parts. The technique has been used in European choirs from the 16th through 19th centuries, as well as in the 20th century popular songs of artists such as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Read on to learn more.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Take a deep breath.

2. Start singing, projecting from the upper throat instead of the chest. This will cause only the outer edges of your vocal cords to vibrate instead of your entire vocal cords, raising the pitch of your voice.

3. Hold a hand to your chest as you sing. If any part of your chest is vibrating, you are singing in your normal register.

4. Practice adding different styles and tonalities to adapt your falsetto voice to the kind of music you like to sing, whether it be rhythm and blues, progressive rock, heavy metal or alternative.

Tips & Warnings

• After singing falsetto for a while, you may notice yourself speaking in a higher pitch briefly when you go from singing to speaking.
• Rapidly switching between your normal chest voice and falsetto head voice is the basis for yodeling.
• Practice your falsetto singing by starting slowly and gradually increasing both the duration of your singing and range of your upper register to avoid unduly straining your voice.

Resources

• Take an immersion course in how to sing like a pro.