A Very Dorky Discertation on Head Voice in Pop Music

I realize I'm beind the times on this one, but I was inspired by the VMA's to tell my students about the difference between head voice and chest voice.

Exhibit A: Rihanna.



I'm going to leave Eminem alone to focus on Rihanna's vocal.

(But you're not off the hook, Slim Shady. We have to have a discussion about your recent decision to sing your own hooks, and quick. Before Nelly releases anything else in 2010.)

If you scroll to about 2:50 in the video, you'll hear the distinctive hook on "Love The Way You Lie." This hook is FANTASTIC.

Only, hold on a second. What's this? Why do the words "stand" and "watch" sound like some poor kitten somewhere is in the process of going through puberty?

A singer has two places they can resonate their voice. The lower pitches resonate in the sternum of the body, and as the voice gets higher, the higher notes spin somewhere in the vicinity of your skull and cheekbones.

Kind of gross, right? Happy Halloween, bitches.

We call these two registers, simply, head voice and chest voice.



Hm. That was quite a convenient find. Thanks, Whitney. Dang. They sure don't make them like they used to.

To go back to the first video, Rihanna sings "just gonna" in her chest voice. More commonly put, she's belting. When she hits the pitch for "stand", she flips her resonance up into her skull.

Only, thank goodness for auto-tune. Because Rihanna, we could have used a little more height and spin on those upper notes. Make a more vertical space in your mouth by raising your soft palette (it's what happens naturally when you yawn). Now spin the sound there and bring it as far forward as you need to.

In your defense RiRi, it's a difficult passage to sing. It requires you to go from chest to head, back to chest, back to head, and back to chest again.

Next time, spend more time warming up, and less time skirt shopping with Sarah Jessica Parker.



I kid, I kid. In all honesty, I think she looked really cute, and she's got a powerful God-given instrument. However, we have the luxury of so much technology in the studio to make music RECORDING easier. Let's not become lazy and allow our live performances to become less than stellar.

Love,
Laura

P.S. - Rihanna is hardly the only person using her head voice. Check out Beyonce, Katy Perry, Regina Spektor, Alanis Morissette, Ingrid Michaelson and Imogen Heap for just a few others that like to use both registers.