Welcome to PART 3 of my HOW TO SING PAST YOUR BREAK series.  In this video we'll talk about how to mix chest and head voice and how you should go about doing this.

Here are the links to the previous videos in this series:

• PART 1 - The difference between head voice, falsetto, mixed voice and chest voice.
• PART 2 - Why your CHEST voice is the secret to learning how to sing past your vocal break.

In Part 2 I mentioned how there IS a time and place for bridging from your chest voice into your falsetto smoothly.  I say falsetto because most people when they talk about crossing from chest to head voice are REALLY talking about a non-breathy falsetto.  I talk more about this in part 1.  Check it out.

Anyway, the main thing I want to say is this:

You don't build mixed voice and high ranged full voice by just crossing from chest voice to falsetto and "smoothing the break".  I mentioned there is a place for this, but it's a supplement.  It's not a finished sound. 

I might do it for ...

Welcome to PART 2 on how to get rid of the vocal break.  Let's recap what we covered in PART 1:

• I showed you the proof that myself and my students can sing through the vocal break.
• I demonstrated falsetto, 2 different types of head voice, chest voice, mixed voice and explain how they all fit together in the puzzle of the vocal break.

If you haven't seen PART 1 of how to sing past your break, then check that out first here.

Now that we’ve gotten the terminology out of the way, in today’s video I’m going to show you the actual process on how to get rid of the vocal break.  How exactly is it done?  What sorts of sounds will you need to do?  That’s what we’re going to talk about today.

The biggest thing I want you to know right away is, we don’t actually wanna sing "around" our vocal break by leaving chest and going into falsetto and trying to "trick" the audience into thinking we're still in chest...  We want to ELIMINATE the vocal break and make it something that you can sing...

Stuck on how to sing past your break?  Feel like you’ve tried every vocal exercise without any luck?  You’re in the right place.  I was stuck on this for YEARS not knowing what I was meant to do to overcome it. 

This is video is PART 1 of a new free video series I'm creating about how to sing past your break in full voice.

Check out Part 2 and Part 3 here.

In PART 1:

• I prove to you that I can sing through my vocal break as well as my students.
• I demonstrate falsetto, 2 different types of head voice, chest voice, mixed voice and explain how they all fit together in the puzzle of the vocal break.

In PART 2 I'll be explaining the actual process of how you go about building your voice so that you can sing past your vocal break without cracking or flipping.

I hope you enjoyed this video lesson.  If you want to learn the specific exercises and techniques specific to YOUR voice then I recommend getting Skype lessons with me and I'll teach you how to do it.

I'd love to know what ...

Similar to what I did with Drake's song "Nice For What", I created this cover in 2 days.  It's part of an exercise I'm doing to grow myself as an artist:  Picking new release songs that I usually wouldn't sing and learning them, recording them and producing them in a very tight time frame.  I'm learning a lot by doing this!

Let me know what you think.

She's Under Fire

Don't Talk

I've Drawn a Line

Now's a Good Time

Feelings of Mistrust

Wake Up Call

These Days

These are my original songs that I wrote, composed, recorded, produced and sang on.  I think it's important for singing teachers to be able to prove that they can do what they talk about.  When I first started singing I couldn't sing any of this stuff and had many songs written that were waiting on vocals.  It took me many years until I was able to build up the technique to actually do this stuff - especially my newer tracks that I am now doing live in one take.

So I recently asked 3000 singers what their biggest questions were about Freddie Mercury's singing technique.  I got back so many responses it filled up pages and pages worth of questions!  So I created this in-depth video which I am calling the ULTIMATE Freddie Mercury singing technique analysis!  If you've ever had questions about:

• Freddie Mercury's belting technique
• His high ranged singing
• Distortion technique
• Breath support
• Freddie's smooth connection from chest voice to falsetto
• as well as his vocal damage and vocal struggles

Then you're in for a treat!  The video is timestamped:

• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:15 Was Freddie a baritone or tenor?
• 02:39 Freddie's smooth chest to falsetto connection
• 03:25 "Life has just begun" technique demonstration
• 04:34 Studio vs live
• 06:13 Freddie's vocal damage
• 08:10 Freddie's live vocals
• 09:37 Freddie's G#4 struggles
• 11:58 Refined chest voice (mixed voice)
• 14:45 Freddie Mercury's vocal range
• 15:33 live recordings BEFORE vocal d
...

In this singing transformation before and after you're going to see how Dane Maxwell went from:

• Being unable to sing higher than a D4.
• Giving up singing for 10 years because he thought he would never be able to get better.
• Feeling insecure about his voice.

To:

• Expanding his vocal range drastically and being able to use it in actual songs, not just scales.
• Releasing an album and building a side-business out of his music.
• Feeling confident and secure with his singing.

When Dane first contacted me to work with me, I asked him about his biggest frustration he had with singing.  He said:

"Dude I just feel super insecure about my voice."

He told me he struggled to sing around his bridge area (E4-F#4 area) so we worked a lot on it.  You'll see how we did all that in the above singing transformation video.

The main thing I stress with my training is that things need to feel EASY.  If your voice does not feel comfortable and easy then you're going to really struggle to...

Today's question is about how to sing higher without falsetto.  The question comes from Reed:

I'm struggling with my mixed voice/head voice. I am very comfortable in a baritone/chest range but the music I love to sing and write sounds much better an octave up.

I have gone through courses and can hit all the notes but my tone is inconsistent right around the chest/head transition. I don’t want there to be a distinct tonal difference, I want my “upper chest voice” and “lower head voice” to blend into one smooth voice. Right now my “lower head voice” is not rich at all.

Some tips on how to sing higher without falsetto

I'm sure you can relate to this: as you sing higher in your chest voice at some point you reach a point where you have to either push and strain in chest voice, or flip to a flimsy falsetto.  So you look everywhere for an answer and everyone is telling you that you need to "smoothly transition" or "bridge" in order to "connect" the two "voices".

So what’s happeni...

Today's question is about developing a chesty mixed voice/belting in mixed voice.  This question comes from Kevin:

Q: "How would you make your mixed voice more Chestier?  I already have a decent mix but I'd like to make it more Chestier. I'm doing it by lowering my larynx and opening up my mouth more but I'm not satisfied with my current level yet."

Tips for developing a chesty mixed voice/belting in mixed voice

So you can already sing in a mix but it's kind of light and lacks power or fullness.  How do you get it fuller and more chesty?

Before we get into that firstly let me just say that mixed voice is NOT about "mixing" your chest voice and head voice (non-breathy falsetto) together.  It is not some "inbetween" voice.  Mixed voice is simply your chest voice working the right way.  Instead of straining, it just keeps going up.  If you want to know more about that contact me anytime.

Anyway, about developing a chesty mixed voice: basically it's a matter of "stretching" mor...

 How to develop proper breath control for singing - this question comes from Laura:

Q: "I’m a musical theater singer and my current biggest challenge is mastering breath control. I know how to breathe properly for singing, but I can't seem to find exercises that improve my breath control. I’ve tried breathing in and breathing out on a hiss, but I don't know if it is helping."

Breath Control For Singing

When it comes to breath control for singing the best way to improve it is through actual singing practice rather than breathing exercises such as the infamous "sustained sss".

Breath control for singing is developed by learning how to pace where you give your energy on a phrase - which is why you need to practice this in singing.  Just doing a sustained "sss" will not teach you how to use it in singing.

The louder and higher you sing the more you will feel a "push" from the lower abdomen, the sides (love handles) in particular if you do it right.

If you push too hard and giv...