Whats better for a young persons voice? Head voice or chest voice?

Question

I have been taking lessons at a Music college and through a vocal teacher. I have been trained in Classical and in Pop vocal styles. I have a voice range of E (just below middle C) and E (two octaves above middle C). I have done work with touring companies and with community companies and I just got my big break as Christine in Phantom of The Opera. But I am having a lot of trouble trying to figure out what is better for my voice at this time Head or Chest? Which one will keep my voice range wide and yet streangthen my vocal chords without damaging them?

Answer 1

Dear Peachy,
Congratulations first!
the answer: neither and both.
Now that you know that you have those two registers to work with, you want to start integrating them, blending them, ironing out the wrinkles, as it were. Discuss this with your voice teacher, and ask for specific exercises for the "passagio" area in your voice.
for the moment, as you continue to build up endurance and strength, you will probably feel best staying with your chest voice ( or modal voice, as is the new term), until you get near the top of the staff Eflat-Enatural-F, where you will shift into your head voice.
(By chest voice, I don't mean the belting type of low- gear- on- a- truck sound, unless there is truly no other way for you to get that low note. Try and maintain the idea that your voice floats out of you with no more effort than it takes to sigh. By head voice, I don't mean the airy fairy sound that most of the girls on the pop scene make when the microphone gives out. Try and maintain your energy level so that your biggest reserves go unused unless you really need a boost for those high notes.)
To extend and strengthen your voice range or parameter will take more time and patience. The key is to be your own best friend and take it nice and easy, it doesn't happen overnight. Consult your teacher often, and don't be satisfied if the answer is " oh yeah, that's ok" because that's bad teaching. Record yourself ( indulge in good microphones) and learn to team up the good sound with a good feeling in your body. The whole body is the instrument, so if something doesn't feel right, it probably doesn't sound right, either. ( And feelings that are known are not necessarily right! Like chewing your fingernails isn't right...) If there's pain, stop! Your body uses pain for a reason. That goes for hoarseness, too. Most of the folks I work with in opera don't like to sing for more than 3 to 4 hours at a stretch.
Please read Richard Miller's wonderful book on training sopranos, and William Vennard's masterpiece of vocal education: voice, the mechanism and the technique.
Best wishes and keep on singing!

Answer 2

Freddie Mercury's the obvious answer. Other good vocalists are Justin Hawkins, Rob Halford, Alice Cooper, Vince Neil and Bret Michaels