Head voice exercises?

Question

My head voice isn't very proper at all. I tend to sing through my nose, which I know you're not supposed to do at all.

Are there any exercises I can use to get me singing in the right head voice?

Answer 1

1. Do a lot of "siren" singing where you just start close to the bottom of your range (without growling -- never growl!!) and fly up to the top of your range.

Sometimes, do these bending over or laying down on your back with your knees bent -- it gets your breath flowing in a different way, and will also focus your mind on the breath and not the sound.

2. Work very hard on, when you lift your soft palate, using that space to sing in. Don't just lift your soft palate (that half-yawn feeling) and still tense up. Part of the reason you are singing through your nose is that your neck or face may be too tense. So lift your soft palate and sing "aah" 5-note scales, and "oh" too ( a big round Italian o) concentrating on using the back of the mouth and top of the throat to hold the sound.

3. Don't try to force your range higher. Again, this will constrict the breath. To sing high, sing arpeggios without any consonants. So don't sing "da-da-da-da" sing "da-a-a-a" or if you must "da-ha-ha-ha" on the way up (and on the way down). This way you will just lightly touch on those high notes but still with light, round sound, not a pinched, nasal, forced sound.

Good luck!

Answer 2

klb72 gave you some good advice.
I'll just add a little about breath support. When we learn our high register, we need to make the contact with our breathing. Otherwise it's like trying to put up a statue without a pedestal- it'll fall over.
Think of using energy, not strength, around your middle, as if you were all excited at, say, learning a new song, or something very nice happening in your life. Feel the intensity increase slowly for every half-tone you ascend. It's more a question of directing the energy than tighten ting up, and that energy moves slowly down your body. ( Again, the pedestal under the statue) You'll probably feel a lengthening of your lower spine and back muscles down to your tail bone. ( In our rather imprecise singer's imagery language, we also talk about the energy and support descending even further down, behind the knees, into the floor etc. when we know that it's not physically possible. It just gives us a reference as to how we want it to feel)
While all this energy is going on below the waist, you also want to make sure that your jaw and tongue are loose and easy. ( All the breath support in the world won't help too much if you are clamping down on the sound) Let the sound flow out in a slender stream. At first it will feel very thin, and will not be loud. This is good, because it gives a basis for relaxing into the sound and learning how comfortable it must feel, before you get into the idea of making a big noise up there.
Please check out singing lessons, as this is an area where one really needs a set of outside ears to make sure it's being done right.
Best wishes and keep on singing