From: "Lloyd W. Hanson"
Subject: Re: Speaking/Singing Voice (ranting about countertenors :=
)
To: VOCALIST <vocalist>
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Dear Mike:

You mention that it is said the Bj=F6rling did not have a falsetto.
This is not uncommon for lyric and spinto tenors. Because their head
voice lies in the same frequency range as the male falsetto it was
not necessary for them to discover their falsetto voice.

Keep in mind that falsetto and head voice are completely different
vocal functions. In falsetto the vocal folds are lengthened to about
their maximum length, and there is little, if any, longitudinal
tension in the folds. The result is a vocal fold that is extremely
thin at its edge. The air passes through quite easily. Because the
vocal folds are so extremely elongated, pitch is controlled primarily
by the velocity of air passing through this slightly open glottis.

In head voice the vocal folds are not as completely elongated, there
is longitudinal tension in the folds and pitch is controlled by
changes in this longitudinal tension and the length of the folds.
There is some evidence that in softer singing the vocal fold may make
medial contact such that the oscillating length of the vocal folds
may be shortened but this is not true of forte singing.

It is a mistake to think that any opera singer will use any form of
falsetto as a substitute for head voice, especially because they have
been trained to use and develop the head voice. A sotto voca near
the top of the head voice might have some of flute like color of the
falsetto, but it is not falsetto and the singer can identify this by
the degree of pressure he feels under the glottis which is absent in
falsetto.

Very few rock or pop singers us head voice. They prefer the
different color and unique quality of the falsetto. The public
acceptance of falsetto as a desired way to sing and a tone that is
sought has had a direct effect on the last two generations of
singers. In the 1950's it was more common to find 16-18 year
baritones and less common to find tenors. Today that condition has
been completely reversed; more tenors than baritones or basses. But
when these tenors study voice they discover they have been using
falsetto and they also fine it more difficult to approach the head
voice because their vocal mechanism is habituated to assume the
falsetto configuration rather than the head voice configuration.

Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA
Professor of Voice, Pedagogy
School of Performing Arts
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011