Q. hello mr.bristow i just would like to know if it is natural when u first let your singing voice be free that it cracks and breaks and what do I do to stop it and what are some warm up techniques for your voice.

A. Yes, it is as natural as it is to fall when you begin to walk as a child.  And just like when you were learning to walk, you need to develop muscles and balance so it soon becomes easy.  And to use the same analogy, it’s not the warm-up, but the overall balance, strength and coordination that enables you to walk without falling. Once you got it, warm-ups are of course important.

Q. How am I supposed to connect my chest voice to my head voice? I try and all I get is falsetto.

A. Well, when you say “try”, we don’t know you are doing or what the muscles are doing. The reason you can’t do it because the muscles that make it happen aren’t developed.  The bummer is that most people spend years and years singing scales, frustrated over this so-called “break”, but never discover the awareness of the muscles that make it happen - thus never develop theses muscles.  Sorry for the pitch, but in the Sing With Freedom program you develop greater awareness in the first 40 minutes, which we build on the create significant results in a couple of weeks.

Q What does the term "passagio" mean?

A “Passagio” is one of those classic terms that I find unnecessary to use in my teaching (unless as fun trivia). It’s a term from the operatic school and refers to the “passage” – the bridge – between different registers, especially between chest voice and head voice. (The human voice actually has several areas of “register changes”.) What many seem to have forgotten is that the classic operatic “passagio” training strategies are about maintaining an operatic quality of sound while you pass through the “passagio”. Those strategies may not at all be helpful for contemporary singers.

Q: I’ve been told to open my mouth more in order to sing high notes. Should I do this?

A: “Open your mouth” is a common instruction. “Darken the vowel”, “push from your stomach” , etc are other common "tricks". All these “tricks” do work in the same limiting way as if you were to do a biceps curl using your back and shoulders. You can actually lift more when doing so. But how much does it develop your biceps? When we discover how to sing high notes without this kind of external help, we also become freer as artists. Now we can express truthfully and freely.