I am a 23 yr old male singer, and I have found that over the past few years I have gradually lost the ability to sing in falsetto. I started having singing lessons when I was 18, and it was decided that my voice was in the baritone-tenor range. Even though singing lessons improved my natural singing voice and improved my range, I found now that I have no access to my falsetto, that was quite high and very reliable before I started having singing lessons. It went from good, to bleats and squawks, to now when I’m not able to sing in falsetto at all… I have not been singing in several years, and doubt that I have damaged my voice – I have always been careful and never really done anything that could cause lasting damage. Are there any suggestions you could give me that would help me regain this part of my voice?
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It is impossible for me to give you any conclusive response without hearing an example of your current vocal condition. As our voice develops through training it can change the way it functions so that how you were accustomed to producing your falsetto doesn’t work anymore and you have to adjust to your current condition. But it should still be there. Sometimes we can wear out the falsetto through the way we are training our full voice. If the voice is healthy you should be able to sing all of the pitches of your range in a quiet dynamic. If you have to crescendo as you rise in pitch there is an imbalance in the voice that is causing your falsetto to disappear. A good exercise for balancing the voice is to sing through your whole range quietly, from high to low. Start up around high B on an easy “oo” like an owl and descend. Try to minimize the “h” sound because that will blow through the cords too much with this light adjustment. Make sure your throat stays relaxed open. If it is squeezing closed at all it will make the light falsetto impossible.
Hello, falsetto is essentially an incomplete function of the voice. So if we over-use it we risk adverse effects. The more productive way of using falsetto is to vocalize with the head voice feeling but more connected so it is a legitimate vocalization. It might not be clear in writing, but falsetto is usually produced in a breathy manner. This can be harmful to the voice. If the vocal folds can buzz with a real vibration, like imitating a well-produced female voice, it can be productive and not damaging.
But like I always have to warn, without hearing what is happening it is hard to say for sure.
Hi. I am 31, and teach middle school choir. I am also a church choir director and a cantor.
I am having trouble singing in falsetto. At the beginning of the semester, I was able to, but I had to spend so much time singing in falsetto in order to properly match the octave of my students.
Is my falsetto permanently gone? How can I get it back?
Hello, Darren. Sorry I didn’t notice your comment. Losing your falsetto is a curious thing, but is not uncommon. Especially if you don’t consistently exercise it. It also would likely relate to how you speak. I would expect that it could be recovered but it would depend on you learning how to use your voice more skillfully. But not knowing anything about your voice I can’t really say for sure.
Correction to my above comment/question:
“I WASN’T singing all the time, or putting my voice under pressure at all”
I’m 44 & I’m not an actual singer who sings for a job, but like to sing to myself or songs on the radio.
I noticed in my mid 30’s, that inexplicably my falsetto disappeared. I was singing all the time or putting my voice under pressure at all; it’s just that when I went to sing high one day, I could no longer do it.
I wondered if this was a standard thing that happened to men my age, but my dad in his 60’s was still having no trouble going into the falsetto range, & still doesn’t now.
My biggest question here is can this be fixed & I get falsetto back, or does it go never to return?