Should you sing in your Head voice or you Chest voice?

Question:I always thought you were supposed to sing in your chest voice and I act and do musical theartre but I was recently told you are supposed to sing in your head voice, which is true?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I always thought you were supposed to sing in your chest voice and I act and do musical theartre but I was recently told you are supposed to sing in your head voice, which is true?

The answer is both; however, contrary to one of your other answerers, youcannot belt in your head voice. You can only belt in your chest voice. You move to your head voice for the higher parts of your range; the transition is often the tricky part of singing.

I believe the answer is both. Your chest voice is for the middle and lower registers and your head voice is for the upper register notes.

Dont belt in your chest voice..if you cant hit the note in your chest voice change to your head voice. dont sing everything in your head voice unless the song is a very high pitch song.

Both the above answers are correct, i just want to add that pushing the notes down to your chest or up into your head can cause vocal damage, if you are singing "All that Jazz" sing from your chest, if you are singing "I could have danced all night" sing in your head voice.

Practice a scale, there is an natural top for your chest voice, where it feels strained at that point is when you go into your head voice.

everything comes form the chest - belt it out.

It depends on your vocal type. If you're an alto, you're probably more comfortable in your chest voice, if you're a soprano,in your head voice. Ideally, no matter what your vocal type, you can transition between the two when moving from lower to higher parts of a song.

In musical theatre, belting (bringing your chest voice up into your head voice register) is common, but not every singer is a belter (AND for every belter role there is usually a corresponding legit soprano role). Many mezzo's and soprano's use a musical theatre "mix" to achieve a belt-like sound, but it's still lighter than a true belt . Look at Wicked - Krisitn Chenoweth is an example of a soprano who goes between a mix and a legit voice vs. Idina Menzel who mainly uses her chest voice and a belt.

Many vocal teachers do not advocate belting and instead work on strengthening your head voice to achieve the same type of sound (which is basically mixing). Belting, in done improperly, can be very damaing to your vocal cords.

So, basically, sing where you feel it's most comfortable and not where someone tells you that you "should" be singing. If you're looking to strengthen your voice, check out the National Association of Teachers of SInging website - www.nats.org - for listings of certified teachers in your area.

Technically all the support for your voice comes from your diaphragm and has nothing to do with either your head or your chest.

However, the note you may have been given is probably in regards to your placement of your voice. Depending on where you place your voice will give your song a different resonance. "Head" singing will allow you to get on top of the note and produce a higher, sometimes nasal, quality (IE: pretty much all pop singers today sing through their nose). However, a chest resonance is much deeper, allowing you to get under the notes, is much more emotional and carrys a more definitive tone (ie: opera singers always place the voice in the chest).

So, short answer: both are correct. It just depends on what you sound you are aiming for, the content and tone of the music.