Assess Your Starting Point
Welcome to Lesson 4.
Now that you’ve started exploring your head voice—and cleared up some common myths—it’s time to check in with where you’re starting from.
This lesson is all about building awareness. No grades. No judgment. Just a chance to take stock of what your voice can do today, so you can track how it grows over time.
Why This Matters
Progress in singing can be hard to measure in the moment. But when we pause and check in—listen, observe, and reflect—we give ourselves a powerful reference point.
Today you’ll walk through a few short exercises to assess your current:
Ease accessing head voice
Clarity and coordination
Sustain and control
Tendency toward heavier or lighter function
You’ll also have the option to record a short clip. This isn’t for anyone else—just for you. You’ll be amazed at how much can change when you look back in a few weeks.
EXERCISE 1: Flip & Slide (Revisited)
You’ve done this before, back in Lesson 2—but let’s revisit it now with more intention.
Start in a comfortable speaking or chest voice tone on “oo” and slowly slide up in pitch—a gentle siren. You’re listening for that moment of shift, sometimes called a “flip,” where the voice feels lighter or thinner.
✅ If you flip: great. Pause at the top and hold that lighter coordination for a few seconds. You’re in what we call a thin vocal fold posture—likely CT-dominant (cricothyroid, the lengthening muscle).
✅ If you don’t flip: that’s okay—and very common. Go back to Lesson 2 and revisit the alternate approaches like high-to-low sirens, puppy whimpers, or the “witch’s cackle.” Still stuck? Reach out in the community. Getting into head voice is the hardest part.
What to notice:
Did the shift feel smooth or sudden?
Did the voice change in clarity, weight, or ease?
Where do you feel the vibration—lower in the throat or higher up?
EXERCISE 2: Sustain and Observe
Pick the pitch where your voice felt most stable in that thinner, headier coordination. Sustain it gently on “oo” for 3–5 seconds.
What to notice:
Is the tone clear or breathy?
Can you hold it evenly?
Are you using too much air? Or is the sound cutting out early?
A thin vocal fold posture can sometimes sound breathy, especially at first—that usually means your vocal folds aren’t closing fully yet. That’s something we’ll work on improving. For now, don’t try to force clarity. Just stay relaxed and consistent.
If the tone sounds pressed or heavy, you may have slipped back into a thicker vocal fold posture—more like chest voice. That’s also useful information.
EXERCISE 3: Descending 5-Tone Pattern
Now try a descending 5-note scale starting in your lighter, thinner coordination. Use “oo” or “uh,” whichever feels easier.
Sing: ♪ 5–4–3–2–1 ♪ starting on a pitch where you clearly accessed head voice.
What to notice:
Do you stay in that thinner, easier posture?
Or does the voice start to thicken and get heavier as you descend?
When we talk about the voice getting “thicker,” we’re referring to increased vocal fold mass in vibration—usually involving more thyroarytenoid (TA) engagement. That’s not inherently bad—but for now, we’re trying to keep this exercise in a CT-dominant, thinner setting to build head voice strength.
If the voice flips down or pulls chest back in:
Try the scale starting one step higher.
Sing more lightly—don’t try to make the sound big.
Use a slightly breathier onset if needed—it’s okay to trade a little clarity for coordination at this stage.
OPTIONAL: Record and Reflect
Let’s take this one step further. This part is optional—but if you do one extra thing today, make it this: Record yourself. Yes, even if you hate the sound of your voice on playback. Yes, even if it feels awkward. This is one of the most valuable things you can do for your vocal development.
Here’s why:
When you’re singing, it’s hard to be fully aware of what’s actually happening. You’re feeling, adjusting, reacting in real time. But when you listen back later—with some distance—you start to notice patterns, strengths, and areas that need attention. You’ll also notice improvement much sooner and more clearly than you will by memory alone.
How to Do It:
You can use your phone, a computer mic—anything that lets you capture decent audio.
Record yourself doing all three exercises from today:
Slide up into head voice (flip or sigh coordination)
Sustain a note in head voice
Descend a 5-note scale and see if you stay in a thin, CT-dominant posture
You don’t need to get it perfect. You don’t even need to listen to it right away.
When to Review It: I recommend saving the file and labeling it with today’s date. Then—set a reminder to listen back in 3–4 weeks. By then, you’ll have started going through the foundational strength-building exercises in this module, and you might be surprised by how much has shifted—especially in clarity, control, and comfort. If you’d like, you can record yourself again at that future point using the same exercises and compare the two.
What to Reflect On: After recording, jot down a few notes. What felt easiest or most natural? What felt clumsy or unclear? Did your voice stay in a thinner, lighter posture—or did it thicken or pull toward chest voice? Was your tone clear, or did it feel breathy or unsteady? Did anything surprise you about the sound? How would you describe the sound using critical, descriptive language—not personal judgment? What are you noticing about the coordination, the airflow, the balance?
Remember—this is information, not judgment.
Every single thing you notice is data you can use.
This is how we train like voice scientists.
When to Move On:
Once you can consistently access a light, headier coordination—even if it’s still breathy or unsteady—you’re ready to start building strength.
You don’t need perfect tone or long sustain.
You do need:
- A reliable way to get into head voice
- A general sense of where it sits in your range
- Awareness of when your voice shifts back into chest
If that sounds like where you’re at—even if things still feel shaky—you’re ready for Lesson 5.
So take five minutes today—record, reflect, and save your clip.
This is your starting point. The “before” snapshot of your head voice coordination.
In the next lesson, we’ll begin the real work of strengthening that coordination and building clarity and control through targeted exercises.
You’re doing great. I’ll see you in Lesson 5.