Alisha Reeve MUSE 365 Choral Methods Citation Directing the Choral Music Program Chapter 14: Vocal

l Development, Part 2 Kenneth H. Phillips 2004 Discussion What is a vocal register, and what are the basic registers in the human voice? A vocal register is a series of pitches produced by the same adjustment of the vocal mechanism. There are three vocal registers, upper, middle, and lower. The lower register is most often used as it is the register most people speak in. Singers must have mastery of all three vocal registers and must be able to transition between them quickly and with ease. Many men at first have difficulty singing in the upper register; learning to access this register will help their voice as a whole. Knowing the registers of the voice is very important for an educator. Knowing where in the voice students must switch from one register is also very important. A choral music educator should be able to tell what register a student is using simply by listening. This will help them diagnose problems and assist their students in discovering their upper registers. It is also important to not that some repertoire might be out of the reach of students at a certain level until the upper registers have been accessed.