Early Voice Change and the Dangers of Falsetto

Deirdre Trundle

The mutation of the adolescent male voice is occurring earlier with each generation. In 1939 the average age of a boy experiencing change was 14.25 years. Currently, the earliest recorded onset of change is 9 years. The start of puberty is triggered by hormonal secretions and is predetermined. Short of medical intervention, nothing can halt, or indeed, accelerate the process.

It is important for a boys vocal development that the first signs of change are noticed immediately. However, these can be quite subtle and easily missed. There is usually a slight tightening of tone around A above middle C (440 Hertz). The notes above may still sound free and the timbre may alter only slightly. Limited use should be made of the top notes during this stage. There is often an increase in the boys waist measurement and shoe size. This is not necessarily accompanied by an increase in height. Stage One lasts 6-9 months on average.

Stage Two of a boys voice change is usually fairly obvious. This is when you find the most extreme examples of regular shifts in modal, falsetto and whistle voice quality in a normal healthy voice. The timbre is quite different from that of the unchanged treble: thicker, warmer, with fewer higher harmonics. The vocal range is decreased and/or inconsistent, the average range expectancy being F below middle C (175 Hertz) to A above middle C (440 Hertz). This stage lasts 12-14 months on average.

This article discusses the use of boys voices during the first two stages of change.

In the English chorister tradition, the normal progression of the adolescent male voice as described above has sometimes been masked by the use of falsetto voice quality. Boys in Stage Two have continued to access higher pitches (above A440 Hertz) by assuming this vocal fold posture and have stayed on the treble line until they go into Stage Three and the voice cracks under the strain.

In normal speech or singing, the vocal folds are positioned horizontally, joined at the front to the thyroid cartilage (Adams apple) and at the back to the arytenoid cartilage that rests on the shoulders of the cricoid cartilage. The folds open and close firmly along their full length, either using the bottom edges (thin folds) which produces a clear, refined tone, or engaging the mass of the folds (thick folds) which makes for a stronger but less lyrical tone.

Falsetto speech or singing is simply the result of an alteration in the plane or angle of the vocal folds. The folds raise and open at the back of the larynx. The top layer of the folds becomes stiff and even though they are vibrating, the folds do not fully close. Therefore, anything between a trickle and a rush of air passes between them continually. The tone will have an ethereal, floating quality. Anyone of any age or either sex can speak or sing in falsetto. It is just another option for the singer in selecting a voice quality appropriate to the music being sung.

However, setting aesthetics aside, falsetto is a potentially physiologically stressed way of using the voice for the following reasons:

• The altered plane of the folds can lead to inadvertent cracking, yodelling and pitching problems.
• The air passing over the folds can cause dehydration of the vocal tract.
• It is inefficient in its use of breath due to the lack of vocal fold closure and this can put an excessive workload on the breathing mechanism.
• Because of the insubstantial sensation of the sound, the singer might not feel the need to engage the large torso muscles, which support or anchor their voice. Without this vital support the vocal folds are likely to tire, through being asked to take on a bigger workload than is really appropriate to what are, after all, tiny muscles.
• A further danger is that the singer will push even more air through the folds in an attempt to increase volume.

There are also physical and acoustic factors to consider. Although falsetto singing can sound quite loud at close quarters, it is acoustically inefficient. Its usefulness lies above 440 Hertz and it is not possible to produce any volume on lower pitches. Unless enhanced by a sound system or a cathedral-type acoustic falsetto does not project in large spaces. Also during adolescence, the male larynx grows seven times faster than any other part of the body. The larynx, like other cartilages, has not yet calcified, or hardened. It is still plastic and easily damaged.

In summary, when the larynx and vocal folds are going through their most dramatic phases of growth in Stages Two, Three and Four, it would seem prudent to abjure the use of falsetto voice quality, as this could affect the healthy progress of a boys voice through his last three stages of change. Furthermore, this could delay the settling of the young adult male voice considerably, possibly by years.

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