The change from a thicker to a thinner sound throughout a voice’s range isn’t always gradual. Most people have breaks, often several, at different points in their voice, ranging from barely to very noticeable.  

There are two ways in which a break can limit your voice: 

• Within your existing range you may experience breaks as clunky gear changes between adjacent notes. These can disrupt the attractive ‘one voice’ quality you’re wanting. 

• At the limits of your existing range you may experience a break as a floor or a ceiling to your voice. These breaks will artificially limit the notes you use if you’re unaware that they can generally be crossed, opening up a wider vocal range. 

Negotiating breaks is obviously more challenging when singing than speaking, as there’s a larger range of notes involved, but it’s relevant when speaking too. Interesting speaking voices can use up to fifteen notes.  

The reason you’re not aware of breaks when listening to good singers and speakers is that they have worked to turn the break into a bridge to another part of their voice. This is what you’ll be doing in the exercises below. 

Be patient. It takes work to turn any break into a bridge. You may never eliminate all breaks entirely, but with practice you should be able to reduce them enough that they’re hardly noticeable to others. 

Q: Are you aware of breaks within your current vocal range, or at its extremes, that you want to work on?