Chest Voice – Part Three: Some History

The greatest loss in today’s teaching is the knowledge of registration which was developed by the castrati. Most teachers and singers understand that there are two registers or mechanisms and they know there is a need to join them together. However, due to a misunderstanding of the passaggio area, many take refuge in the use of only one register. Particularly among sopranos there is almost a culture of fear about the use of chest voice. In male singers there is an increase in the use of chest voice only.

If we trace back the history of voice to the Renaissance when the vocal world was dominated by polyphony, the ideal sound at that time was that of the choral singer who was interested in blending. However, a capella part-music was then developed by the Italians into more virtuosic accompanied solo singing. With the arrival of this kind of vocal music and the development of opera, the solo singer needed a different sound – he needed volume, strength, individuality and virtuosity. Zacconi (1555-1627) was one of the first to note this shift and he differentiated between voices that were “dull” (obtuse, mute) and those that had a certain “bite” (mordente). Caccini (1546-1618) advised singing with “a full and natural voice” (voce piena e naturale) avoiding falsetto (la voce finta). Both of them were referring to male singers – falsettists and those who sang in the chest register. “Among all voices, one must always choose the chest voices and particularly those with the above-mentioned delightful biting quality that pierces a little, but does not offend; and one must leave aside the dull voices and those that are simply falsetto , because the dull voices cannot be heard among the others , and the falsetto is overbearing” (Zacconi 1592).

The secret of the historical bel canto technique that evolved at this time is in the use of chest voice. It is not just the use of the chest register itself on the correct pitches it is also the influence of the chest voice once one has changed register – the vehicle for developing a full ringing tone was an exercise called the messa di voce, or swelled note, in which the singer is required to start softly and then crescendo to full voice. The art of messa di voce has all but disappeared and little wonder as it requires a knowledge of registration to accomplish it. In order to start softly one has to start in co-ordinated head voice and once the head voice has reached its loudest point (about mf level) the participation of the chest voice is necessary to increase the volume further. In order to diminuendo and return to p the singer has to return to co-ordinated head voice. The ability to rotate the registers on one note is the key issue and results in a voice which possesses what the Italians call chiaroscuro. This sort of training on registration allows the singer to eventually express every emotion with all the “tints” that the human voice is capable of.