FAQ Thread: Post all Q's that just need a quick answer here! - March 26, 2020

I didn't know how to belt or sing when I was little, I grew and was able to reach loud notes albeit forcibly; really forcibly, but it didn't bother me. Nearing puberty, I decided to join choir for two years and masked myself as a bass because 'all the high-pitch roles were filled in already,' I just thought it was cool to try something new, besides, I didn't have vocal training or evaluation prior anyway. puberty hit, I suddenly couldn't sing the high notes I used to force myself to sing anymore, so I only sang in falsetto for many years. I thought I had already damaged my voice, I thought me faking bass had become a reality, and that I was only able to sing high notes with falsetto. Fast forward to last year when I tried to take singing seriously, well still without proper vocal lessons. I tried controlling how my body breathes by being aware of it more, by sort of holding my breaths. I noticed how my tone slightly became better although still not professional-sounding. I searched online how chest and head voice sounds like and I navigated through my chest voice first, the head voice still being quite a mystery me to this day. I tried emulating the vocal tonality of notes in a handful of songs, I did this finding how the key of the songs would inflict change in my isolated chest voice and 'other higher voice.' It was a very mental and pushed me to breath-spells-like note-producing, but after one was combined with another, it felt like then that I could hold the notes at a relaxed state easily, in my own 'flawed' tone I would say. Then came this song "Chandelier" by Sia. It was my first time emulating a note sung in mixed voice. I was able to emulate the falsetto parts and the low-notes except for the C#5 belts. I was trying to emulate it with a chest voice and I didn't know if I hit it or not. For one, I realized there was a harder breath 'control' needed, which I got a not-so-good grasp of after tiring concentration exercises. I could finally hit the mixed voice C#5 but when I put some mental work to it, and I wouldn't carry through another note. I still hardly recognize mixed and head voice; only through that C#5 instance do I get a sense of them. I tried looking online how to familiarize myself with them, but could only manifest them in those vocal exercises.

Am I in the path to honing my voice, or damaging it? Someone help please.

/r/singing Thread