Question 17

...... My professor (baritone) let me sing thick in the middle register and from the passaggio on in falsetto. Could you perhaps explain to me what is happening on the vocal side? He also says that he can teach men and women equally well, because he knows how women sing, having had a voice change before. How do you see that?
Thank you very much!
M.D.*

Dear Ms. D.,
thank you very much for your question. In this context, I would like to refer only to the continuous change in vocal fold thickness possible due to the thyroid cartilage movement when changing from "full voice" to "head voice". Other parameters (e.g. anchor/appoggio, breath management, laryngeal height, velum height, tongue position and mobility ...) also play a role.
The vocal folds are very flexible. They can adapt themselves optimally in length, depending on the need, i.e. depending on the pitch to be sung. The decisive factor here is the thickness of the vocal folds. The longer they are, the thinner they become and the easier it is for them to vibrate faster to produce higher pitches. These changes from thick to thin and vice versa are continuous. Contraction of the cricothyroid muscle (CT) leads to tilting of the thyroid cartilage and thus to elongation of the thyroarytenoid muscle (TA). I.e.: the greater the thyroid cartilage tilt, the easier it is for singers to realize high notes. They sing with a "slender" voice - with thin vocal folds. A more vertical position of the thyroid cartilage makes the lower register easier, because the vocal folds become shorter = thicker and a greater vocal fold contact is possible.
Vertical thyroid cartilage position produces a sound that sounds more like speaking; a tilted thyroid  cartilage produces a sound that sounds more like singing. For example, a tilted thyroid cartilage can be produced by singers with the idea of crying.
It is true for all voice genres that a tilt of the thyroid cartilage should take place from c1 (C4) and only in exceptional cases should the full voice be led up to g1 (G4). This applies to both male and female voices.  It results in male voices singing much longer and higher in full voice, with thick vocal folds, producing a full sound. Baritone singers need to learn when and how to "slim down their voice" without losing their connection to the body (and thus their virile sound). Dramatic sopranos and mezzo-sopranos use "leading up" the chest voice on single notes in veristic literature. If this strategy is generally applied to women's voices, it can easily lead to register divergence and breaks in the voice. Female voices should be led from c1 with a gradually adapted thyroid cartilage tilt. In this way, female voices easily reach high pitches.
If one now leads a voice with a full voice in the high range, a break will occur at some point if one does not tilt the thyroid cartilage, i.e., reduces the muscle mass in an adapted manner and sings with a marginal voice. The body connection is then abandoned; anchor/support/appoggio diminish. The ary cartilages "flip" and change planes, resulting in stiffening of the vocal fold margins and increased air flow through the glottis. Falsetto develops. Sonorous access in the high register is no longer possible. Low male voices may be able to compensate for this for a while, depending on their physical strength, but female voices are denied a full, radiant high register. Women's voices achieve their high register simply by tilting the thyroid cartilage with thin, well-swinging vocal folds = voice/head voice.
They themselves go high with "relatively" high muscle mass and a lot of pressure. This works well until the passaggio. After that, the ary cartilages flip and they produce an airy, flute-like tone that is distinctly different from the round, full middle register. My suggestion would be to lead your voice more slenderly and sing in the treble with thin voice/head voice, i.e., with swinging vocal folds. This requires more anchor/support/appoggiatura effort, allows you more timbre, a sustainable high register, intonation security, less tendency to fatigue and voice disturbance, and allows for further voice development opportunities in the first place.
As for the statement about your professor's voice breaking, I don't want to speculate here. I cannot imagine how a baritone with "falsettoed" high notes can stably and for years produce a sound necessary for opera that carries easily over an orchestra without fatigue.
Sincerely
Yours
Petra Lang

*Name changed