Theory of Karaoke Lesson #11: Falsetto
Jason Burchard

If you’ve ever watched American Idol or a similar show, you’ve heard talk about ‘falsetto’. And maybe you have wondered what in the world it is. Falsetto is simply when someone sings very high, above the normal vocal range. Some of the most notable falsetto singers are Michael Jackson and Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees. Probably the most drastic falsetto singer from years ago was Frankie Valli (Think “Big Girls Don’t Cry”).

It is only on rare occasions that falsetto refers to a woman’s singing. There are certain instances when women sing falsetto but rarely in popular music. So, with this in mind, the focus of falsetto is on the male voice.

A man singing in a high pitch is not something very common and any man could feel uncomfortable doing so. A good male singer who can achieve a nice falsetto can actually be impressive. In more recent popular music, falsetto is used sparingly. However, if you have heard songs from Maroon 5, you’ll notice that lead singer Adam Levine sings mostly in falsetto.

Now that you know more about falsetto, try it out. Try singing some songs from falsetto style singers. If you want to find more falsetto artists, visit wikipedia.org and look at the “falsetto” category.

Falsetto is certainly something that is out of the ordinary, but with practice it can be a great element to certain songs. If you are song writing, try using some bits of falsetto to express pain or love. These instances are more believable, or allowable, by listeners to accept the ‘uniqueness’ of the falsetto. Use it someday or not, now you know what it is—if only to help understand what in the world Randy Jackson is talking about.