Karaoke Forums

hello, i was wondering if singing in falsetto is looked down on or considered cheating in the singers world?. there are some notes i can hit,but only if i sing in falsetto.. like journey ex... thanx

I'm not a professional, nor trained or anything like that... but I say, if you can hit the note in any way possible (outside of a downright screech, Lol) that it's not cheating. I've heard people hit falsetto on songs that didn't go that way in the original, and it often sounds pret-ty darn good. That's part of making a song your own, imho.

Some people think it's "cheating" to change from the original key, I say hogwash to that too.

Are you going to sub an example?

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hello, thanx for the honesty... a lot of so called experienced singers have told me if i can't hit the notes naturall,then forget the song... but the challenge side of me trys it anyways..i've been told i have a srong falsetto,and its hard for them to tell i'm actually singing in falsetto... i'm working on getting a sample downloaded. thanx for the advice.

Singing in falsetto is not "cheating" at all. For goodness sakes, some singers have made a very good career out of singing in falsetto. Like anything, it's all a matter of using it correctly. Far better you switch to falsetto than try and reach for something that isn't in your "natural" range and causing damage.

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"I hold the key to an open door....will I ever be free...?"

Frankie Valli would be amused to be called a cheat I am sure

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

Thank you Morgan - that's exactly the name I was trying to come up with...and I kept coming up with Rudy Vallie....which I knew wasn't right! *laugh*

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"I hold the key to an open door....will I ever be free...?"

you be welcome my dear and happy new year to you hell I would love to cheat like him and laugh all da way to the bank

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

Falsetto counts in my book.. When singers like Mariah Carey get credited with having a 5 octave range, that includes those birdy notes she makes, being miles beyond falsetto.

If you can use it and it sounds right, it's valid...



The only thing I call cheating is when recording studios artificially enhance the key the singer is singing in. In other words, they record it in the key they can sing it in and then the engineer pushes the key several semi-tones higher.

yea, the studio my band goes to has a computer software program called meladyne.you can singevery note out of key and plug this program in and t will bring every note to a perfect pitch... it basically can make a terrible singer sound like an idol...i don't use it..it also can add harmonies/vibrato. man now thats cheating in my book.

Barry would be as equally amused as Frankie if anyone accused him of cheating... it certainly wouldn't scare the BeeGeesus out of him...

Not many look down on Philip Bailey (Earth, Winde and Fire), Stylistics, Smokey Robinson, Surface (1991- The First Time), or any talented countertenor. I might laugh if a guy singing a falsetto part is trying to nail Bowsers parts from SHA-NA-NA, or selects all Barry White songs in a repetoir, but the Soul Genre of Ballad always had one or two falsetto male voicings... Thing Commodores and that whole period of Soul/Ballad/R&B. Elwood and Bobby Debarge, Cedric Myton-Reggae, Prince, Al Green, Eddie Kendricks, Ralph Tresvante (New Edition), Rose Royce, Delfonics, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Eddie Holman (Lonely Girl- not really one of my favorites) but Henry Gross- Shannon, Isley Bros, Here are some more Tenors who hit a nice falsetto and my favorite song of theirs: And Again, regarding R&B, Funk, Soul, etc- Hamish Stuart of AWB, Butch of Tavares - Check It Out, Lillo Thomas , Sexy Girl, Ron Banks (Dramatics), Peabo Bryson,l George Benson, Kenny Loggins,
Billy Ocean - Suddenly, Aaron Neville - Tell It Like It Is, also- Babyface.


My answer is NO... Falsetto, and smooth transitioning into falsetto is a gift ! I wouldn't wish for it to be the only area I could sing, but it's a really nice addition !

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hi Wolfgang,

you've already had terrific feedback that falsetto is not cheating by any means. thought I'd add my two cents in and maybe further confuse things ... but hopefully not.

Falsetto is also often referred to as head voice - there is still alot of debate as to weather or not these two terms actually mean the same thing or different things. Here is the best explanation given to me by one of my teachers (hope I can explain it well) ....

falsetto/head voice and chest voice (what you called 'natural') are tems used to describe sounds in vocal music - the difference between head voice / chest voice is where that sound resonates - therefore you get head (falsetto or those high notes) and chest (natural) ... makes sense to me ...

now looking specifically between the terms falsetto and head voice - to me (imho) there is a difference ... but not in the tones but in how they are used.

Falsetto is a clear, deliberate jump from chest voice to falsetto - if listening to a recording ... you would definately hear the transition - many artists use it very effectively in thier records ... i happen to be a fan of using falsetto

head voice is a smooth, preferrably undetected transition from your chest voice ... when listening to many great singers you usually cannot detect the transition you just think that those high notes are in their 'natural' or chest voice (listen to Celine Dion or Miriah Carey or Whitney Houston any of the belters) ... this is what many vocal artists struggle with ... typically your head voice is weaker than your chest voice and most singers need many many many many hours of training to strengthen it so that the transition appears seamless .... yes some are naturally gifted with strong head voices - rats!!!!!

anyways, hope that was of some help ... I just wanted to chime in and add my vote that whatever you call it - falsetto or head voice -- it is definately not cheating.

good luck

If you open your lips and a pleasing sound comes forth..you are doing the right thing.

Excellent points from both rokkgirl and Kass...

If you listen carefully to some karaoke backings, alot of those background singers have been artificially enhanced by those pitch correctors.. it gives it that unnnatural sound.. ditto for the 'technoligical harmony' makers..

Someone ask me if I use a technological device for harmony.. My Hooligans ( the name I affectionately call my 'group' of the harmony tracks I MANUALLY work on) got quite ruffled by that question...

Speaking in terms of karaoke - If the original song was done by a singer using a full resonant voice, I tend to think that singing the same song but switching to falsetto gives a version that lacks "oomph" . Take any Journey song for example, Steve Perry does not usually sing in falsetto and I see people switch to falsetto just to hit the notes. While it's better to switch to falsetto than not hitting the notes at all, again, it lacks in "oomph" versus the full resonant voice.

If, again speaking in karaoke terms here, the goal is to reproduce the song like the original, and the original was full resonant, I could see falsetto considered as "cheating" if accurate reproduction is the only goal. However, karaoke is about having fun, right?

Unless you plan on singing unamplified over, say, a full orchestra, then whatever notes you can sing in a pleasing sounding manner count as far as I'm concerned.
As for melodyne, grrrr, I want to kill it!

Not only is it not cheating, it's often considered quite impressive if done well. I do a version of Duffy's "Mercy" where (after shifting the pitch down a couple) I pop that top note of hers into falsetto, and people love that. Little do they know, it's the easiest note for me to hit in the whole song.

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As a yodeler, my understanding is that falsetto and "head voice" are two distinctly different modes of singing. Imagine the vocal cords as being in the form of a zipper. The zipper is usually undone (but not open) for lower notes (chest voice) but zips up about half way when we resonate in our head voice. There is normally a "break" between chest and head voices but practice can minimise this until it is virtually undetectable. Now with falsetto, on the other hand, the vocal cord "zipper" is undone and wide open so the sides of the cords don't vibrate together in unison like they would in a controlled (chest or head) voice. Falsetto certainly has it's (deliberate) uses and often is the making of a song such as "Runaway". I prefer to use head voice though, even for yodeling. If I were to sing "Runaway", I would certainly use falsetto.

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Falsetto is a vocal register, its not cheating but shouldn't be used all the time, I mean you wouldnt sing a whole song in falsetto, that would be crazy, althogh some artists have made good livings out of doing just that. Above falsetto is whistle voice the highest of the registers.

Falsetto can sound awesome when used correctly. When singing old 50's favorites, its used quite intentionally to get the "oooowhoooo's"....

I use it when I'm singing something soulful to get that "Ahhhh ahhhh" sound or "Eeeeee".

I have a fairly high voice for a man, and sing Jouney in regular voice, so when I go falsetto its even higher.

For songs like Journey I think your better off going down 1 step (but only 1), than trying to hit Steve Perry's notes falsetto. The reason is simple: Steve has a very powerful "bluesy" voice, and while the note may be "right", it won't be as FULL (hence the term "full voice").

Its your performance, do it they way you want, but I like pulling the falsetto out when I just want to get into "stupid high"....

Taking a song down 1 step is barely noticable, and 90% of the people will never notice. ALL DKs are done this way straight up, and people will SWEAR to me they are in original key... they ain't. Hence the reason they are so popular... down one step and a guide track in the background makes them easier to sing... and there's nothing wrong with that. Good singing make it fun for everyone.

I would say that there is no "rule" per say. I would evaluate it on a song per song basis... try the song using falsetto and taking the key down one step and then do what sounds the best.

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