Head voice: Difference between revisions

The term goes back at least as far as the Roman tradition of [[rhetoric]]al instruction. [[Quintilian]] (ca. AD 95) recommends teaching students ''ut quotiens exclamandum erit lateris conatus sit ille, non capitis'' ("that when the voice has to be raised the effort comes from the lungs and not from the head," ''Inst.'' 1.11.8, transl. Russell). The first recorded mention of the term in a musical context was around the 13th century, when it was distinguished from the throat and the chest voice (pectoris, guttoris, capitis—at this time it is likely head voice referred to the [[falsetto register]]) by the writers [[Johannes de Garlandia (music theorist)|Johannes de Garlandia]] and [[Jerome of Moravia]].<ref name="groveONE">The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians. Edited by Stanley Sadie, Volume 6. Edmund to Fryklund. {{ISBN|1-56159-174-2}}, Copyright Macmillan 1980.</ref> The term was later adopted within [[bel canto]], the Italian opera singing method, where it was identified as the highest of three vocal registers: the [[Chest voice|chest]], passagio[[passaggio]] and head registers. This approach is still taught by some vocal instructors today.<ref name=Stark>{{cite book