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Falsetto, singing with air and whispering
Since Billie Eilish became popular, everyone wants to sing softly and with a breathy quality—that raspy edge to the voice. This is the opposite of singers like Adele or Pink, who often sing with a full, powerful sound. A breathy tone can sound beautiful and intimate, but how do you achieve it in a vocally healthy way?
Falsetto literally means "false" and involves incomplete vocal cord closure. At a certain pitch, your vocal cords can no longer close fully, and you transition into falsetto. This can be a way to sing higher with less effort and reach pitches that your natural voice cannot. However, it should be a choice, not a necessity, because if it isn’t intentional, it can sound unpleasant.
You should be able to consciously switch to your falsetto or avoid it. Additionally, you can make your falsetto sound fuller by using techniques like twang or by approaching it with more classical technique.
Want to add that "sexy" breathiness to your voice at any pitch?
Normally, your vocal cords close fully when you sing. But when you sing with a breathy tone, like in falsetto, the cords remain partially open, and you can literally hear the airflow.
Try saying or singing an "H" sound—you’ll hear just the air at first. If you do this while singing, you introduce breathiness to your sound.
It’s important to do this safely. You shouldn’t push hard or sing loud while singing breathily; otherwise, you risk developing vocal nodules where your cords first come into contact. Always keep the sound light when you sing with air.
Whispering is speaking on airflow. What Billie Eilish does, sometimes borders on whispering. You can’t add pitch or resonance to whispering because it stops the moment you do. Avoid whispering too often, especially if your voice is strained or irritated, because it puts the wrong kind of tension on your vocal cords and dries out your throat—both of which are harmful.
Check out this video where singers like Gracie Abrams, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan are analyzed for their frequent use of this light vocal technique.
NOTE:
Sing a scale using “Ja Ja Ja Ja” as demonstrated in this video. You can then use any piano video, like the one included in the exercises, to practice your falsetto. If you want to sing with breathiness, replace the “Ja” with “Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.”