Do any of you guys still have the ability to scream like a girl?

[Deku]

This has interested me for quite some time. It seems to me that every guy that goes through the phase in puberty where their voice changes can't even attempt at speaking in a high voice, unless you're gifted with a voice like Michael Jackson or JB. Though, this is just what I see. I do have some friends who don't have a typical deep voice but I can only imagine if they still can manage to scream like a girl.

Well, I don't have a deep voice being 16, and I love my voice, since I sound like I'm still a kid. I can go to a super deep voice if I chose to and I can go to a super high voice if I want to, even being able to sound like a girl if I tried. I thought I wasn't able to scream like a girl anymore until one day when I was at a water park, my brother and I decided to constantly scream going down the tunnel slides, and I realized I could still scream. It was really funny seeing the lifeguards acting like they're confused on what they just saw come out of a guy's mouth. ;)

So yeah, I'm very curious to see if any of you guys can still manage to scream like a girl, especially if you have a deep voice.

[eric2001]

My voice isn't deep like my dad's or uncle's but I think it's deeper than last year. I really haven't screamed for a while (yaaaay!) but I don't think somebody would think it's from a girl anymore.

[mick01]

Well, I'm 15 and I don't think I could sound like a girl anymore. I probably couldn't say this 6 months ago lol.

[Hermes]

Yes, this is an interesting topic.

Using musical terminology, when you voice changes it usually drops by about an octave. On the other hand now, after my voice having changed, I can make some kind of noise over about 3 octaves which means there are plenty of pitches I can make a sound on now that I could also make a sound on prior to my voice having changed.

The lowest and highest sound you can make is determined both by whether you have a naturally low or high voice but also by whether you can use all of it or just some of it. In classical music there is a classification system for voices with bass being the lowest voice, then baritone, then tenor and you can definitely hear a difference between, for example Willard White or Paul Robeson (basses) and the late Pavarotti or Jonas Kaufmann (tenors). Most men are baritones, i.e. the one in the middle.

This system is not so commonly used in pop music but it seems to be generally reckoned that Michael Jackson is a tenor, so with a high voice (for a man) so this is part of the reason he can do those high squeals.

Going back to which parts of the voice, it is convenient to divde the voice into "registers". In the middle is modal voice (modal meaning how it is commonly used) which has a lower part, called chest voice and an upper part, called head voice. We generally speak in chest voice but someone untrained can "flip" into head voice for other sounds. This is what is happenning in the really high picthed girly scream and the Michael Jackson squeals are probably in head voice too. For an example of someone doing this "flip" listen to Sia singing "Chandelier". In the chorus she sings "I'm gonna swing from the Chandelier-eer", i.e. the last sylable of Chandelier is split over two notes and the high note at the end of the word is in head voice. The give away is that it sounds much less speech-like than the note before.

I mentioned someone "untrained" doing this flip - in classical singing part of the training is to blend head voice and chest voice into a mixed voice so the transition doesn't stick out in that way. Some pop singers learn this too, some don't.

Below chest voice is another register called strohbass, which is a sort of growling/snarling. That can go very low (about C#2, for me, nearly two octaves below middle C) but it isn't very loud and using it more than occasionally can leave you hoarse. For guys whose voice has changed, above head voice is falsetto which is the most girlly sounding. In speech it is only really used to sound female for comic effect. It is used in pop singing, though. Examples include "Sugar Baby Love", the BeeGees disco era (Tragedy etc), the Scissor Sisters etc. In falsetto I can usually get to about F#5 (the second F# above middle C), on a good day G#5 which is higher than most female pop singers usually sing (excluding the likes of that Sia example). It still doesn't exactly sound like a girl but it doesn't sound manly either. A soprano* who knows what she is doing would be able to go much higher - up to C6 for an operatic soprano, i.e. a full two octves above middle C.

* female voices are also dvided into three categories, contralto (lowest) mezzo-soprano (the middle and most common) and soprano (highest). On the subject of these names these are not to be confused with soprano, alto, tenor, bass as it related to choral singing. In choral singing these names refer to the parts, not the voices. In a typical choir most of those singing the alto part and some of those singing the soprano part will be mezzo-sopranos (as contraltos are rare) and likewise most of those singing the bass part and some of those singing the tenor part will usually be baritones (bases are rare and tenors not that common).

[PinkFloyd]

Not anymore, unfortunately. I attempted to match pitch with the song "Take on Me," and all that came out was air, no voice at all.

[Hermes]

Not anymore, unfortunately. I attempted to match pitch with the song "Take on Me," and all that came out was air, no voice at all.

That's an excellent example. I assume you mean in the chorus? The words for the chorus are:

Take on me (take on me)
Take me on (take on me)
I'll be gone
In a day or two

so here are the notes - I am confident about all except those "in a day or" - and which register that note naturally falls in in my voice (referring to my post above):

Take [A2, chest] on [G3#, chest] me [A3, chest] (take on me)
Take [A3, chest] me [E4, head] on [F#4, head] (take on me)
I'll [C#4, head] be [G#4, head] gone [A4, head]
In [C5#, falsetto] a [D5, falsetto] day [C#5, falsetto] or [A4, head] two [E5, falsetto]

As I say, don't pay too much notice to the bit "In a day or" because it is quicker than my guitar tuner app can respond and my keyboard is playing up but using the above, if you can work out which of the words you can sing you may be able to deduce which of your registers you have access to.

[ska8er]

Maybe I can if a guy touched me
in the right place.

[PinkFloyd]

That's an excellent example. I assume you mean in the chorus? The words for the chorus are:

Take on me (take on me)
Take me on (take on me)
I'll be gone
In a day or two

so here are the notes - I am confident about all except those "in a day or" - and which register that note naturally falls in in my voice (referring to my post above):

Take [A2, chest] on [G3#, chest] me [A3, chest] (take on me)
Take [A3, chest] me [E4, head] on [F#4, head] (take on me)
I'll [C#4, head] be [G#4, head] gone [A4, head]
In [C5#, falsetto] a [D5, falsetto] day [C#5, falsetto] or [A4, head] two [E5, falsetto]

As I say, don't pay too much notice to the bit "In a day or" because it is quicker than my guitar tuner app can respond and my keyboard is playing up but using the above, if you can work out which of the words you can sing you may be able to deduce which of your registers you have access to.

Yeah, I totally meant chorus. It's of course, not "I'll be gone in a day or-" it's "twooooooooooo."

[kyrocks03]

My voice hasn't really started changing yet. I mean its deeper than when I was say 11, but I still sound like a kid so when I scream there isn't a difference I guess between my scream and a girls.

[Falcons_11]

My voice hasn't really started changing yet. I mean its deeper than when I was say 11, but I still sound like a kid so when I scream there isn't a difference I guess between my scream and a girls.

Neither has my voice really started to change yet. But lately when I'm talking a lot it cracks and that's really irritating. Sometimes I can scream just like a girl. But then sometimes I can't.

[Brightwolf]

This has interested me for quite some time. It seems to me that every guy that goes through the phase in puberty where their voice changes can't even attempt at speaking in a high voice, unless you're gifted with a voice like Michael Jackson or JB. Though, this is just what I see. I do have some friends who don't have a typical deep voice but I can only imagine if they still can manage to scream like a girl.

Well, I don't have a deep voice being 16, and I love my voice, since I sound like I'm still a kid. I can go to a super deep voice if I chose to and I can go to a super high voice if I want to, even being able to sound like a girl if I tried. I thought I wasn't able to scream like a girl anymore until one day when I was at a water park, my brother and I decided to constantly scream going down the tunnel slides, and I realized I could still scream. It was really funny seeing the lifeguards acting like they're confused on what they just saw come out of a guy's mouth. ;)

So yeah, I'm very curious to see if any of you guys can still manage to scream like a girl, especially if you have a deep voice.

Ooo I like this question! I don't have a deep voice by any means, but I can speak deep if i need too (Its actually kinda weird cause I look so young) but I can still scream like a girl. I can also sing like one. I also sound like a kid and rarely, my voice still cracks lol.:whoops:
Hermes I've been called a "Countertenor" before when singing, do you know what that is?

[Hermes]

Hermes I've been called a "Countertenor" before when singing, do you know what that is?

A countertenor is a higher voice than tenor. Good, current, operatic countertenors include David Daniels and Andreas Scholl.

Usually, a countertenor would be a baritone who has chosen to develop the very top part of his voice rather than the lower part. There seems to be some dispute as to whether a typical countertenor sings mainly or even partly in falsetto or whether he has a very well developed head voice. The reason this is a subject of debate is because coventional wisdom is that one can not move seamlessly from head voice into falsetto or back the other way. For something which I think is an example of this, listen to Sam Smith's bond theme song "The Writing's on the Wall" and the words "Tell me if this is where I give it all up. For you, I have to risk it all, 'cause the writing's on the wall" and note the changes of tone: Tell me if this is where I give it all up (light) For you (strident), I have to risk it all (light), 'cause the (strident) writing's on the wall (light). I am suggesting he is flipping between head voice and falsetto with the light-tone being falsetto,

It is also worth knowing about an extinct kind of singer called a castrato. As the name suggested this was a singer who, because he had a good voice as a boy, had been castrated so as to preserve that voice and avoid it dropping. The result was apparently something unique - the ability to sing in the mezzo-soparo or even soprano range, in full voice (not resorting to falsetto) and with the lung capacity and power of an adult rather than a choirboy. I mention this because, with a late-changing voice it may be possible to get close to that sound especially if one has been otherwise growing. It also may not be a coincidence that the parts originally written for castrati may now be sung by a countertenor (or a mezzo-soprano, known as a "trosuers" role).

[Brightwolf]

Hermes cool! I learned something new today lol. I really like that song (The Writing's on the Wall) and I think you're right with the flipping. I'm not sure if I can sing my falsetto with my full lung capacity, even though my voice changed late. I've never actually tried it though. I might now.

[Hermes]

Hermes cool! I learned something new today lol. I really like that song (The Writing's on the Wall) and I think you're right with the flipping. I'm not sure if I can sing my falsetto with my full lung capacity, even though my voice changed late. I've never actually tried it though. I might now.

The thing about the castrati sound was that a castrato would continue to grow in size without their voice dropping. In fact, again according to what I have read, some of the ended up quite big because, in the absense of testosterone, the growth plates in the bones were very slow to close. So that resulted in a big man with a child's vocal range.

Once your voice has changed and you have to resort to falsetto to get those high notes it's not the same. Falsetto only has a small part of the vocal chords working and a gap between most of their length. if you push more air through you just hear more breath in the sound with no more volume. So referring back to the Sam Smith song he obviously thinks that light, slighly breathy sound works artistically but in pracice I don't think he could sing those notes any other way. Also, in the recording process the relative volume of the lighter and more strident notes will have been evened out.

But it would be interesting to hear how you got on.

[Brightwolf]

Hermes Yeal I'll try it and let you know, if you want (would you want me to PM you?). I also wanna see what the highest note I can hit is...idk why I just think Itd be interesting. That's interesting about the castrati, I think I read a little about them in my music appreciation class, though it wasn't much if I remember correctly. By the way, I don't really have a loud voice to begin with. if you've ever heard Owl City's (Adam Young's) voice mines like that.

[user-999]

I can also hit very high sounds, I sometimes sing on omegle and many guys ask me to show boobs.