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I occasionally use falsetto/head voice in singing and more generally, I use my head voice sometimes when I'm speaking. But whenever I'm sick, my head voice goes away for literally months. Well after my chest voice feels normal, I reach for a falsetto note and just nothing is there. My vocal chords don't move at all, there's just a "friction" sound - like I'm trying to whisper.

If I really relax when trying to hit a falsetto note, then sometimes about half-way through a breath I can "break" into an actual note, and in the span of about a second the note ramps up to a normal sounding falsetto note. But then I'm out of air and trying to again hit the falsetto note with the next breath fails.

Why are my vocal chords "locked" on falsetto when my chest voice otherwise feels normal? How can I get my head voice back?

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  • Months is a long time to be experiences secondary leftover symptoms after "recovering" from an illness. You may have some chronic condition that contributes to your body's inability to to fully recover. I suggest having an ENT doctor or allergist or both evaluate you.
    – Rockin Cowboy
    Commented Jan 14, 2016 at 4:14

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I am a professional Baritone and unfortunately get colds all the time. You must ensure that you do not strain your voice - if you can't get a note, stop trying and try the next day. To ease your full range back, there are a couple of things you could do: 1) Try vocal exercises like starting on a C, and singing 1-5, 5-1, 1-9, 9-1, and gradually moving up by semitone until you have to move into middle voice, and then chest voice - like I say, if it does not want to come out, don't force it, as this could inflame your vocal chords further. 2) Try drinking a warm drink (non-milk based) before singing, as this relaxes the vocal chords and throat - my preference is Blackcurrent with Manuka Honey.

Are you a Countertenor, Tenor, Baritone or Bass - if you are a Countertenor or Tenor, you should take care especially when hitting those high notes (above F#).

Hope this helps :-)

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