In 2019, Kim Hyuk Gun (김혁건), the vocalist of THE CROSS (더크로스), named connecting the passaggio in his doctoral dissertation as "one of the most important techniques in vocalizing." Skill at connecting the passaggio matters so much, it says, that it is used as an important measure of singing ability.
This is the seventeenth part of the series. It sets out the principle of the zone where the voice breaks on high notes — the passaggio. It is the section behind this dissertation's conclusion seen in Part 1, that "abdominal breathing is an important factor in overcoming the passaggio." The breath that crosses the passaggio, appoggio, continues in Part 18.
01.Where the Voice Breaks
Passaggio is an Italian vocal term corresponding to the English "passage area," meaning "passing," "the way through" or "process." In the passaggio zone, you divide your range by changes in frequency and tone and practice each part, so the sound does not break midway but connects smoothly on one path. The point where it breaks is called the "breaking point" in English and the punto di rottura in Italian; covering this point so the song flows on is what connecting the passaggio means.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Passaggio | The zone that joins the different low, middle and high registers, and the vocal skill for it |
| Breaking point / punto di rottura | The point where the sound breaks |
| Mixed register | The middle range where the low and high ranges are connected (the dissertation's footnote on the passaggio) |
The dissertation notes that adult men typically struggle to carry high notes around "2-octave F" (F4; in its notation "2-octave C" is C4, as in Part 1). If your voice breaks as you go up, the notes just before and after that one are where you need to work the passaggio.
The passaggio varies subtly even for the same person depending on how the voice is used and the state of the body, and it differs between men and women, because men's and women's vocal folds differ in length and women's larynx is shorter.
02.Men's Two Passaggi
The division of the registers was covered in Part 8. Following the American singer Richard Miller, the dissertation explains that the male voice has two passaggi.
| First passaggio (Primo) | Second passaggio (Second) | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Between the chest and middle registers | Between the middle and head registers |
| Vocal folds | Toward the middle register, the cricothyroid gradually contracts, moving the thyroid and cricoid cartilages, adjusting the length of the vocal folds and making them thinner | The vocal-fold muscles contract further than in the first |
| Resonance | The chest register uses more lower-pharynx resonance, so controlling it is important | Using the resonating chambers toward the nasal cavity and upper pharynx, the sound comes out narrower |
Women's passaggi are divided more finely. Miller held that the transition points change with the weight of the voice (light or heavy) and its character (lyric or dramatic), dividing them into drammatico, spinto, leggiero and lirico, the dissertation notes. For women, the dissertation takes C♯5 to F5 as the passaggio between the middle and head registers and concludes that a well-blended sound of the two registers should be used.
The dissertation gives male positions by voice type in a table. For each voice type the two passaggi are a perfect fourth apart, and they sit on lower notes as you go from tenor to baritone and bass.
| Voice type | First (primo) passaggio | Second (secondo) passaggio |
|---|---|---|
| Tenore leggiero | E4 (E♭4) | A4 (A♭4) |
| Tenore lirico | D4 | G4 |
| Tenore spinto | D4 (C♯4) | G4 (F♯4) |
| Tenore drammatico | C4 (C♯4) | F4 (F♯4) |
| Baritone lirico | B3 | E4 |
| Baritone drammatico | B♭3 | E♭4 |
| Basso cantabile | A3 | D4 |
| Basso profondo | A♭3 | D♭4 |
Source: reorganized from Kim Hyuk Gun (2019), Table 15, "Positions of the male passaggio." Missing or mistaken octave numbers in the original table have been corrected (the two passaggi of each voice type are a perfect fourth apart).
03.Three Reasons the Passaggio Comes Early
Even in the same person, the position of the passaggio moves. The dissertation names three factors.
| Factor | The passaggio | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Vocal-fold contact on low notes | Comes earlier the more contact there is | So a bass meets the passaggio before a baritone, and a baritone before a tenor |
| Strength of the sound | Gets lower with a stronger sound, and can get higher with a softer one | A strong sound raises both breath pressure and vocal-fold contact |
| Vowel | Comes on lower notes in the order i → e → a → o → u | As the tongue and lips change with the vowel, the larynx lowers in this order. With mastery, the vowel's effect can be controlled so the passaggio falls on nearly the same note |
If the same note goes over one day and breaks another day in the practice room, you can check these three things first: how heavily you sang the low notes, how loudly you sang, and which vowel it was.
04.Five Pictures of Register Balance
To cross the passaggio, register balance is essential, because without it the move between registers does not connect naturally. Following Reid, the dissertation sets out five types of register balance (its Table 14).
| Type | State | Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| ① | Each register is fully developed and smoothly joined, in a completely equal relationship | Ideal |
| ② | The two registers can be told apart by ear | Not ideal, but good |
| ③ | Only falsetto is used and the chest voice is left out entirely | Not very desirable |
| ④ | Only chest voice is used and falsetto is left out | Not very desirable |
| ⑤ | The registers were joined from the start, before each was properly developed on its own — plausible on the surface | The least desirable |
Source: reorganized from Kim Hyuk Gun (2019), Table 14, "Types of register balance in the passaggio."
What stands out is that ⑤ is the least desirable. That is why the dissertation says the passaggio should be drawn out by training that practices the chest, middle and head registers separately, develops each, and then joins them again. "Divide them to learn them, then join them again" in Part 8 comes from this table.
05.A Sound Without the Passaggio
The dissertation presents Pavarotti's warning: if you sing for a long time without working the passaggio, even a singer in their twenties can find the voice turning old. It also writes that working the passaggio makes the tone of the low and high parts the same, giving a tone as if singing in chest voice, the lowest sound a person can make.
Low and high notes joined in the same tone — that is how the dissertation describes a well-worked passaggio. It is for the same reason that it names learning to mix head and chest voice on low notes, common to all voice types, as the main goal of singing.
06.Today's Practice
Turned into points to check while you practice, what the dissertation and the lesson highlight looks like this.
- Find the note where you break — Go up the scale and write down the note where your voice breaks or the tone suddenly changes. When a pitch break occurs, the notes just before and after it are where the passaggio must be worked (section 01; dissertation p.116). Compare it with the note you marked in Part 6.
- Change the vowel — Sing the same scale on "ee" and on "oo," and see how the breaking note changes (section 03, vowel factor; dissertation pp.120–121).
- Change the strength — Sing the same scale once softly and once loudly. Check whether the breaking note gets lower when you sing loudly (section 03, strength factor; dissertation p.120).
- Build separately, then join — Practice the chest-side range and the head-side range separately, then join them again (section 04; dissertation p.119).
The lesson to watch with this part is Season 2, Episode 11, "Half-Falsetto." Its description lists half-falsetto = mixed register = passaggio (based on the male F), and appoggio (support and hold). The male F the lesson mentions lines up with the dissertation's "around 2-octave F (F4)" in section 01.
07.Where to Go Next
The division of registers and falsetto are in Part 8 · Falsetto and Registers, and the breath that crosses the passaggio — appoggio — and high notes continue in Part 18 · High Notes and Appoggio. Songs like "Don't Cry," whose top note goes above the third octave, can be heard in Don't Cry: The 2003 Original and the 2023 Anniversary Recording. Lesson videos are in Korean.
A breaking note is not an end but a marker — the notes on either side are the path to carry on.