Whistle Register/ Flageolet Register

Brett Manning

April 2, 2025

The flageolet register is the highest part of a singer’s range, often described as a “whistle” or “flute” sound.

Flageolet—pronounced “flah-zhuh-let” or “flah-zhuh-lay”. Or simply think flaj-uh-let, for the more Americanized version.

But an even simpler way to say it is ‘whistle register’. However, whistle register techniques are as vast as the diversity of singing methods themselves. Who can you trust? Those who get results.

Fortunately, you’ve landed in a great spot to learn this. I’ve personally taught over 10,000 girls and well over a 100 men to sing whistle notes.

I usually tell my clients/students, “You don’t need these high notes to be a great singer. You also don’t need a Ferrari… but if you have one, you should drive it around occasionally”.

After all, whistle voice put Mariah Carey on the map…. virtually overnight!

More Whistle Explanations

The whistle tone is the highest vocal register. The vocal fry (the groggy vocal tone of fry sounds like the cartoon character Elmer Fudd, or Kim Kardashian’s low notes) is the lowest of all registers.

The most common register is the speech like tone, also called chest voice or modal voice. Modal or chest voice is used to speak clearly, comfortably and authoritatively.

The vocal cords—also called vocal folds—vibrate along their entire length are a generally not deeply stretched.

The head voice and falsetto registers are the lighter quality above what is often called the break area of the voice, which is E4 to G4 for tenors and A4 to C5 for sopranos. These are the notes immediately around middle c on the piano. These notes use dampened, or ‘shortened’ vocal cords. In other words, they begin to zip up the higher you sing. The difference between head voice and falsetto registers is vast. Falsetto is very airy and light. Head voice is clear and uses closed vocal folds to bring more presence and clarity to the tone.

The female high C is also called C6 and is a heroic note for many soprano divas to master. Once you go above the C6, your vocal cords zip up most of the their length, leaving a tiny opening, allowing the singer to hit whistle notes without excessive tension!!! So, if you have to strain to sing in your highest vocal registers, you made a mistake a long time ago.

Also, some have called the whistle sound or whistle voice, the ‘flute register’ because the vocal tone is so similar, and the whistle range is nearly identical to a flute.

Because the whistle register is the highest vocal register, characterized by its unique piercing and flute-like quality, its importance in vocal performance is that it allows singers to reach incredibly high notes and create impressive vocal effects. For example, Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande, also the old school, OG of whistle Minnie Riperton, in the highest notes of “Loving You”. All had exceptional use of their whistle register in their songs, adding an impressive range and color to their performances.

Also, the first usage of the whistle register were in classical music pieces. Most popular is Mozart’s, “Queen of the Night Aria” from the opera, “The Magic Flute,” which has been one of the hardest and most demanding of all whistle notes to achieve. Repeated fluttering up to a F6. Phantom of the Opera, though considered to be more musical theatre, demands talented coloratura sopranos who can sing in whistle register up to an E6. These are very high notes. Head registers are easy comparatively speaking. The highest register has to be taught for many singers. Because it’s not at all natural to sing through a small hole in the vocal folds, created by a nebulous (hard to mentally or physically grasp) zipping up coordination.

A gifted and well-trained vocal coach can often pull this sound out of you without you having to think much at all. We’ll be discussing some of the the methods I’ve used to access this upper register.

Check out my short multi-octave demonstration, culminating towards whistle register in the last part of this 51 second demonstration.

Understanding the Whistle Register

The whistle register is a high-pitched vocal register that allows singers to reach extraordinary notes beyond their normal vocal range. There is a clear distinction between the whistle register, head voice (used in the middle range), and chest voice (used in the lower range). For instance, Mariah Carey is recognized for her impressive use of the whistle register in songs like “Emotions,” where she effortlessly hits soaring high notes.

The whistle register—also called the flute register, because it mimics flute tones— opens up new stylistic and expressive possibilities for singers, adding a sense of ethereal beauty and versatility to your performances.

Because whistle is the highest register, there’s psychological block that needs to be removed. The more you understand the technique behind hitting higher notes, the less fear and doubt you’ll have as you approach the high note of a song.

The quality of a true whistle note, is that…. it is thin. If the tone is thick and operatic sounding, you’re merely hearing a high head voice, which is common in classical music. Because chest and head voice are limited in range—but often provide a ton of power—a singer must learn to let go of the heaviness of all the other registers to sing their highest note.

Most singers will tell me they want to sing in their highest note in modal and falsetto registers (modal is also chest or speaking voice and is extremely limited). Most singers often confuse falsetto with head voice.

*Reminder: The differences between head voice and falsetto are in the airy or lightness in tone when singing falsetto. Head voice has far more edginess to the tone because the cords approximate, or are much more closed than falsetto.

In opera, the coloratura sopranos can often sing in whistle register quite comfortably.

But the world record holder is currently ‘Georgia Brown’, who’s been known to supposedly hit a G 10. This is 2 1/2 octaves above the piano and is the same tone as a dog whistle. This sound can’t be heard my most humans. But the following videoVideos is an impressive example of what could be possible.

The highest note on the piano is a C8. I’ve had around a dozen students—throughout the the last 3 decades—who’ve hit the top of the piano. My coaches have all experienced this with several of their clients as well. Not needed…but kinda cool. Kind of.

Deep Dive into Whistle Register

If you want to sing high whistle notes, read further and consider becoming a VIP member. I would strongly emphasize Singing Success 360 to build the entire voice. However, we do have specialized courses that focus on how to sing high with authority, ease and confidence. Both are ground-breaking courses!

The first is called, “Range Builder‘ and focuses on high notes as well as the lower part of your voice. This course has had countless people reach out to us say that they finally located the upper parts of their voices and some said they got rid of their fear of higher pitches and were even performing whistle voice in a healthy way.

The second course is called, ‘Vocal Hacks‘ and is NOTHING like any other course….including my courses. Why? Because these are quick tips and simple hacks for unlocking parts of your voice that you might have given up on. There’s no scales—if you can believe it! Just making silly, quirky sounds that bypass the critical, academic mind, allowing you to safely find whistle notes. Rather than trying to force your voice to sing high pitches that have always been too high.

The Vocal Hacks course has over 90 hacks for various vocal qualities, like mix voice, falsetto ‘types’, building a better head voice, how to quickly remove tension, control your pitch, singing better licks, trills, and runs and many other hacks and coordination short cuts.

The other courses will give you specific vocal workouts to make these hacks stronger, more confident, and permanent.

But… Can a Coach Help Me Find My Whistle Tone?

Of course…sometimes. In other words, there are tons of vocal coaches that have no idea how to sing a whistle tone, unless you can do it naturally already. Many coaches who have a natural whistle tone in their upper register, aren’t sure how to teach this to someone struggling to find whistle.

If you are struggling with fatigue, inflammation, or even vocal damage, you definitely should see a qualified (I recommend Singing Success certified) vocal coach for one on one diagnostic training.

A gifted coach can hear what’s going on with your other registers, and see how they are affecting your whistle tone. This is what I call the diagnostic approach. All my certified coaches are often used to adding nearly (or over) an octave to their student/client’s vocal range in the first lesson.

Train Whistle with a Course or Coach?

Well… it depends. I have students that love to feel self taught and would rather take a deep dive into all my courses and find the answers there, on their own time and at their own pace and without having to try and schedule a session with me our one of my coaches. They often bounce between the courses and their private sessions, finding advantages in both.

The biggest advantage of a home study course is that you can do this in your bedroom, with friends, or in your car, driving to school or work. And, you can NEVER get bored because of the diversity of exercises.

Furthermore, the demo singers for each exercise are my personal, hand-picked, stellar vocalists who sing the exercises perfectly in a studio, giving the singer a paradigm (best example) for singing each exercise with the best possible tone. Throughout each course, I’ve used dozens of singers, after combing through my 30 year client list to find the best possible singer for each individual exercise.

This makes this a one of a kind course with perpetual learning and endless growth!

However……..

A course cannot listen to you. Can’t diagnose you. Can’t prescribe the perfect pathway to get your voice to coordinate rapidly.

But a coach can. Furthermore, a coach can give you confidence, self-belief, wisdom, understanding and the right kind of learning mode for your personal learning style.

My coaches and I do this with TKO:

Tempo- The speed of an exercise is crucial. Too fast can feel sloppy. Too slow can feel strained or fatigued. The movement of stretching and releasing in the vocal cords, can make the voice feel light and floaty. But the singer has to feel a sense of being challenged and not pushed into an un-natural sound, blowing too much air or reaching for higher pitches with a compromised sound.

Kind- Whatever sound you are making in an exercise, it has to be able to direct your high pitches to release with the most amount of tone, using a regulated amount of air. For example, a common exercise amongst coaches is an octave or a 5 tone scale on mum, or lip trill on various scales. This keeps the voice from overloading too much air flow and evens out the cord tension from note to note. The trick is knowing which kind of exercise is the very best fit for your voice.

Order- As my coaches and I consider each subsequent exercise, we do understand that it’s like a deck of cards and re-shuffling the deck (changing the order of exercises) takes 100’s of hours of training and observations before certification is possible. A certified coach in my system, is always thinking about what comes next! Because….not just any exercise will do.

So you get a customized, individualized workout with the right combination to unlock your unique, one of a kind voice!

My courses are also carefully formulated with this in mind as well, because each lesson targets specific vocal needs. Both systematic (home study courses) and diagnostic (private coaching) utilize this effective methodology to ‘build great singers’!!

In the end, you should do BOTH! It’s faster and more effective!.

Vocal Folds and the Whistle Register

The role of vocal folds (vocal cords) in producing whistle voice is the different from the vocal fold engagement between chest voice and the whistle register. The vocal folds undergo changes in thickness and length. In fact, they actually ‘dampen’ or ‘zip up’ from back to front, leaving only a tiny opening in the cords or ‘folds’. This shortened cord has a smaller vibrating surface, producing whistle notes.

Some have related the whistle register to a squeak or even a dolphin sound. And, even though it is thin and squeaky singing, it can help you add super high notes to your music that can be far more exciting than the much lower falsetto singing done by the masses. But, the quality should be more flute like and the vocal folds should be relaxed to avoid a rigid tone.

In fact, most singers confuse a high falsetto with their whistle register. But when you listen to the anomalies like Adam Lopez (acquaintance of mine and world record holder for highest note sung) and the effortless Ariana Grande, you may be tempted to settle with the lighter, easier tones of falsetto, because it’s a much easier register than whistle.

However, knowing that the cords are going through a thinning motion can be the key to finding some semblance of whistle register in your own music. Even if it’s only for one note, the audience will remember that ONE WHISTLE NOTE more than your entire gig of a 1,000 notes.

Developing the Whistle Register

Now, for a short overview of the techniques and practices that can aid in accessing and strengthening your whistle voice.

Whenever I train a singer to sing higher pitches, I have to first tell them this crucial point: you cannot earn, practice or push yourself to go higher.

Myth Busting the Whistle tone

To develop the whistle register, it is essential, to begin with gentle, non-forceful vocal warm-ups. This means you don’t get carried away with excessive breath pressure or heavy ‘diaphragmatic’ support. Focus on gentle lip trills and thin siren sounds to relax and engage the vocal cords.

Don’t try to sing as high as Mariah Carey or Ariana Grande your first time. Or any other time. Your voice will tell you how high is comfortable….especially male singers. For men, our voices are typically an octave lower than the ladies. Although, I’ve taught over a 100 male singers to sing in whistle register.

So, it is rare! But it’s not impossible.

Maintain consistent breath control and support throughout the exercises. Do NOT push air across the cords. In fact, I hate to sound like a bait and switch, but I prefer singers who’ve not found their whistle voice yet, to first work through my range building exercises, or book a private session with me personally or one of my my gifted associates.

Assuming you have sung in chest and head voice, practice transitioning smoothly between the chest voice, head voice, and the whistle register to expand your range.

*Important note: I’ve used vocal fry, tongue trills, and reverse phonation (should be done with great carefulness) to rapidly trick clients into singing the music they were afraid of all their lives!

Regular practice of these techniques will help in accessing and strengthening the whistle register. But always remember that more air is rarely the answer. If it were, nearly everybody would be great. Air is meant to sustain.

Vocal Control and Range Expansion

As I’ve mentioned earlier, the ‘kind’ of exercise is crucial. You’ll more than likely ‘flip, break, or crack’ into your whistle tone the first time you hit it. Don’t be discouraged. Why…..?

You must first ‘discover’ a coordination, before you develop the quality of the new sound. Implementing whistle tone into your singing should be to make your music better. If it takes over your vocal quality, then your music will suffer.

Only add minimal air for tonal freedom and expansion as your voice permits. The vocal folds should be ‘floating’ on air, NOT resisting air, as if it were an enemy. In fact, too much air is usually the culprit to a limited range.

This approach is extremely….

COUNTER INTUTIVE!

But it works.

The Myth of Breath Control

To enhance vocal controlling savvy and expand your range, a minimal range of relaxed breathing is important. The diaphragm is muscle at the bottom of your lungs that pulls your lungs downward, displacing your organs (viscera) forward for what some have called, ‘belly breathing”.

HOWEVER…. (man, I really like that word) I have terrible breathers who are great singers and great breathers who don’t sing as well. Both should be somewhat considered anomalies.

Because oxygen is necessary for life, deep, relaxed breathing is great for every area of your health. Especially the middle of your voice, where power can be maximized. Singing a High C requires a strong mix/head register for a male singer and strong head register for female singer.

Blending the Whistle Register with Other Vocal Registers

Below are strategies for singers to blend the whistle register with other vocal registers:

Develop vocal flexibility: Strengthen and refine your chest voice and head voice through vocal exercises and training. This helps establish a solid foundation for blending registers.

Gradual register shifts: Practice gradual register shifts, starting from chest voice to head voice and then smoothly transitioning into the whistle register. Gradual shifts allow for better command and ensure a seamless blend between registers. This will take specific exercises to accomplish. As well, it may take a personal vocal coach to assist you in making these coordinations.

Focus on vocal resonance: Pay attention to vocal resonance during the transition between registers. Aim for consistent resonance and timbre throughout your range, including the whistle register, to maintain a cohesive and blended sound.

Artistic expression: Explore artistic expression by incorporating the whistle register into your musical performances. Experiment with different dynamics, articulations, and vocal effects to showcase the unique qualities of each register while maintaining a cohesive and expressive vocal performance.

Head Voice vs. Whistle Register: Differentiating the High Ranges

Often, opera singers will attempt singing in the whistle register, but really are just singing in an extended head voice. The bird like, flutey quality of the whistle tone should be sought out when singing in clear and obvious whistle range.

Also, if you can do a literal whistle with just your air—normal whistle, not singing whistle tone—you’ll notice the quality of that sound is more similar to the singing whistle tone, than head voice.

Understanding the distinction between head voice and whistle register is essential in navigating the high ranges of the voice. Head voice refers to the lighter and more resonant sound produced in the upper range, while whistle register involves the production of extremely high and piercing tones. Head voice relies on proper breath support, vocal cord coordination, and placement techniques, whereas the whistle register requires exceptional control and precision in engaging the vocal folds. It is important for singers to develop an awareness of these distinct vocal mechanisms to effectively utilize and differentiate between head voice and whistle register in their performances.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the whistle register is a unique vocal range that offers singers a distinct and captivating sound.

As you explore this range, remember to prioritize vocal health by incorporating proper warm-ups and exercises. Embrace the challenge of developing your whistle register while maintaining a balanced approach to vocal training.

Do NOT be in a hurry to find the elusive whistle register. And, you must realize that the time to find, coordinate and strengthen whistle tones, is different for everyone.

Also, you music might not need the whistle register to complete your artistic journey.

All in all, very little music will demand a whistle tone to improve the song. So, exercise humility and good taste.

With dedication and practice, you can unlock the full potential of your voice and enjoy the expressive possibilities that the whistle register offers. Keep pushing boundaries (but don’t push your voice) and nurturing your voice as you embark on this exciting vocal journey.