All the tones of the falsetto register are produced by vibrations
only of the fine, inner, slender edges of the vocal ligaments.
In this action the vocal ligaments are not so near together,
but allow of a fine linear space between them, and the superior
ligaments are pressed farther back than in the production of
the tones of the chest register. The rest of the action of the
glottis is, however, entirely the same. With the beginning of
the falsetto register at fa♯ (f♯¹), the whole glottis appears
again longer, and the vocal ligaments are much looser than in the
highest tones of the chest register. The united action, already
described, of the arytenoid cartilages and the ligaments in
forming the deeper tones of the chest register, extends to do do♯
(c² c♯²) in the female voice, and in the male voice to mi♭ mi
(e♭² e²) commonly written thus: mi♭ mi (e♭³ e³) but which only
rarely occurs in composition, and then is sung by tenorists as
I have given it; that is, one octave lower.
With the do♯ (c♯²) in the female voice and the mi♭ mi (e♭² e²)
in the male voice, the arytenoid cartilages cease again to
act, and as before, at the second higher series of tones of
the chest register, leave the formation of the sounds to the
vocal ligaments alone, which at this change appear again
longer and looser, but with every higher tone tighten up to
fa fa♯ (f² f♯²) in the female voice, and in the male voice to
sol (g²), or as it is commonly written: g³. In the falsetto
register the larynx preserves its natural position, as in
quiet breathing.