Falsetto

Falsetto (fall-SET-oh) is a singing technique that produces sounds that are pitched higher than the singer's normal range. It can also mean an artificially-raised speaking pitch. This often occurs momentarily, if repeatedly, in males during puberty as their voice changes. The break between voice registers, audible or not, is called the passaggio.

Pop culture

Chico Marx, never one to miss a "punning" situation, had this bit of dialogue in Horse Feathers, in his patented fake Italian accent, while accompanying a music student singing scales:

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:Thelma Todd (singing up-and-down): ah-ah-ah-AH-ah-ah-ah.

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:Chico: You sing a-high, huh?

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:Thelma: Yes, I have a falsetto voice.

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:Chico: 'At's a-funny; my last pupil, she had a false set o' teeth!

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