Maybe you've found mixed voice in an exercise or funny animal sound - mamama, mememe, nay or even the 'dying cat' cry sound sound you'll see prominently on most YouTube voice coaching channels trying to help you learn why you can't sing in mixed voice.

The exercise is okay at best - but it just doesn't work in songs, right?

You're nailing that exercise (or maybe not) - but the second it comes to a vocal line with real worlds, it sounds like you really ARE strangling a dying cat.

Why does it work in funny sounds but not in real songs?

There's really really two reasons - #1 is what you're learning for the exercise and #2 is really your attitude/perception on how you really learn any skill, but especially learning to sing.

Think about that funny sound or mamama exercise you've been practice - WHY does it work?

Honestly.

Do you know WHY you hit your mixed voice so well on that sound?

No?

Well that's your variable right there.

If you knew exactly WHY that exercise works so well for you - ie: narrowing the vowel, backpressure, engaging the CT muscle; whatever it is that really helps you hit your mixed voice so well - then obviously you can apply this in the song and it's going to work a damn sight better than practicing donkey sounds for an hour then going right back to flipping, breaking and falsetto the second you sing the actual song.

So the first reason you're struggling to sing real songs in mixed voice is because you're probably not really sure WHAT mixed voice really is (hit this link to learn exactly how to sing in mixed voice and WHAT it really is) - so how could you possibly apply it in a song, right? Learning the why/how/when of each aspect and technique and concept in your voice is really the key to making it a practical reality.

The second reason you're struggling to sing in mixed voice is your perception on HOW we actually learn to sing.

It's really NOT like lifting weights for months on end and then all of a second you're "buff" as a singer.

The way you learn to sing is with "neural connection" - basically habits on a neural level that fire in the same way as when you drive a car; you don't even think about kicking that clutch pedal and shifting those gears, right? You certainly don't think about hitting that indicator switch as you turn the bend, right? That's because you've developed a habit and neural connection over many months to years of practice that simply 'fire' in the background on command when your brain realises you're in the same situation and you want the same results.

With this in mind, think about HOW you've been practicing mixed voice.

Are you trying to master a skill of finesse, or have you been trying to 'lift weights' with your voice in an attempt to 'build the vocal muscle'? Watch this video to learn exactly what I mean with demonstrations on how to sing an actual song in mixed voice: