My friend swears vocal range is a myth

[benherron.rrr]

Whereabouts did you see them ?

"If you smoke, you will die. But if you don't smoke, you will die anyway !!".

Wembly Stadium. . . good gig.

LOL, So true.


I always wonder what tallent actually is? Apparently 87% of parents think their kids have an extream talent. Is it talent to be born with a perfect voice? or is it talent to work your arse off to achive a good voice? Or prehaps talent does not reguard range and technique but is aimed at how well you can move people with what you were given with? I can hit a few high notes as well as a few low ones I am no where near a "good singer" but I have worked very hard to get better and I put all I can into my singing does that make me talented? or am I not talented because I havn't been given the oppertunities in life many others with the best education, support and wealth?

 

[grimtraveller]

Wembly Stadium. . . good gig.

I live a mile from there. Round here for a few square miles there are beautiful views of the arch and at night when the little red lights are on, it's spectacular. But you can't see it from our flat ! We've got this massive great hill in front of us !

 

[keithersgsx2003]

Whereabouts did you see them ?

I don't know......I saw an interview with Tom Jones a few years ago and he said something I've never forgotten. He was saying that the older he got, the deeper his voice became and hitting the high notes was harder. But maintaining the voice was the key. Lots of singers smoke. But they have to work to keep the voice in shape. Same goes for non smokers !

I remember in 1977 we had to write an essay on smoking and it's perils {set by cute Sister Helen of Oldham}. I wrote a hell of an impressive essay and finished it by saying "If you smoke, you will die. But if you don't smoke, you will die anyway !!".
Sister Helen was not impressed.

You hit the nail on the head with this one!!!!!

 

[colbyrbt]

I somewhat disagree with farview's statement:
"With proper singing techniques and practice, you can get more range out of your voice. But that doesn't mean you will turn yourself from a bass into a high tenor.

You can get your head voice to be more powerful and more usable with practice, but there are limits."

Only in that at the age of 16 I join a church choir of about 60 people and I came in as a bass. Infact myself and most of the choir were shocked to find that I could sing reasonably lower then the rest of our bass section. to make a long story short many years later I can sing anywhere between bass and high tenor excluding a few notes in between that I'm working on. I'm not saying that there isn't a limit but if there is I haven't found it yet.

 

[leaningpine]

When I was 16 I joined concert choir and I was between a tenor and a baritone, the highest note I could hit in my head voice was an A below middle C and for years it was a struggle to hit that note, then I met my wife and she taught me how to properly project my voice and I practiced and now after a few years I can hit, and this is really stretching it lol a D above middle C in my head voice, I've got the same vocal range and sound similar to Steve Walsh of Kansas or Lou Graham of Foreigner,

 

[targuit]

Singing a long time

I started singing in the school choir when I was in grade school and didn't stop singing in school till I graduated high school. My vocal range is second tenor, though I wish I could be comfortable in first tenor range. I think you can expand your vocal range higher with technique and practice, but there are limits.

Two singers who amaze me are Rod Stewart and Michael McDonald. They both have that unique soulful rasp to their voices, yet they both sing in a very high range. I just recorded a version of the Van Morrison song "Have I Told You" off his Avalon Sunset CD from 1989. Van sings the song in the key of E. Rod Stewart recorded a great version of the song in Bb! Nearly a fifth higher. Now that's hard and high.

I think it helps a lot to put your mind in your vocals, ie, to be 'mindful' of your phrasing and what you are saying. Van's song is about love, both sacred and perhaps profane. So when he sings, "There's a love that's divine, and it's yours and it's mine, like the sun...." you have to put some radiance and energy into your voice. Sing it like you mean it.

I never use Autotune, and at present I use the modest MXL 990 into my Korg D1200. My "studio" is my living room. I record dry and process with just a bit of stereo cross delay and touch of reverb.

 

[Absolutepower]

I have a question for the people wondering if they can expand their range. Can you hear or imagine hearing yourself singing in a higher range, but you just aren't capable of it now? The reason is because I have a theory that some people might be capable of singing higher, but they just don't believe the possibility.

 

[musicnstuffz]

Ok im a baritone so im considered a low voice. now i dont think basses can convert to tenors as they please but check this out. i can hit a high c, a note elusive to many tenors. i started with my higest note being a E above middle C(by straining). this was all through training. also in falsetto i can float on a soprano high E. so does this make me a tenor?

well yes i have sung tenor parts in choirs when need but i noticed a difference in my voice and the voices of my tenor friends. i am always a baritone. my voice is generally thicker while my tenor friends have voices that are cleaner and crisper. one voice isnt better than the other, its just a difference.

You CAN increase your range but its harder as you go higher. it took me almost a year to go the half step from a B to a C.

one technique that i have dabbed in and plan to do more is the idea of a mixed voice. this has been dubbed "speech level singing" by some dude named seth riggs(kind of a big deal guy). if you wanna know more just google it. unfortunately he charges like 500 bucks an hour for lessons and his thousands of associates around the world have pretty steep prices too. there are people everywhere that follow the same idea but dont charge a fortune. you can also teach yourself, although not recommended.

 

[dintymoore]

musicnstuffz I'm not sure what "a mixed voice" is and what it has to do with speech level singing. I've done some work with Seth Riggs course and when he says "speech level singing" he simply means that you sing at the same volume level you talk at, that's all.

His courses are something like $30 on eBay.

 

[lmf]

When you hear vocalists singing "so far out of their range that it is awful" that is no myth. We've all heard it before except the one who is singing out of his/her range.
If the perception is real...then it is no myth.

Best wishes,

Lloyd

 

[Farshock]

musicnstuffz I'm not sure what "a mixed voice" is and what it has to do with speech level singing. I've done some work with Seth Riggs course and when he says "speech level singing" he simply means that you sing at the same volume level you talk at, that's all.

His courses are something like $30 on eBay.

Mixed voice is "A blend of head an chest voice" essentially it's just headvoice with a diffrent resonance that makes it sound meatier, like your singing in chest voice.

Are you sure you've not heard of it? I could be wrong but i thought it was in seth's course, although it's definately in singing success' course

 

[musicdeva]

not sure how to answer this as I had about 4 octaves the first time I tied my vocal to the piano as a teem after being in choirs as a kid...but controlling is a whole nuther story....hell..hahahah and a life work


what your friend said is ultimately...true...and for most of us,,,it'll take a few lifetimes

the closest cure would be the post above, and my post in the other thread talking about isolating the registers and then bringing each note back to its own perfect blend..

...nonetheless..itsALL about the ear...no trained ear, no voice...to speak of,,,IMHO,,,,anyways

 

[GoblinInventor]

So I'll give my two cents.

Can some people expand to 5 octave range? Yes.

Can most people sing more than an octave + 2 notes or so? No.

Can you change vocal fach? Not really, except for something like baritone to countertenor, though it can change a bit with time.

In anybody's voice however, there is a sweet spot in there somewhere, usually called a tessitura.

I can go from the bass C (C below C below middle C) to a Bb below tenor C. My tessitura however sits around... G above the bass C and realistically F-ish below tenor C (I can never get the damn numbers right). Will I ever be able to move my tessitura up to an A or down to an E? Probably not.

 

[moresound]

Maybe with every day practice.

 

[abshaddix]

In the words of my father, who has been playing and singing in top 40 bands for about 3 decades now, If the notes not there, don't reach for it, drop it an octave. It won't sound bad, here's the deal, we do all have our own vocal range, for one reason or another. I love my voice, but it happens to be lower on a really good day i can hit some decently high notes, but don't hurt your throat/vocal chords reaching for the impossible. Some people are born able to hit high notes comfortably and some people just know how to naturally do it.

 

[gambleman]

We're the same dude.. I really love to sing, everyday, i practice singing but my voice are the same. I have a flat voice, i was thinking of going to a vocal class, so that i can have some improvement. I always admire people who has a very nice voice. im jealous and always thinking that they are so lucky.