OT: Increasing vocal range

[ABGBrian]

While sitting at stop lights I checked my throat in the mirror...I do sometimes lift my soft palette and sometimes not. Not sure why yet...perhaps a function of the actual word I'm singing? Some words are simply difficult to sing while others are easy to sing (and I think this varies from person to person).

 

There are about 5 or 6 different mouth shapes used in singing. The easiest shape is 'ah'. Drop the jaw completely release any tension that may be in the face or throat, tongue is down, mouth wide open. When singing the outro chorus, over the guitar solo, to "Stone in love" on the word 'love' your face should be in this shape, as in L-(ah)O-VE. I have to stress here the importance of not having any tension in the face or throat. Any tension you may have will greatly influence your intonation and timbre especially while reaching for high notes. If you are stressed, you'll sound stressed. Just yawn, your jaw and face should go completely slack. The next syllable is "Ae" as in "Hey" it is the same as the "ah" shape but only with the jaw lifted slightly, the tongue should come up as well. If you lift your jaw more you will form the "Ee" shape. Your mouth should be almost closed, the tongue should raise to the roof with just a narrow space between your top and bottom teeth. You should be able to fit one finger between your teeth. The crucial element here is to not choke your sound but to maintain a yawned shape in your throat and pallete while doing these different mouth shapes. Can you yawn with your mouth shut? That's basically what you're trying to accomplish- muscle independce. You're going to find that 'ah' will be the easiest shape and 'ae' and 'ee' will be progressively harder as your mouth closes. Try not to close your throat and pallete as the mouth condenses.

 

The next shapes are 'O' and 'uw". 'O' is just like 'ae' but with your lips extended forward kind of like a fish. 'Uw' is like 'ee' but again with your lips forward like a fish. A good excercise to work on the different syllables is just to start on a deep, yawned 'Ah', vocalize a tone that's easily with in your speaking range, keep the tone going, now raise the jaw to 'ae', then to 'ee', 'uw', 'O' back to 'ah' and repeat. Keep going like this until each shape feels comfortable and you can maintain a yawned shape in your throat and pallete without the mouth and face influencing them any.

 

However, they don't *sound* good to me while I'm singing them...this is probably the ideal reason to record and listen back, right? It may not sound good to my inner ear (what I hear it with when I'm singing), but it might sound good my or anyone elses outer ear (what I hear it with when I'm just listening). Or it might not. That would be the best reason to record it.

 

At first it may sound odd or exaggerated to your inner ear. I thought it was a little funny when I started to use my pallete as a conscious part of my technique. Now it just sounds normal. Again, check with the recording. I just use a little camera with video function. If you keep it in the car with you, you can do your own singing evaluations without having to subject an innocent party to your routines. I bet the wife will be relieved right Dave?

 

What's a reasonable expectation for the typical person in terms of range improvement? Maybe adding an octave on the high side after a few months of practice, or is that simply too aggressive?

 

It's hard to say. In your full voice you can probably add on a few chromatic notes higher. In your blended falsetto probably much more. It's hard to remember where I was before I started studying voice to make a comparison. I had a student once who had a lot of closed throat problems. The highest note he could reach in his falsetto was a D3. On a good day I can reach to about high C (a b7 above D3). So me as compared to your average guy on the street who doesn't know anything about singing, maybe an octave higher roughly. Depends on many things, likehow well you control the pallete.

 

Actually, let me ask the question differently. Since I can hit a lot of those higher pitches (just not accurately and with good tone), is it reasonable to believe that with practice and the right techniques that I can hit those pitches accurately and with good tone. I *think* the answer is yes (if it were any other instrument the answer would be yes), but you guys tell me if that's a reasonable assumption.

 

Yes! That is a reasonable assumption. The goal is simply to disengage any extraneous muscle movement or tension from the throat and face, and to raise the upper pallete through the yawn process. Again the best tone is the one that requires the least effort. You should aim to make your practice as technically effortless as possible in order to focus on articulation and emotional delivery.

 

Learning how to sing by asking questions in a bass forum.

 

That has to set a new standard for strangeness.

 

Flattery will get you nowhere, JC. Apparently it's not that strange since there are bassists on here who are vocalists as well. ZE obviously knows what he's talking about...it certainly jives with everything else I'm reading. Besides, who can a bassist actually trust if not other thumpers?

 

Dave

 

Exactly. Why do you think I ask bassists about rib fractures? Can you imagine what a guitarist or drummer would say?

 

I think the vocal questions are fair game on any forum since there is no MusicPlayer forum specifically for vocalists. You gotta speak your peace somewhere.

[Gruuve]

Thanks ZE! So, what's the key to blending the falsetto voice with my head voice? (Head voice or chest voice in this case?) Is it the same lifted palette yawn, or is there additional technique? I have a definitely break going into the falsetto voice...if I can learn to blend that AND actually get some power behind the falsetto, that might really give my range a major kick.

 

I do see the value in seeing an instructor at least for a few lessons, maybe more. However, gaining this knowledge ahead of time will really help me pick the right instructor, as well as helping me set a realistic goal about exactly what it is that I want to get out of the instruction. That's a good focused approach I think.

 

I'm creating a practice CD (will end up in the vehicle!) with 7th chord arpreggios that work their way up two half steps at a time. (In other words, E G# B D B G# E...then move that arpeggio up a whole step to F#, then G#, etc., until I'm back to starting at E an octave up.) This ends up following an odd-ball scale, but the intervals stay the same on the way up which I'd think will make it easier to get the hang of. Sound like a good approach?

 

I just tried some similar triad arpreggios starting at E and working up to the next octave...that was actually too easy. Starting at G took a little more concentration and hitting the high D on the last pass took some concentration, but still within a range I seem to be able to hit with reasonable accuracy and tone. Adding the 7th's will force me a little higher, and I'll create these exercises starting at E, G, A, and B initially to see how far I can go without it getting really ugly.

 

Dave

 

[ABGBrian]

So, what's the key to blending the falsetto voice with my head voice? (Head voice or chest voice in this case?) Is it the same lifted palette yawn, or is there additional technique? I have a definitely break going into the falsetto voice...if I can learn to blend that AND actually get some power behind the falsetto, that might really give my range a major kick.

 

Achieving the blended voice lies mostly in the pallete. All you have to do is yawn and the blended effect will happen naturally. I try not to think about it too much. Just relax and let it happen. To another extent it's effectivity also has to do with abdominal and breath control. When singing close to your head voice break, it is common for singers with poor breath control to get a yodeling or pubescent, voice cracking effect. This is due to inadequate air pressure control from the abs. Breath control is another pretty involved subject. If you're having trouble with the voice cracking at your break I can subscribe some excercises for abs and breath strengthening. The air pressure is gonna help you glide through your head voice break into your head-falsetto without there being so much of a noticeable transition. This is what you'll need to balls up your falsetto and glide into your head-falsetto like Steve Perry.

 

I do see the value in seeing an instructor at least for a few lessons, maybe more. However, gaining this knowledge ahead of time will really help me pick the right instructor, as well as helping me set a realistic goal about exactly what it is that I want to get out of the instruction. That's a good focused approach I think.

 

A voice instructor is only essential because describing a lot of these topics without a demonstration is extremely difficult. I could get across my ideas about 10x easier if I could show you visually or audibly what I'm talking about. And also you could demonstrate what you're doing too.

 

I'm creating a practice CD (will end up in the vehicle!) with 7th chord arpreggios that work their way up two half steps at a time. (In other words, E G# B D B G# E...then move that arpeggio up a whole step to F#, then G#, etc., until I'm back to starting at E an octave up.) This ends up following an odd-ball scale, but the intervals stay the same on the way up which I'd think will make it easier to get the hang of. Sound like a good approach?

 

I do arpeggios everyday. Arpeggios are great for smoothing over voice transitions, especially from head to falsetto. I prefer them to cover up to a 7th or an octave for one arpeggio, and I ascend chromatically. I think it's important practice arpeggios legato and staccato. You may find legato is easier to sing than staccato, as staccato tends to require more breath control.

 

The warm-up CD sounds good although I usually do my warm up stuff on the keyboard at home, and save my song material for the car. I prefer it that way because I find it harder to concentrate on technicalities while I'm driving. And sometimes I need to spend a little extra time on a particular excercise or do another similar excercise if I'm struggling getting my mechanism to work that day. The keyboard will also really help you zero-in your intonation too which will need some work if you don't have 'perfect pitch', like me. I try to do excercises like that everyday.

 

B

[Gruuve]

Ah yes...I do get the voice cracking at that transition point between head voice and falsetto. So proper breath control will help that...do tell when you get an opportunity.

 

Understood on the difficulties of communicating this in writing...however, I think you're doing an awefully good job. I'm catching 90+% of what you're saying...er...um...I think I am, anyway.

 

Dave

 

[Flemtone]

ok, I've been singing lead and harmony for 36 years, have a pretty wide range (three octave), can transpose from regular to falsetto pretty smoothly, and I've learned more about the actual technique for singing in the last hour than I did by 'feeling it out' all these years.

 

I'm bookmarking this page and plan on researching it extensively.

 

I love you guys.

 

Especially Alex, 'cause he mentioned Sinatra.

 

That's where I started singing, by listening to standards by Frank, Tony, Mel, Dino, Sammy. I learned harmony singing by listening to the Andrews Sisters, the Ink Spots and The Texas Playboys.

 

All theory, no technique. That changes now. Especially at 50, when I find my range is becoming more fragile.

 

Thanks, Zombieater and all the rest.

[Gruuve]

I've learned more about the actual technique for singing in the last hour than I did by 'feeling it out' all these years.

 

Thanks, Zombieater and all the rest.

 

Ditto that. In fact, I just added this thread to the essential threads thread...um...yeah...you know what I mean.

 

Dave

 

[...]

Not that I condone this behavior for everyday people but I always sing better when I'm drinking beer. I don't know why. It doesn't matter how many I've had but for some reason the soothing qualities of that fine liquid open my range up and "fix" the ~major 3rd of spastic transition my voice has in the upper middle of my range. I can sing pretty high in my normal voice. I do a lot of the high girl background vocals in my 80's cover band without too much trouble.

 

I also know for a fact that when I'm doing a lot of running and cardio workouts my singing improves tremendously. I'm guessing it's something to do with lung capacity or breathing or something along those lines. I've been running 30 miles a week for the last 3 months and I can sing a lot of high stuff that I struggled with previously.

 

So yeah... uhh.. I don't know where I was going with this.

[Gruuve]

So yeah... uhh.. I don't know where I was going with this.

 

So, drink beer and exercise? Sounds like good advice to me.

 

 

[The Bear Jew]

So yeah... uhh.. I don't know where I was going with this.

 

So, drink beer and exercise? Sounds like good advice to me.

 

 

Add two packs of Marlborogh Reds and a few bumps of meth per day, and you've got the Lemmy workout. Minus the running, of course.

[Gruuve]

Actually, you touched on a serious topic for me Erik...I'm currently a smoker. That doesn't help range at all. In fact, in times when I've quit for several months, my range automagically improved. So, for me a personal motivation/benefit to pursue this is that it's reason number #354 to stop smoking (or more precisely, to stay quit).

 

Dave

 

[1111000]

Thanks for this interesting thread.

 

I myself have barely even begun to tackle playing and singing simultaneously. I think it would be a valuable skill to have, and I would love it for all of my appreciation of so many singers whose adjacent bass players have also influenced me... (I'm thinking John Garcia/Scott Reeder and Maynard James Keenan/Justin Chancellor at the moment, although even Tori Amos/her amazing bass player [name please] would count for me too).

 

One of my greatest depressions in song writing is that no matter how great or expressive the lyrics that I write are, they are never ultimately mine to sing. I do the vast majority of the lyrics writing in my band, and like Neil Peart or Geezer Butler or whomever it doesn't actually wind up coming out of my mouth. It doesn't bother me that someone else gets to sing it as much as it does bother me to know that I simply can't... because the other person's voice is so much more "marketable", a word I heard used earlier about vocalisms.

 

I appreciate hearing this discussion because it motivates me to work harder myself on synergizing bass and vocals.

 

Here's the funny but most irritating part: my wife obsessively tells me that I'm a better singer than my bandmates! She must really appreciate falsetto, I don't know. True or not (she may have some bias), if I can't get it to come out well on stage, it doesn't matter at all... If nothing else, I'm lucky to have such a supporitve spouse. I should stop complaining.

[ABGBrian]

Ah yes...I do get the voice cracking at that transition point between head voice and falsetto. So proper breath control will help that...do tell when you get an opportunity.

 

Right, I think I may have put the cart before the horse. Every vocal teacher I know pushes breathing control over finding the pallete first. I'm not exactly sure why this is. I think it may just be to not overwhelm students with too much technical information. If you can take all this in, I see no harm in putting the cart before the horse but you should be aware this is much easier said than done. You may wish to focus on one aspect for right now, and simply remain aware of the other. Mastery of each component is something that will take several years of hard endeavoring. Just to give you an idea, it took me nearly 5 years to FULLY master my breath control. It wasn't until I mastered that, that my voice teacher started introducing me to the soft pallete. That was several years ago and I still have many more years in order to master that. I think she told me it took her nearly 15 years to gain full control on the soft pallete. Just to give you an idea.

 

That being said, learning breath control (pranayama) is going to change many aspects of your physiological body. For one, you're going to learn to breathe very deeply. This is one aspect where a visual demonstration is almost necessary. When I inhale I pull very hard to fill my lungs completely with air. You should notice that your lungs will expand ribs outward and upward. A good singer should be able to expand approx 2in. out and up. You should also feel the spine straightening and the shoulders rolling back. You may not be able to do this immediately if you are unuse to breathing this way. So as a primer to breath control I would just recommend trying to take deep, full breaths like this as much as you can each day.

 

Once you can fill your lungs to their capacity the next thing to do is regulate air dispersal. This is where the abdominals come in. All these excercises should be done by breathing in through the nose and breathing out through the mouth. An introductory excercise you can do for this involves a mentronome. Set the metronome at a relative slow to mid tempo. About the tempo of your heartbeat (maybe 60bpm). Inhale for 1 beat and exhale for 2, inhale for 2 beats, exhale for 4 beats, inhale for 3, exhale for 6, inhale 4, exhale 8, inhale 5, exhale 10, inhale 6, exhale 12. Try as much as you can to evenly inhale and exhale over the given amount of beats as possible ie. don't slowly inhale over the first 3 beats of a 4 beat pattern and then suck in all your air on the last beat, or exhale too little and blow out your remaining air on the last beat. Try to keep it even and consistent. Once you get good at this try slowing down the tempo more to make it more challenging.

 

For the next excercise you're going to need a stopwatch or watch-something with a seconds hand. The idea is basically the same as the first excercise it's just that now we're working with longer periods of time than with the metronome. Again with this excercise, inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. When exhaling try to exhale mostly through the teeth. Make it sound as if you're a baloon losing it's air. Long consistent hisses. So inhale for 15 seconds, and exhale for 15, inhale for 10 seconds, exhale for 20, inhale for 5, exhale for 25, inhale for 1 (you can take a quick gasp through the mouth on this one), exhale for 30 seconds, inhale for 1 again and exhale as long as you possibly can. If you can exhale for 45 you're doing pretty good, if you can exhale for a minute that's even better, 1:15-30 is pro. If you do this everyday you should start to notice a marked improvement in your breathing habits.

 

The next excercise, I alluded to in the last post, is staccato arpeggios. You want to do these two ways. Do them first over one breath, up and down the chord to practice air retention. Then try them with a quick breath between each note. Again, inhale through the nose. The point of inhaling mostly through the nose is that it is harder for the diaphragm to pull in air that way (better excercise) and it is less audible than mouth inhalation.

 

I also know for a fact that when I'm doing a lot of running and cardio workouts my singing improves tremendously. I'm guessing it's something to do with lung capacity or breathing or something along those lines. I've been running 30 miles a week for the last 3 months and I can sing a lot of high stuff that I struggled with previously.

Actually, you touched on a serious topic for me Erik...I'm currently a smoker. That doesn't help range at all. In fact, in times when I've quit for several months, my range automagically improved. So, for me a personal motivation/benefit to pursue this is that it's reason number #354 to stop smoking (or more precisely, to stay quit).

 

This is a good point. I've noticed a lot of singers I know are in illusion about voice preservation and maintanence. You have to understand that the voice apparatus is just another component of the body, and if you want to maintain a healthy singing voice you have to maintain a healthy body. It's a very simple formula, daily excercise for the voice + daily excercise for the body = life is good.

 

One of my greatest depressions in song writing is that no matter how great or expressive the lyrics that I write are, they are never ultimately mine to sing. I do the vast majority of the lyrics writing in my band, and like Neil Peart or Geezer Butler or whomever it doesn't actually wind up coming out of my mouth. It doesn't bother me that someone else gets to sing it as much as it does bother me to know that I simply can't... because the other person's voice is so much more "marketable", a word I heard used earlier about vocalisms.

 

Come on cassius, you know that's BS. "Marketable" is nothing, "expression" is everything. The voice is an instrument and can be developed just like bass guitar. If you think you don't have 'voice', you're wrong. You've already got it, you're just not using it. To give you an anecdote, when I first started taking voice lessons I was TONE DEAF. If you had played a note on the piano for me then I couldn't have sung it. No way. I was not given any innate talent for singing at all. The only thing I knew is that I wanted, and HAD to sing at whatever cost.

 

Since then, it's basically been the most rewarding and hellacious experience of my life. There was nothing more impossible I could have undertook. Everyone was against me from day 1 but I did it. I had to fight tooth & nail every step of the way though. I took voice lessons, went to college and got a degree in music, taught some voice lessons, led a few bands, appeared on recordings, and STILL struggle immensely every day. But what else was I gonna do? Was I gonna lay in some pit of self loathing and moan that I would never have the same "marketable" voice that John Garcia, or MJK have? There was no other option and nothing to regret. Take control of your voice today.

 

 

[1111000]

Come on cassius, you know that's BS. "Marketable" is nothing, "expression" is everything. The voice is an instrument and can be developed just like bass guitar. If you think you don't have 'voice', you're wrong. You've already got it, you're just not using it. To give you an anecdote, when I first started taking voice lessons I was TONE DEAF. If you had played a note on the piano for me then I couldn't have sung it. No way. I was not given any innate talent for singing at all. The only thing I knew is that I wanted, and HAD to sing at whatever cost.

 

Since then, it's basically been the most rewarding and hellacious experience of my life. There was nothing more impossible I could have undertook. Everyone was against me from day 1 but I did it. I had to fight tooth & nail every step of the way though. I took voice lessons, went to college and got a degree in music, taught some voice lessons, led a few bands, appeared on recordings, and STILL struggle immensely every day. But what else was I gonna do? Was I gonna lay in some pit of self loathing and moan that I would never have the same "marketable" voice that John Garcia, or MJK have? There was no other option and nothing to regret. Take control of your voice today.

 

Thanks for your admonitions. Seriously. I will take them to heart.

 

I don't really want to give you the wrong impression when I say marketable... as I certainly don't look at MJK, Tori, or Mr. Garcia and think to myself "My, how marketable!" In all counts I think they are very off-the-beaten-path singers, and if I were ever to sing, I too would want to veer far and away from what is in the mainstream. I guess what made me come to see "marketability" as an issue was being in the band I am in: we are a jazz trio for the most part, but our singer is a real pop purist in his background, and I think being in on his ideas on the subject have influenced me a little and made me backtrack a lot in my confidence. But your words have emboldened me. Thank you.

 

EDIT: Ooooh, and add in Travis Meeks. God, how could I forget Travis Meeks? One of my very favorite singers (and guitarists, and composers).

[Gruuve]

...To give you an anecdote, when I first started taking voice lessons I was TONE DEAF. If you had played a note on the piano for me then I couldn't have sung it. No way. I was not given any innate talent for singing at all. The only thing I knew is that I wanted, and HAD to sing at whatever cost.

 

Since then, it's basically been the most rewarding and hellacious experience of my life. There was nothing more impossible I could have undertook. Everyone was against me from day 1 but I did it. I had to fight tooth & nail every step of the way though. I took voice lessons, went to college and got a degree in music, taught some voice lessons, led a few bands, appeared on recordings, and STILL struggle immensely every day. But what else was I gonna do? Was I gonna lay in some pit of self loathing and moan that I would never have the same "marketable" voice that John Garcia, or MJK have? There was no other option and nothing to regret. Take control of your voice today.

 

 

Zom, I really like your attitude. If I had stopped everytime someone has told me "oh, you'll never be able to do that!", I would have attempted (and thus accomplished) nothing in my life. Kudos to you for ignoring the naysayers and plowing forward with something you love!

 

Dave

 

[ABGBrian]

I forgot to mention that in the above breathing excercises the importance of the hissing to conserve air as much as possible. It's symptomatic of many students to over expend or exaggerate the amount of air required given to sing any given phrase. Especially when singing phrases higher in the head voice or blended voice. If you can hiss 30 seconds after taking a 1 second breath then you should be able to sustain a tone for the same length of time. Also pay attention to the consistency of the hiss. It may fluctuate a lot at first or cut in-and-out but the goal is to keep it even and long. Again, this is directly applicable to any pitch you may choose to sing instead of hiss. If you were having difficulties with air conservation the hissing will correct those problems as long as you understand that you would not expend any more or any less air if you were to sing a pitch instead of hiss. Hope that clears up any confusion.

 

Cheers.

[Phil W]

For David.

[alexclaber]

My understanding of falsetto is its like playing artifical harmonics by subdividing the string in two, so you're leaping up an octave. There are some male vocalists like Curtis Mayfield and Jay Kay (Jamiroquai) that sing in falsetto almost all the time. If you do this really well you can have the same range in falsetto as in your normal voice, just shifted up an octave. In reality few singers can take their falsetto as low as is theoretically possible.

 

Alex

[Tenstrum]

http://www.melissacross.com/home.php?

[Tenstrum]

..Journey, Styx, Jefferson Starship, Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Dio, etc.)....

 

/ears start to bleed in sympathy...

 

Asian Tsunami Song (Lead vox)

http://www.ipass.net/davesisk/music/original/AsianTsunamiRelief_ReachingOut.mp3

 

Featuring yours truly on bass!

 

Dave I thought you rocked that song!

[Gruuve]

Asian Tsunami Song (Lead vox)

http://www.ipass.net/davesisk/music/original/AsianTsunamiRelief_ReachingOut.mp3

 

Featuring yours truly on bass!

 

Dave I thought you rocked that song!

 

Thanks John! It wasn't one of my best, but not too bad I suppose. You definitely rocked the bass line on that tune, my friend.

 

Dave

 

[jeremy c]

www.melissacross.com

 

Lots of misinformation there.

 

She seems to thing that if you spend your life screaming and you don't end up with nodes or polyps than you somehow have toughened up your vocal cords.

 

There are no such thing as false vocal cords.

 

But look at the list of students, that means her system must work, or at least it works for her because she has made a business out of it.

 

[Tenstrum]

Thanks man!

 

Check out Melissa Cross.

I actually bought "The Zen of Screaming" DVD for a singer friend of mine. It actually helped him quite a bit. I need to go through it myself. Although I'm not really a singer. Or much of a bass player...

 

Wish there was someone local that I could take lessons from (echoing Jeremy).