Hey Singers!
You know me, I'm a voice teacher not a psychic.
But today I think I might be able to read minds
just a little bit.
Let me see...
You want a bigger vocal range!
Was I right?
If so, then here we go!
♬
Hi everyone, welcome to episode 113 of
Voice Lessons To The World.
Today's question comes from Patrick W. in Warsaw, Poland.
Patrick writes, "Dear Justin, I want a bigger range.
Can it be now?"
Oh nice question.
Well, Patrick's got no time to waste
so let's get to it with seven tips
for expanding your vocal range.
Starting with number one, work all the registers.
♬
It's super important to work all your vocal registers,
not just the ones you like the most.
In other words, spend time each day
exercising your chest voice, your head voice,
your mix, your flageolet, all of them.
♪ Me ♪ [chest voice, vocal fry]
♪ Me ♪ [chest voice]
♪ Me ♪ [mix voice]
♪ Me ♪ [falsetto]
♪ Me ♪ [flageolet]
♪ Me ♪ [whistle voice]
Many singers make the mistake
of just focusing on the one or two notes
that they desperately want.
That's like trying to develop six-pack abs
just by doing crunches.
Nah, no!
[buzzer]
If we want abs we have to work our entire body
to achieve a level of fitness.
In the same way, the notes you probably want
in your mix or your head voice,
won't just come by only working on those few notes.
You've got to work everything.
Number two, develop your flageolet.
♬
Certain registers of the voice are more
flexible than others.
Chest voice, for example, is not very flexible.
The vocal folds are shorter, thicker,
and more muscular.
On the other hand, registers like head voice,
falsetto, and head dominant mix,
are lighter and thinner.
The vocal folds are free to move more quickly.
But the grand champion for vocal fold flexibility is flageolet.
Flageolet is like the head voice above head voice,
or the falsetto above falsetto.
For more on this you can watch the brand new
episode 36 of Quick Singing Tips.
Or you can go back to episode 89 of
Voice Lessons To The World.
Essentially, flageolet is your highest possible notes
using the least amount of force.
Sounds something like this...
♪ HW ♪
As I've said, there is no greater way
to expand your range than building your flageolet.
Doing this won't just give you greater access to flageolet,
it will benefit all of the other registers beneath it.
Remember, the same set of vocal folds do everything.
So if you build your flageolet, all of your other registers will benefit.
Number three, don't bully your registers.
♬
We want to make sure that we aren't
pushing certain registers around too much.
If you do this you might get a couple extra notes,
but in the long run you'll end up wrecking
your chances for a truly big range.
Let me give you an example.
When I reach a certain place in my range
that doesn't want to go any higher,
something like this might want to happen...
♪ MAY ♪
Now that's not a wise plan.
It's not all that great for me either.
Yet it's very tempting to get impatient
and just kind of try to muscle it.
But what we really need is actually something like this...
♪ MAY ♪
Here I'm doing the opposite of bullying,
I'm letting the vocal register have its preference first.
Once the vocal folds are allowed to have things their way
then I can start to have my way.
But not like some jerk,
♪ MAY ♪
Do what I say!
But instead as a gentle encourager.
♪ MAY ♪
Aha!
There we go.
By allowing my vocal folds to have what they want first,
they start to give me what I want later.
I'm telling you, friends,
learn to talk to your vocal folds.
Be nice to them, they will listen to you
if you tell them what to do in a nice way.
Number four, keep your volume consistent.
♬
One of the most important elements for range building
is volume consistency.
For example, what we want is something like this...
♪ MAY ♪
But what we often get is something like this...
♪ MAY ♪
Now there's nothing wrong with
a good old-fashioned crescendo.
But there is when we're talking about vocal range.
One of the best ways to guarantee that your range
does NOT grow is getting louder to achieve high notes.
In fact if you do that, not only will your range not grow
but it actually might shrink.
Why?
Well, remember that every note you sing
requires your vocal folds to vibrate at a certain frequency.
Like, if I sing this note my vocal folds
vibrate around 100 times per second.
♪ MAY ♪
If I sing this note my vocal folds vibrate
around 200 times per second.
♪ MAY ♪
On this one, they vibrate around 400 times per second.
♪ MAY ♪
And finally, this one they vibrate around
800 times per second.
♪ MAY ♪
Right?
With all this vibrating going around we've got to ask ourselves,
who's doing the job?
If the breath and the volume have to push the note out
then you know that subglottic force
made the vocal folds vibrate that quickly.
But if the volume stays constant,
then you know the vocal folds are making
their proper adjustments.
And over time this leads to a bigger range.
If you want a great little exercise for improving this
you can try the whisper singing exercise.
♬
It's a pretty simple concept,
basically I'm just going to whisper the part of the phrase
that I'm going to sing and then go right into the phrase.
Like, in a may may may exercise I would do something like this...
May may may may [whispering]
♪ MAY ♪
May may may may [whispering]
♪ MAY ♪
Or if it's a song I would use the lyrics.
Uh, how about "Take me into your loving arms"
Take me into your loving. [whispering]
♪ Take me into your loving arms ♪
And so forth.
The gentle breath pressure of that whisper
prevents us from pushing.
And then we just try to match that when we
move over into our singing.
Number five, develop larynx control.
♬
The same thing is true for your larynx
as it is for your breathing.
We don't want it to be a pitch changer too much.
You see the larynx loves to raise up for high notes
and drop down for low notes.
Some of this is okay and natural,
but not too much of it.
If I let my larynx run rampant I get something like this...
♪ MAY ♪
But if my larynx knows how to function in a civilized society
I get something like this...
♪ MAY ♪
Now it's okay for the larynx to raise for style purposes.
If I'm singing a pop song I've got to have the right larynx position.
I'm not going to sing,
♪ Change the world, I would be the sunlight in your universe ♪ [low larynx]
Nah man.
It doesn't sound like a lot of sunlight to me.
♪ Change the world, I would be the sunlight in your universe ♪
A lot of musical style comes down to larynx position.
But, that being said, we can't just
let our larynxes run about unchecked.
Nope, we've got to make sure they don't
raise too much as we go higher.
If you're having an issue with this,
I recommend an exercise like this one...
♪ NAN NUUN ♪
What we're doing here is keeping the
first couple notes on the brighter side
and then consciously asking the larynx to drop
for the higher notes.
Let's try just a few.
♪ NAN NUUN ♪
Nice.
♪ NAN NUUN ♪
One more!
♪ NAN NUUN ♪
Now, this is obviously good for making sure your
larynx doesn't cheat on higher notes.
But make sure you don't neglect the lower notes.
A lot of folks miss out on some of their low notes
because things get too dark, deep larynxed, and decompressed.
It's actually the very opposite of the problem
that we see on high notes.
If that happens to you, hit your low notes
with one of these...
♪ AA ♪
Go ahead and try a few.
♪ AA ♪
Yeah.
♪ AA ♪
♬
Right on!
This we'll get some of those lower notes toned up in no time.
Number six, break the vicious cycle.
♬
Now maybe this goes without saying,
but I'm gonna say it anyway.
If you want a bigger range you've gotta
put in the time and the patience.
It's very common for folks to get into this vicious cycle...
Desperately wanting the high notes,
attempting to get the high notes,
straining to get the high notes,
feeling terrible about the high notes,
giving up on the high notes,
desperately wanting the high notes.
Following this path keeps you stuck.
If you want a different paradigm,
try this one...
Invite the high notes,
practice the high notes wisely,
appreciate your failures,
celebrate your progress,
don't give up on the high notes,
achieve the high notes.
Oh yeah!
That's feeling much better in my soul already.
Number seven, water your lawn.
♬
As the saying goes, the grass is always greener
on the other side.
What does that mean?
It means that it's human nature to want
what we don't have.
But what about what we do have?
If we take a moment to think about it,
there's so much to be grateful for.
Do it with me!
Oh yeah!
Praise God!
So while I certainly want you to go for it,
build your range, reach for the skies,
I also want you to appreciate what you already have.
And not just for the sake of gratitude,
but because of this...
There is an endless amount of good singing
that you can do with the range that you already have.
Whether it's one octave or six octaves, doesn't matter!
Don't let the quest for more
stop you from doing amazing things
with what you already have.
So, Patrick and all, I hope that's been helpful for you.
In a moment I'll give you this week's vocal benediction.
So stay tuned for that.
But first here are some more things that I hope
can expand your range.
We are pleased to announce the upcoming release [♪]
of Justin Stoney's new book Sing Like Never Before. [♪]
For more information visit SingLikeNeverBefore.com. [♪]
For voice lessons or Skype lessons with the NYVC staff [♪]
visit us at NewYorkVocalCoaching.com. [♪]
If you'd like a vocal course that you can do at home check out the [♪]
Voice Lessons To The World Vocal Course. [♪]
This twelve part program takes you on a singing journey [♪]
from beginner to master level vocal exercises. [♪]
You can find it at VoiceLessonsToTheWorld.com. [♪]
Or, if you'd like free vocal tips sent to you each day [♪]
sign up at DailyVocalTips.com. [♪]
And now, here's Justin with this week's vocal benediction. [♪]
In my experience, giving thanks and having gratitude
is the best first step to expanding.
In other words, if we start from
a place of, "Wow, thank you!"
we're in a much better place than if
we start from a place of, "I'm not enough, I need more!"
So take a moment to remember how beautiful your voice is,
and give thanks for it.
A real thanks, a soulful thanks.
If you do, there's no telling what heights you'll reach. [♪]
♬