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Not once has an award been handed out for singing
glass-shattering high notes. Likewise, no song has ever
become popular simply because it contained some birdcalls.
Yet, we singers tend to fixate on range as if it’s the
reason we’re not winning awards and selling piles of CD’s.
True, there is an emotional lift when a melody soars upward,
but the pitches should always be proportionate to the
instrument. Sing at the height of your voice’s potential
and your audience will assume your abilities are limitless.
Sing beyond your boundaries and you merely call attention to
your limitations. This does not mean you are stuck with the
measly dozen or so pitches you sing well these days; rarely
does a singer access his or her full genetic range without
some training. It does mean, though, that before you worry
about expanding, it helps to embrace what you have.
Vocal range is a lot like the range of motion of your
limbs. Can you drop down into a split without warming up?
Even after warming up? For most, the elasticity necessary
for a move like that requires a long program of stretching.
The same is true for your voice. The vocal folds are
membranes (a little smaller then your eyelids) that close
over the windpipe. When air streams through the tiny
opening they create, their edges vibrate. The vibration is
nothing more than a microscopic wiggle. Look closely at a
guitar string after it’s played and you’ll see them same
thing. The speed of the wiggle, or vibration, is called the
frequency. We refer to frequencies, or pitches, by their
beats per second. The pitch, for instance, that an
orchestra uses when tuning is A – 440, meaning the frequency
wiggles 440 times in one second (the larger the number, the
higher the pitch). To sing high, your vocal folds have got
to vibrate fast.
The action required to sing different notes is very much
like tuning a guitar. Muscles surrounding the larynx pull
or release the folds to create high and low pitches. The
amount of movement required for your entire range is
microscopic. I suggest you reread that previous line about
a thousand times until it is embedded in your subconscious.
The root of all vocal problems is that we perceive the
activities involved with singing as big events. They are
not. We ball our fists and load up enough air pressure to
create an aneurysm just to get through the chorus of a
song. The automatic reaction to such force is resistance;
the body braces for the assault. Rigid muscles surrounding
the larynx deny flexibility and lock up the vocal folds. No
flexibility, no range – it’s that simple.
The key to singing high notes is volume. Reducing the
volume of your voice removes the burden of excess air
pressure so your folds can become more elastic. Just as it
takes a little stretching every day to get your legs into a
split, vocalizing daily at a low volume will allow you to
visit higher notes without stress. It’s best to sing scales
rather than songs at first; the memory of a song’s
performance will lead you to pushing. Allow you higher
notes to venture into falsetto or head voice. It’s okay if
the transition cracks or skips out; this is just a symptom
of your imbalanced ways. Don’t worry that the light voice
you vocalize with is not up to performance standards. Only
after you are completely comfortable with producing a note
at a low volume should you attempt to raise the output.
Increasing the volume in very small increments will allow
you to monitor muscle independence. If facial or neck
muscles join in to support a note, you’ve added too much air
pressure. Your controllable range for the day lies waiting
at the balance point between force and flexibility. And as
always, tomorrow is another day.
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