Expanding Vocal Range - Myths and Facts - P2

by Jeannie Deva

Is part of your range weaker than the rest? Is your lower voice fuller and stronger than your �upper� � �higher� voice? As you sing higher, do you reach a point that is difficult to sing through while maintaining good tone? Do you reach a point where you have to strain to keep singing or feel like you�ve reached a ceiling in your range?

Myth #1
Many think you�re just born with a certain range and that�s it. This idea is voiced in the question: �What key should I sing in?� or �What�s my best key?� There is no one key that is the right one for you to sing all your songs. It depends upon the melody. Each melody has a highest and lowest note. Your most confident high and low note and those of the width of the song�s melody need to match up. This would influence the key choice for each song you sing.

While it�s true that you should always put your best foot forward, is it possible to improve your voice and range while still maintaining or finding and developing your own unique style?

Your Instrument
Your voice is sound made from little inner muscle movements and more specifically, vibrations made by little muscles housed inside the front tube of your neck. They are designed to function automatically. Like all muscles of the body, to function at their fullest potential, all the little muscle actions that support and create these vibrations must work the way they are designed to work.

Here�s an analogy: You�re seated in a chair. The phone rings and you jump up to answer it. Quickly, you rise up from the chair, run across the room and pick up the phone. Did you have to think about which muscles needed to work to accomplish this? No. However, if you had not walked in a very long time and then tried to get up and walk � much less run across the room, you would have a difficult time and might fall. Your body would be wobbly. You�d probably lose your balance. It would take a lot of effort and would exhaust your muscles at first. By exercising (yes, you see where I�m going with this) little by little you�d be able to move around and do things effortlessly with your body.

The voice is similar. Even though you speak � possibly a lot � it does not automatically mean you will have either a fabulous singing voice or a wide gorgeous range that is effortless to use. Many singers try to get their voice to do things it is not yet ready to do. This usually causes strain, pitch problems and vocal fatigue amongst other shortcomings. As well, a wide vocal range that is not only easy to maneuver but full bodied and versatile would not be discovered. That does not mean it can�t ever do it or you don�t have the potential.

Exercises
In last month�s vocal tip, I gave you three exercises to practice with the melody of a song. Did you do them? If you did not practice the techniques enough, you may not have reaped the full benefits, so keep working on them.

The Tongue Stretch
Your tongue is the strongest muscle of the entire body for its size. Your tongue will restrict your voice in one or more of the following ways if it is not stretched out and limbered: lack of flexibility, weaker, thinner tone or less range. Here are three out of several exercises from my �Contemporary Vocalist� book that help to limber the tongue.

Warm-Up Routines: Your Inner Instrument
Singing with the back of your tongue relaxed is an amazing experience, enabling you to achieve greater ease during sound production and a fuller more resonant voice.

1) Open your mouth so that there�s a space between your top and bottom teeth. Keep the tip of your tongue firmly planted against your bottom teeth as you slowly roll the body of your tongue forward out of your mouth. As you do this, concentrate on relaxing the muscles of the back of your tongue. Now slowly return your tongue to its normal position. To not strain your tongue muscle, repeat only 3 times. This takes about twenty seconds.

2) Open your mouth as before. Slowly extend your tongue, stretching it forward and out of your mouth. Now slowly stretch it to the left, then back to center, then to the right and again, back to center. Slowly return your tongue to its normal position inside your mouth. Swallow. Now try saying a few words or singing some of a song. Does the back of your throat feel like it has more space? Is your voice a bit more resonant? We�ve only just begun!

3) Open your mouth. Extend your tongue forward and let it rest on top of your bottom lip. Keeping it relaxed, continue to stretch your tongue in this manner. Choose a low easy pitch and using a basic talking volume, sustain an �Ah.� Let the back of your tongue relax. Warning! This must not be done loudly! Allow the tone to resonate down behind and below your tongue. Now bring your tongue back into your mouth. Open your mouth, choose a slightly higher pitch and sustain an �Ah.� Repeat these two steps alternately several times, until you notice a more relaxed, fuller and resonance to your voice. This will take about two minutes or a bit more.

Myth #2
�I need to find out what my limitations are.� I have heard this so many times from singers it makes me sick � well, at least it makes me sad. Why can�t it be: �I want to find out what is my real potential�?

Most people have far more potential than they realize or have ever been encouraged to believe. If you don�t know there�s a way to accomplish a goal, chances are it�s easier to believe it�s not possible. For this reason I created my vocal warm-up CD and the �Contemporary Vocalist� book and CD series. There are a number of details that go into physically correct exercising of your voice while still allowing you to have your own identity as a singer. This achievement is what motivated my research and for which I designed my method of voice training.

In my next vocal tips I�ll cover another myth and suggestion on improving your vocal range and why it is that the terms �Chest Voice,� �Head Voice� and �Falsetto� can be confusing and limit your potential as a singer.

All the best,
Jeannie Deva