Developing Our Full Vocal Range

Greetings,                                                                                  

   One of the many things that has really been exciting for me in exploring and developing my own voice over the past 3 years is discovering how much vocal range most of us have. Most of us probably have much more range in our voices than we ever dreamed possible. Generally we tend to speak and sing in a certain (limited) part of our voice.  The first singing teacher that I had lessons with for a short time 3 years ago, immediately classified my voice as Soprano because, at that point, I couldn't dip down into any low or chest range notes at all. In fact, with most of the songs that I wanted to sing, he (the teacher) had to raise the pitch of the songs so that I could sing them in my "soprano" voice. The problem with that approach is that my voice felt weak: it would "crack" as I was trying to sing. It just felt like there was no "body" or substance to my voice. I certainly couldn't get any volume except by really straining and pushing.

From there, I found a teacher with a background of Speech Level Singing. This is a technique which does really emphasize the development of and connection with chest voice. So I spent the next many months exploring and developing my low, chest voice range. Now I just love singing songs in my deep, low voice. It feels incredibly powerful and stable. That is a voice I didn't even have 3 years ago! Or at least I didn't know I had it and certainly had no idea how to access it prior to practicing this technique.

 I do still love playing with sounds and songs that move into my high or head voice, but now that I do have that connection with my deep voice, even my high voice is much stronger and more stable -- capable of much more volume with no strain.

So...just wanted to share this to illustrate what is possible (at any age!!)

The link below will take you to a You Tube video of Pam Gerrand (from Stratford, Ont.) who has an amazing vocal range -- from deep and earthy to very ethereal. I've heard her perform in person and her live performance is even more striking. She has a voice and vocal range that reaches into the depths of my Soul!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHbXW-WQUmY

And one more link to Michael Goodrich who has been doing some fascinating exploration of the connections between brain and singing. In the Mindset portion of this video, he explores the challenges of moving out of our comfort zone and into our full vocal range. Worth watching!

http://www.goodrichvocal.com/videos/weekly-tools-week-4.html

Til next time,

Barbara