Things To Consider On How To Increase Your Vocal Range

So, you want to increase your vocal range. Before you can do that there are several prerequisites.

First, it is helpful to identify your natural voice type and tessitura. Tessitura is your comfortable range; the portion of your range in which you can sing the notes consistently, on-pitch, and without tension. If you’ve been singing for a while you possibly have a good idea of your voice type and tessitura.

When working to increase your range, it is also significant to understand vocal resonance. The highest pitches resonate in your frontal sinuses, behind your forehead. Consider the tone as coming out the top of your head. Medium to high pitches throb in the nasopharynx or mask; imagine these as coming from the top of your nose.

Medium to low pitches swing in the mouth and throat; the lowest pitches in the chest cavity. They should have a warm, rich tone. When moving shuttle-wise your range, try to keep the tone as smooth as you can be. Think of your tone as riding in an elevator, and your breath as the mechanism that makes the elevator ascend and descend.

Expanding Your Upper Range

The key is breath support, combined with use of your upper resonance. If you try to sing higher notes from just your throat without adequate breath support, the result is vocal pressure. If you do that too many times you could cause permanent damage.

Upper resonance is often cited to as your “head voice.” You want the sound to resonate in your frontal sinuses; imagine it as coming from the triangle between your eyes and the bridge of your nose. You should feel vibration in your sinuses and the roof of your mouth (soft palate). If you are just learning how to use your upper resonance, sing lightly. DON’T try to force the sound or belt out your notes.

A variation on this exercise, which also helps with breath control and tone placement, is the “buzz-slide”. It uses a technique that goes by many names: buzz, bubble-lips, lip roll. After a good deep inhalation with good expansion, exhale through loosely puckered lips so that they vibrate. When doing the buzz, try to feel the vibration in your nose and sinuses. As with the yawn-slide, commence at the top of your range and slide to the bottom.

Expanding Your Lower Range

Adding low notes requires using your chest voice. “Chest voice” is known as that because the chest where you feel vibration (resonance) when producing tones in that pitch range.

The resonance is not really occurring in your chest, even though you perceive it there. It’s actually going on in your throat and mouth. The vibration you feel is the result of air moving from your lungs and throughout your vocal folds. Everyone uses the chest voice for normal speaking.

If you feel bagging or creaky sensations as you descend the scale, they’re probably the result of tension. Pause and do some relaxation exercises for your face and neck. Gently massage your face and throat, then try again. As you descend the range, close your mouth slightly from its commencing position.

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