How Do I Increase My Range and Hit The High Notes?

 

Almost every Singer at some point asks this question because they have come face to face a limitation in their current range.

 

In today’s contemporary musical world hearing Artists with a high range is the norm.  Yet most people have a real challenge achieving that, at least with ease and with consistency.  The solution to dramatically increasing our range is to recognize how your mind and body instrument works.

 

How do we approach this?

 

There were different schools of thought on this.  Three main ones in my mind.  That’s a lot.   So how will I know what is best for me?

 

You can relax.  I say that a lot to people.  And they do :).

 

Let’s explore and see what resonates with you best.  I think then you’ll feel what might be the way that fits you.

 

Let me first tell you a story about the old Classical school,  then a more ‘modern’ approach.

You don’t need to understand any of this if you don’t want to.   However, some of you wish to understand how Vocalists are doing what they do.  The history of it.  And you want to make an educated decision.

First, there was the OLD school…the traditional or ‘Classical’ school of vocalizing.    Think Pavarotti.  Think Opera.

 

The old school obviously produced and produces some great vocalists.  Though it doesn’t really suit modern singing styles.  It can sound ‘old’.  It doesn’t sound contemporary.  But still very beautiful !!!

 

The traditional school ( Classical and Opera ) treats your instrument as one continuous register.

 

The challenge with the traditional ( Opera, Classical ) approach is that it usually takes a long time ( years ) to increase your range by just a few notes. With the traditional approach basically either you have it or you don’t… and most don’t. The great news for us is that there is a more effective and easier way.

 

Then came a more modern ( in the 1970’s ) ‘Register’ approach which looks at different registers within the human voice.  For example, the high notes are one register.  The low notes are a completely different part of the instrument, and as such approached differently.   Think Steve Wonder.  Awesome!

When I started teaching the register approach 15 years ago,  suddenly we could easily get to all those notes that were out of reach.  It felt like a magic breakthrough.  No more decades of study.  Yay!    And it sure helped people like Stevie Wonder.

 

 

Who uses the register approach?

 

Popular artists from Stevie Wonder to Diana Ross to Al Jarreau… from Michael Bolton to Madonna.  It isn’t ALL they use, but some say it helped them a lot.  At the time this Register approach was the cool secret to hitting high notes and increasing range.

 

At the end of this article I’ll tell you more about what myself and my favourite coaches, in Los Angeles and Europe are using now ( it isn’t the Register approach, or the Traditional approach ).

 

So how do I effortlessly hit the high notes?

 

Teachers who teach this register technique will teach you simple, even silly sounding exercises called Lip Rolls and Tongue Trills to activate the singer’s upper registers.

Try this…

First: Sing a low note with your chesty early ‘first thing in the morning’ voice…Ahhhh.  Place your hand on your chest as you do this and feel the chest resonate.

This is your chest register.

Second: Place your hand on the back of your head and tone a very high hooty ‘Hooooo’ sound like an Owl would make. Did you feel the resonance on the back of your head? This is your head register. The discovery of the head register is a secret many artists raved about.

 

Because for the first time they were able to sing high.  Like Elton John.

Note that this is not the same as falsetto, that airy/breathy sound where the vocal cords don’t close completely.  Which is wonderful for some things.  A pure head register doesn’t sound airy.

 

 

Their ‘secret’… The secret to full, rich and effortless high notes ( as well as very high notes ) was learning how to combine ( or ‘Mix ) the chest register with the head register in the same note. This theoretically gave your sound the richness and depth of the chest sound with the extended range and freedom of the head sound…both at the same time…in the same high note!

 

If I knew 30 years ago what I knew then I would have have run, not walked, to the phone book to find a teacher that could teach me how to activate my registers.  I feel blessed to have learned them.

 

I’m glad you took the time to read about the one more modern way that people learned to get the high notes.  It helps to understand what is possible for you today.

Since writing this article  there is also an even more effective way to sing the high notes that makes them very rich and full sounding.  I call it the ‘Fabulous Singing’ Method.   This is what Mick learned, and you can can read his story.

 

In the programs we do, students enjoy singing not some, but ALL of the high notes.

 

They tell me reaching their high notes feels like water flowing from a waterfall….  easy and relaxed.

 

It gives songs an effortless natural and authentic feeling.

Here is an article about how your vocal cords work behind the scenes which is helpful to understand…’Meet Your Vocal Cords!‘