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Acting in Plays, Singing/older singers can't reach the high notes like they used to

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Expert: - 11/19/2008


Question
Do you know why is it harder or downright impossible for singers to reach the really high notes as they get older, into their 50's and beyond? Does something happen to the voice box or vocal cords to cause this? Thanks

Answer
Hey, Lee!

GREAT question.  Thank you.

Inasmuch as I choose not to discuss the quality of body parts – the best way for me to answer you is through personal experience, both as a professional singer and vocal coach.

My career ambitions demanded expert training.  I sang opera and lots of related classical literature.  I know what it means to maintain a daily vocal workout before reviewing or learning anything I would present to a ticket-paying audience.  That went on for 20 years.  These days, when I am invited to perform something I want to perform in the kind of circumstances that turn me on – then I stop everything else that's going on in my life and return to my former routine of working out my voice two to three hours every day.

I teach my clients how to acquire and then maintain the same set of marketable skills.  How much time they devote to their practice every week is up to them.  Whatever – I know what it feels like to get ready for an audition.

I am constantly demonstrating scales.  My clients range in age from 6 to 82.  Given the appropriate audition opportunity, the youngest and the oldest could knock out a worthy High F in whatever material I've helped them to present.  Obviously, the audition notice said something to the effect of:  WANTED – one 6-year-old and one 82-year-old with a solid High F.
The producers probably have certain expectations about who may or may not show up, and how they will sound.  My clients know how to compete against whoever else shows up.  Including the 10-year-old who says he can pass for 6.

In other words, that High F is all in relationship to the material, to the personal and commercial Image, along with the circumstances and the kind of voice that needs to convey that song and its High F in a certain sort of way.  Otherwise, why would you sing a High F in public?  

That's my experience.

I am a professional singing teacher and vocal coach in San Francisco.  When you want to come sing for me, contact me through Craig's List – http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/lss/914262689.html
I am also the fine arts critc for SanFranciscoSentinel.com.  All my articles and interviews provide a link to my personal e-mail.

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Acting in Plays, Singing

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Sean Martinfield

Expertise

I am a professional vocal coach in San Francisco. In addition to answers from a previous web site (Askme.com - where my "tag" was "VocalCoach") I have published over 2000 responses related to vocal training - particularly as it relates to Musical Theatre and Opera. I have 24 years of experience as Personal Trainer to singers and actors in the San Francisco Bay Area. I sang professionally for 20 years and know what it means to live the life of a musician. I can determine your voice category, i.e., Tenor, Baritone, Bass, Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto, Alto Belter, etc., and how to broaden and strengthen your range. Need an audition song for a Broadway Musical? I will give you suggestions that are appropriate to your vocal category and to requirements specified in the audition notice. I have also created a vocal methodology, "The Belter`s Method". It will enable those in Musical Theatre to practice more efficiently because it focuses on the demands of professional performers as well as to those auditioning for school and community productions, and as University and Conservatory performing arts majors. If what you want is a better voice and more control over your career moves and choices, contact me. Also, as the Editor of SanFranciscoSentinel.com, it is my privilege to review productions at the San Francisco Opera, Ballet and Symphony, as well as Broadway National Tours booked into San Francisco's Orpheum, Golden Gate and Curran Theatres. I also review works by A.C.T (the American Conservatory Theatre) and Magic Theatre. I cover select films, tributes and retrospects, and various international film festivals – particulary those booked into The City's opulent Castro Theatre – including the LGBT Frameline Festival, International Film Festival, Silent Film Festival, Jewish Film Festival, etc. For private vocal instruction, I can be contacted through SanFranciscoSentinel.com. Look under: Seán Martinfield, Sentinel Editor and Publisher.

Experience

As a vocal coach, I work primarily with singers and actors throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. My students range from absolute beginners to working professionals, from pre-schoolers to senior citizens. The vast majority of my clients come to me through recommendation. I know how to identify any singer's vocal category, i.e., soprano, tenor, alto, baritone, etc. I know how to muscle-up every singer's vocal range and to expand it beyond conventional definitions. I have developed a vocal methodology for those who want to know how to belt, THE BELTER'S METHOD. As a singer who spent half of his career doing Bel Canto, I know that classical or Italian methodologies do not work in Standard American music. Bel Canto cannot be "adapted" to meet the needs of contemporary American music, including the demands of the Musical Theatre. There are a number of major components to my work as a vocal coach. The first is to identify the client's vocal category and to strengthen and maximize the vocal range accordingly. Then it's about teaching a reliable vocal workout that will enable the client to gain better control of their musicianship. That includes scale work to expand the vocal range and to improve placement, breath control, and diction. Then we work on material for the audition portfolio, the immediate job or assignment, a recording session, etc. My task to is to better equip singers and actors who are hoping to or relying upon their performance skills and vocal endurance to maintain a career in the Performing Arts. My clients regularly appear in cabarets and musical productions throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Some have worked in New York and gone on National Tours. For more information, Contact me at: Broadwaybelters@yahoo.com

Education/Credentials
San Francisco State University – BA in Theatre Arts; graduate work in Theatre, Philosophy, and Comparative Reiligion. Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley – Graduate work in Ethics

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