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Expert: - 4/23/2008


Question
Hi, My name is Tandile Tshangela from South Africa, I am just a pop singer, i hope you wont mind helping me. You asked me to ask my question because I had selected the private option before, sorry for that. Please note that there are two parts to my question.



Part 1: I am very confused with my singing right now, I started singing a year ago and a few weeks ago i met a vocal teacher who told me I am a lyric baritone. It made a lot of sense cause my voice was always just deeper than most pop singers. The thing is my voice sounds SO MUCH BETTER when i sing almost as a tenor rather than a baritone but i feel a bit more strain, not pain though, than when I sing baritone but it just sounds way much better.

The thing is, im wondering if i may be deteriorating my voice by doing so. But now Im trying to 'mix' the sound of a lyric baritone but sound just like a tenor at the same time..Please advise me, please im desperate!!



Part 2: I know what Im about to say will sound extraodinary and a lot of people wouldn't believe me. I actually can seeing in whistle/flageolet register. I know its a very sensitive subject and a lot of these terms are misused by people outside of operatic/classical music. But here is the extraodinary part, the lowest I sing is F2, the F two octaves below middle C, and my highest is F8, the F four octaves above the middle C. Yes i know, its shocking, even I dont believe most of the time and i have to prove it to myself time and time again. I realise that its higher than the world record for highest vocal note by a male singer. You might be concerned how I measure my notes, first of all I use a program called Audacity, before i trusted it, i would sing a whistle note from a Mariah Carey song and record it and make sure it sounds identical and measure it with the program and it would tell me the actual note that I had researched about the Mariah carey song. According to these notes, I have a 6 octave vocal range, that sounds crazy and i dont tell people about it cause it sounds fake, even if it could be real but its just too much to just tell anyone. By perfomance, my vocal range is 4.5 octaves which is F2 to B6, notes in the seventh octave are not easy to fit into a song without sounding too awkward and faint and people wouldnt here my notes in the 8th octave unless they come closer to me AND i have a microphone for amplification.

I would just like you to comment about the information I've just given you, I just want to hear your point of view about my vocal range.

Answer
Hello, Tandile –

Thank you for the question.

All my baritones exercise to a fully-voiced and balanced High A-flat, some go higher.  My pop tenors sing to a fully-voiced and balanced D above High C, some go higher.  The "pop vocalist" can opt to sing much lighter because they will always perform with a microphone.  Unlike the Classical or Musical Theatre performer they do not audition for specific roles written for a specific vocal category in an unplugged situation.  Nevertheless, the tenor voice will always be distinguishable from the baritone's.

As far as all the other sounds that fly out of your mouth – so what?  It is far more ordinary than you may realize.  The only time such noise will ever mean anything is when you or someone else writing for you can compose marketable material which incorporates it.

I am a professional singing teacher and vocal coach in San Francisco.  Whenever you come to the Bay Area, contact me through Craig's List –
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/lss/639441046.html

Take a look at my You Tubes:
Lorena Feijóo - A Look at "Giselle" with Seán Martinfield
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I am also the fine arts critc for the San Francisco Sentinel.  Below are some links to recent articles and reviews:

BERNARD LABADIE & HAYDN – This Week At the San Francisco Symphony
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VETERAN SERVICE PROVIDER PATTI CARLISE WED AT EPICENTER OF SAN FRANCISCO’S HEART
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HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL – At the Orpheum, San Francisco
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TANGO EVOLUTION – At the Palace of Fine Arts Theater, April 19th – 22nd
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SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY – Clarinetist Carey Bell Featured in Mozart’s Concerto in A major, April 16th – 18th
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CHERYL BURKE DANCE – Dancing with Gavin and Jennifer
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CHERYL BURKE RESCUES THE METRONOME BALLROOM
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DALE CHIHULY – Lighting-Up At The de Young
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At the Asian Art Museum – DRAMA AND DESIRE
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ANNIE LEIBOVITZ – On her show at the Legion of Honor
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SWEENEY TODD – PRIME CUTS FROM DIRECTOR TIM BURTON
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ANITA COCKTAIL and LEANNE BORGHESI – A 3-Way Dialogue
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NORMA SHEARER in “MARIE ANTOINETTE” – At the Legion of Honor
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Best regards,
Seán Martinfield

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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