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Acting in Plays, Singing/How to hit those high notes for a chorus in my High School Play
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Hello, I'm 15 and currently I'm a Bass with a range from the C sharp below the bass staff to the E flat above the bass staff. Now a little info about my voice. I can belt up to the first E on the treble step but, I think it would be considered more of a yell then a belt. For the bottom notes, I get airy around the D before double low C and the E flat is the lowest comfortable note. For the higher notes the B right below middle C is the top of my basic singing range before I start to belt it out. middle C and the D above it I belt. My middle range is from the F right below the Bass staff to about the B right above the bass staff.
Now, I just recently joined two singing heavy activities in school, one is Bye Bye Birdie where I'm a chorus singer and an Understudy for someone that will most likely be out of my range and the second is a Cabaret sort of thing where we sing a bunch of different popular Broadway songs. Now in Bye Bye Birdie the opening chorus number is the Telephone Hour and the supposed "Bass Part" goes much to high for me. It goes at the highest, to the first space F on the treble line. Now, a Tenor has been helping me with it but I can never match my voice because his is very different from mine because obviously we're two different vocal types. And I can't get much help out of the other bass (yes there are only two basses in the play) with it because he has a more dramatic voice while I'm more lyrical, so he basically starts straining at the G to the C where I'm comfotable at. So, Is there any possible way I can hit the F because It's rather frustrating hearing the rest of the boys hit that note while I'm singing three notes lower. The choir director also wants us to do it in full voice and not falsetto I did it in Falsetto and he basically yelled at me and told me to sing it the octave lower which is not at all as fun.
Hi, Robert –
Thanks for the question.
For a year now I've been working with a bass who is a bit younger than you. His lower range stuff is similar to yours except a half-step lower and he has now secured his High F, i.e., two octaves plus a major third. As with all of my other clients, he can demonstrate a series of two-octave scales throughout this range without breaking or slipping into falsetto. You need to learn to do the same. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area I will teach you how.
Your choir director obviously knows that basses and tenors do not share the same range of notes when it comes time to sing a solo. A fully-voiced High F is a walk in the park for a true tenor because they can sing a major fifth above that to High C. But for a true bass, a fully-voiced High F is analogous to the tenor's High B-flat or B – it's at the very top of his range. The sounds are not the same.
BYE BYE BIRDIE is not Grand Opera. It's a very standard musical comedy, and easily sung when all the right voice types are cast in each of the roles.
If you don't have a strong High F now, you probably won't have one by opening night. So what? Just sing it very light and conversationally without breaking into falsetto. If that's not good enough for the Director – I guess he'll just have to fire you. So what? Being in the ensemble of BYE BYE BIRDIE is being in the ensemble of BYE BYE BIRDIE. Right now, thousands of other high schools across the country and around the globe are doing it too.
Assuming you are a true bass – your job is to become the most outstanding bass the school has ever heard. That won't happen with you wasting your time and busting your balls in BYE BYE BIRDIE.
Assuming you are envisioning entering a world class Music Conservatory such as the one we have here in San Francisco – then you must spend your time learning the concert repertoire assigned to the Bass voice and get yourself as many solo community gigs as possible so you can exploit your unusual talents. Your most important job is to maintain a grade average that will garner you the maximum in scholarship money.
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Answers by Expert:
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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