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Acting in Plays, Singing/Please help me discover and expand my vocal range

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Expert: - 9/10/2009


Question
Hi! I am 17 and a high school senior preparing for auditions at MT schools this winter...and I don't know what my vocal range is. Now don't panic, I'm not completely naive or inexperienced. I've taken acting and dance classes and I've performed in every high school production, musical theatre camp, and community theater I could get my hands on. I've sung in choirs and choral competitions but I won't be starting professional voice lessons until the end of the month. I know I'm behind but I have a good voice. I'm an alto, not a belter, but I can get there. That's where you come in.

I need some tips, first on how to discover my vocal range myself so when my voice teacher asks I won't sound so... hopeless. Second, could you give me some tips on expanding whatever my range is? I need all the help I can get. I have a slight aversion to high notes so I'm keeping to low song suggestions for audition pieces (like "Someone Else's Story" from Chess for my ballad and "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" from One Touch of Venus)

However, I recently played Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors and did well on the belt notes in "Suddenly Seymour" with bronchitis mind you. (I actually missed school and performed anyway!) If you would be so kind as to watch my performances on youtube, that might give you some idea of how to help me. If not, advice, criticisms, and/or simple voice exercises I could do would be cherished advice. Feel free to email me anytime. Thank you so much for your consideration!

I've included the links to the youtube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwrV61JV3LI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNThsG7DQQo

Answer
Hey, Cynthia –

Thank you for the question.

Nice job on the LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS videos. I hear the effects of bronchitis on your vocals, but it was a fine job anyway.

The role of “Audrey” is that of a mezzo-soprano. The standard (or expected) range of a mezzo-soprano is the two-octave stretch between Low A and High A.  All my mezzo-sopranos – including those who identify themselves as alto/belters – exercise from at least Low G to High B, some go higher and lower. It all happens through the vocal workout I give them, which includes a series of complex scales.

Speaking in treble clef, many mezzos experience a shift or “break” in their voice somewhere between 2nd-space A and 3rd-space C# – most, generally in-between, on 3rd-line B. The goal with vocal training is to learn how to maneuver around, above and below that area to achieve a balanced sound, i.e., free of breaks and noticeable shifts. In other words, you should be able to sing a completely balanced 8-tone scale from 1st-space F to 5th-line F.

Again, that happens through scale work. My job as a professional vocal coach is to show you how to do that. Once you know how to access and control your upper register you won’t have an “aversion” to high notes – because you won’t be afraid of them. Simple.

The voice is not divided into separate hemispheres marked “head voice” and “chest voice”. You must conceive the vocal range as being one seamless column. How you access all those different notes in all those various areas within the course of one song is called “placement”. Again, my job is to teach you how. Your job is to become the most informed musician and the most disciplined singer you know.

I am a professional singing teacher and vocal coach in San Francisco.  When you want to book an appointment, contact me through Craig's List. This week’s connection is: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/lss/1378532012.html  I am also the Editor and Publisher of www.SanFranciscoSentinel.com.  All my articles and interviews about the Performing Arts provide a link to my personal e-mail.

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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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