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Hi,
I'm 16 and I sing tenor in my school choir. I have a pretty good range I think but I don't know how to use it. I can comfortably sing up to an E right above middle c but I have to push for eveything after that. My G above middle is atrocious but I can easily octave it up. I use proper breathing (I think. I'm 99% sure I do.)Idk what it could be that makes my range all stupid. Lol. I can't go particularly low without sounding grumbly. Idk what I should do to fix this. I am Doody in Grease and I have a few songs that float around the F# - A area and I'd really like to be able to full voice them instead of using my falsetto because it doesn't sound too full at the lower notes. I've been practicing singing higher songs and I full voiced some pretty high stuff but I feel like I'm screaming and I'm going to damage my voice.
Thanks in advance
Hello, Barry –
Thank you for the question.
Hi, Barry –
Thank you for the question.
Part of my job as a professional vocal coach is to correctly identify your vocal category. Once that is established, the training begins. The notes and range and various problems you mention are not uncommon among young singers. But the information you have provided is not enough to establish your category, i.e., tenor, baritone, bass. Such an important determination needs to happen in person.
Speaking in treble clef – the language of the vast majority of popular sheet music – it’s not unusual for un-trained baritones and bass-baritones to experience adjustment problems around the 4th-space E and the transition to High G. All my baritones and bass-baritones exercise up to at least High A, some go higher. Their lower registers extend from Low G down to Low E-flat, some go lower. By contrast, all my tenors sing to at least High C, most go higher. And it’s never about breaking into falsetto. For all of them, the goal is to demonstrate a balanced tone from the lowest to the highest note. That is accomplished through a daily vocal workout which includes a variety of complex scales. You need to learn how to do the same. A singer is a musician. You must learn how to play your instrument – your particular instrument. Again, that means knowing your vocal category. Practicing “higher songs” is not the way to develop and maintain your upper register.
School choirs are all about blending. Very often the ensemble is composed of members who are not necessarily singing in their true vocal range. You, for example. If you are a natural tenor, then you should have a fully-voiced High F# before breakfast.
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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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