The common assumption in singing that the voice does not move smoothly and evenly from the lowest note to the highest, is just that—an assumption. You’ve probably experience a feeling that within your singing range, some areas operate differently than other regions. These areas are often referred to as “registers” of the voice. They basically sit adjacent to each other when laid out on a piano and will have a transition point located where we move from one register to the next. As for how many registers a voice has, there is no consensus, and nor is there a consensus on what to call them.
Most of us will have heard of the simple division into “chest voice” and “head voice,” with a section in-between called “middle voice” oftentimes referred to as the “mix voice”. Some industry professionals prefer a more expansive model that divides the voice into six ranges: extreme low, low, middle, high, very high and extreme high.
But there is what is termed our singing range, namely the range which is neither extreme low nor extreme high, give or take the limitations of gender, male or female in both extremes. Extreme registers therefore are characterized by, a) the inability to sing (whistle is not singing!), and b) the inability to articulate words. As such, they are part of our full vocal range, but not part of our singing range.
Having said that, registers for both male and female are divided up in areas called “passaggios” or “bridges”. In these specific areas, in all likelihood, you sense discomfort or a buildup of tension and pressure, requiring a change in singing posture. Proper vocal technique, however, allows us to eventually navigate these passages with ease. You’re going to be surprised to find how effective a few voice lessons will be for you.
Don’t try to run before you can walk, however.
Sounds a bit cliché, I know, but I had to throw that into this article because, sadly, this industry is riddled with artists who will want to run at the first opportunity they get, without giving it a second thought. They’re in a hurry, so to speak. But I suppose it is understandable, what with computer software readily available in recording studios nowadays, to correct pitch and auto-tune outright bad vocals. But hey, if you’re the kind of person that takes pride in actually being able to hit the notes without a little bit of help from your producer, not to mention, IF you want to be able to perform your songs live in concert, without resorting to “playbacks or prerecorded vocals”, then this will be exactly what you’re looking for. Get the training to build your vocal range for both studio recording and performance on live sets. For more information on how to get started, be sure to get in touch with me.
I hope you got value from this article and learned something new. As always, you can send me any questions through the contact info in blog header. You are invited to share this page to Facebook or any other preferred social media site so that others can also benefit from this article. It will also help us spread the word of Joett Voice Studio, too. Thank you. Download Joett Vocal Drills Vol. 1-7 here!