Average speed of increasing vocal COMFORT range? - 2007/12/06 17:54When you (general) started voice lessons--and this question is mostly for females, though males are free to answer--how quickly did your vocal comfort range expand? How long did it take you to get those high G's, A's, and then the high C or above and not have to strain your voice during the songs (not just warmups)?
I'm asking because I feel that I am progressing slowly. I've had voice lessons for 6 months with a great voice teacher, and I currently classify myself as a soprano, most likely lyric. In some songs, I am able to reach the high A, but usually I can't. I am getting better with the high F's and G's, but sometimes I still struggle with them...on a good day, I can sing high G's with virtually no problem, however.
Am I not practicing enough, or is this relatively normal?
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
Annie
User Supporting Player
Posts: 260
Karma: 6
Re:Average speed of increasing vocal COMFORT range? - 2007/12/06 19:02I was able to get there really fast, but everyone's voice is different. I have to keep up on my scales or I'll lose the ease and clarity after a while.
Now when trying to expand my lower range, that's a different story. It's a really slow process for me.
A lot of it is about what's already there for you naturally. I obviously have a naturally high range, but my lower range takes work. Just give yourself time, don't push it. You can't rush anything or you'll just make it harder on your voice.~Annie Recently: Pick-A-Little-Lady (The Music Man), Miss Thorn (Ruthless! the Musical), Emma Carew (Jekyll & Hyde)
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
triplethreat
Admin Admin
Posts: 1192
Karma: 24
Re:Average speed of increasing vocal COMFORT range - 2007/12/06 20:41Annie's answer pretty much covers it - I would just like to add that you should NOT judge the quality of your voice on how high you can sing.
I have met many singers on my travels who pride themselves on being able to "hit" some very high notes. Unfortunately, their voices are so awful (nasal, poor vowel formation, etc) that it couldn't possibly make a difference.
Not everyone is capable of hitting a high C, but there are many very successful performers who can't. Continue to work your range, but concentrate on what you CAN do, not what you can't. Make those notes that are within your reach as beautiful as you can, because that is what makes you a good singer._____________ Kris MTA Admin
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
Shannon
User Supporting Player
Posts: 117
Karma: 2
Re:Average speed of increasing vocal COMFORT range - 2007/12/06 23:17I've gone up to a C#6 in warmups, and I have the timbre of a lyric soprano (though I am only about 19, so this could change?)...so, idk, I just feel like either I'm not working hard enough or I'm developing very slowly. My goal note is to eventually be able to sing an E6, because that's the note many sopranos seem to stop their ranges at (including my mother, back when she went to music school).
i know the E6 won't be happening any time soon, but I would like to get high A's and possibly a high B down before the summer begins. Hopefully this is a realistic goal. I'm practicing my high notes (stopping if it starts to hurt, of course) - i.e., F's and G's - as much as possible right now so I can ready myself for the next-highest notes.
It's also difficult when I sing in a choir that often has high G's and A's on the soprano part of the song. Depending on the song, I might be comfortable with that (though the high A is pushing it a little), but I'd like to have those notes down soon. I was talking with a soprano last year who, when I said that G's were hard for me, told me that the high G isn't very high at all for sopranos. My mom told me the same thing.
I think I have my vocal quality in my comfort zone down pretty well; it's the expansion of that comfort zone while maintaining quality (not sounding like I'm screeching) that I am trying to achieve.
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
Annie
User Supporting Player
Posts: 260
Karma: 6
Re:Average speed of increasing vocal COMFORT range - 2007/12/07 01:58I think that you may be putting too much pressure on yourself. Are you wanting to hit an E6 to sing arias or opera, by any chance? I realize that my exposure to musicals is limited in comparison to many others on here, but I don't ever having to sing anything with a note above C6, which is rare, let alone an E6.
There are a lot of sopranos that I've worked with that can barely hit anything above the staff. When I was in Joseph a few summers ago there were only three of us that could hit the high soprano notes (we were lovingly referred to as the high note junkies )in "Jacob and Sons/Joseph's Coat." Not every soprano has the same range.
Here is something I found on Wikipedia (this seems to match up with the chart of ranges I have saved on another computer): A soprano is a singer with a voice range from approximately middle C (C4) to "high A" (A5) in choral music, or to "soprano C" (C6, two octaves above middle C) or higher in operatic music.
Based on what else I found (it's missing citations so it may not be 100% accurate), you could be a lyric mezzo-soprano: A mezzo-soprano (meaning "medium" or "middle" "soprano" in Italian) is a female singer whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3-A5 in scientific pitch notation, where middle C = C4). A lyric mezzo-soprano has a higher, and sometimes lighter mezzo voice. Can have a range up to or above high C (C6).~Annie Recently: Pick-A-Little-Lady (The Music Man), Miss Thorn (Ruthless! the Musical), Emma Carew (Jekyll & Hyde)
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
alouette
User Chorus Member
Posts: 22
Karma: 1
Re:Average speed of increasing vocal COMFORT range - 2007/12/09 21:03E6 was Leontyne Price's top note, and she was one of the greatest operatic sopranos of the twentieth century. It's definitely possible for an eighteen-year-old to reach an E6; I had to do it for my school musical last year. But the thing is that it is not a note that is naturally in many sopranos' voices. It happens to be in mine, but I don't sing it regularly, and it's not a note I would have attempted to hit if I had not had to sing "The Phantom of the Opera." Even if you listen to operatic sopranos singing E6s, they're generally not that strong or full.
If it were me, my goal would be a strong, confident note one step above the highest comfortable note in my range (in your case, the A). For me, moving up one note every month or so was realistic, but my voice is pretty mature. I actually regret not moving more slowly, because I'm only just now gaining confidence on high As and Bs.
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
Jessica
User Chorus Member
Posts: 71
Karma: 0
Re:Average speed of increasing vocal COMFORT range - 2007/12/19 19:04I totally agree with Kris, don't judge on how high you can go. It really varies from person to person. I'm 12, and I have a pretty wide range (D3-E6), I think I can go that high because I'm going though puberty though.Jessica
Currently: Alice in Wonderland Jr. - Understudy for all characters
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
Favorite Shows: Young Frankenstein, Curtains, Little Shop of Horrors, The Producers Dream Roles that I have NO CHANCE of Getting Because of Something i Have no control over: Ulla from the Producers or Inga from Young Frankenstein (neither tall nor blonde - such a shame too, because this is one of my favorite "character roles" to play), Igor from Young Frankenstein (i'm no man, no matter how many times i play one), Gary Coleman from Avenue Q (skin color) SEEING ON MARCH 29TH ON BROADWAY - YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN ^^ AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
mslexy403
User Chorus Member
Posts: 65
Karma: 0
Re:Average speed of increasing vocal COMFORT range - 2008/02/06 10:51Well i've never seen a thread about one little note! I compltely agree with Annie. Unless you're looking to be an opera singer, an E6 is extremely high for musical theatre. And again, just because you can go high doesn't make you the best singer in the world! I'm sure you have a great tone especially if you've been working with a voice teacher. Story time? A girl who graduated frommy school about fifteen years ago came and sang to our chorus classes. She's made it. She made it to broadway and toured nationally with Bombay Dreams as Priya. She's amazing. She auditioned for Les Miserables about three times before it closed. She looks like the part of eponine but sings like cosette. This was always a problem for her. She, honestly, has one of the best voices i've ever heard. She came to work with some of us in Les Mis and when she was working with my friend on "On My Own" she told us that she couldn't even hit those low notes. So, my point. Just because you can't get so high, or low, doesn't mean you're not going to be a fantastic singer. Go as far as you can go, but don't push farthur. It could end up hurting you in the end."If life seems jolly rotten, there's something you've forgotten. And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing"
Currently: Nothing! So sad..
Favorite Roles: Cosette in Les Miserables
Dream Roles: Lady of the Lake (Spamalot), Val (A Chorus Line), Millie Dillmount (Thoroughly Modern Mille)
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
Shannon
User Supporting Player
Posts: 117
Karma: 2
Re:Average speed of increasing vocal COMFORT range - 2008/02/09 14:02I actually am more interested in opera than musical theatre, mostly because I think my voice is more operatic than musical theatre ...though, idk, maybe I just make my voice too heavy.
I didn't know people were still posting in this thread! Lol, I'm no longer really worried. I can do high A's in songs now after I've warmed up; they're not strong, but they're still there, and I did a high C that was pretty much effortless in warmups about a week or two ago. I hadn't realized it was anywhere near a high C until my voice teacher told me so.
idk if I said this earlier in the thread, but mostly I just want the high E because I want the RANGE to be able to sing Glitter and Be Gay lol. sounds dumb, but there you go. I don't even know if my voice is agile enough to sing it correctly...sounds like a really trivial reason to want that note, but I just want the knoledge there that if my voice ends up agile enough, I could sing that song (as it's one of my favorites)
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
)in "Jacob and Sons/Joseph's Coat." Not every soprano has the same range. 
