One of the questions I get often about singing is “How do you increase your vocal range?” We all want to sing higher and lower and that is one of the key ways to improving your voice.
Things That Get in the Way of You Improving
There are three main culprits that get in the way of us increasing our vocal range.
- Tension – One of the big barriers to our vocal range is tension. Tense muscles push on your vocal chords limiting your vocal range. When you can relax you will find it easier to hit your notes.
- Your Mental Game – A lot of singing comes down to your mental game. When you tell yourself that you can’t reach those high notes you make it harder to sing.
- Practice – Increasing your vocal range take lots of practice and repetition. If you aren’t singing those high and low notes regularly you won’t be able to reach them. You should be working on your vocal range daily in order to increase and improve your vocal range. If you aren’t practicing it won’t get better.
Exercises to Improve Your Vocal Range
- Relaxing Your Body – Relaxing when you sing will help your body to be able to support your sound. Start off your vocal practice with stretches, massaging your shoulders and correcting your posture. Choirs often start practice by everyone taking turns massaging the shoulders of the person in front of you. It may sound weird but it really does help you to get ready to sing.
- Mental Game – A common mistake people make is tensing up on their high notes. An image I think of when singing is to imagine the sensation of falling backwards into a pool of water. You can also imagine the sensation of falling into bed after a very hard and long day. Think of an image where every muscle in your body relaxes. When your body in relaxed you won’t be fighting the process of singing higher.
- Falling – When we go higher there is a natural tendency for us to tense up and strain towards the note. Instead imagine that the note is lower by bending at the waist as you go higher. You will often see singers do this from Beyonce, Mariah Carey, and Ariana Grande. With the higher notes they will bend at the waist and knees as well as plug one of their ears. Bending down gives the sensation of falling and helps them not to tense up. It also puts pressure of their diaphragm muscles gives them access to more air for the notes. As they plug their ear it helps them hear their pitch so they can sing on tune.
- The Lip Buzz – One of the favorite exercises with vocal coaches is usually the lip buzz. The lip buzzes are a great way to relax so you can reach your ideal vocal range. To lip buzz think of when you blow bubbles in the water when you were a kid. Now take that lip buzz action and add a hum underneath it. That is a lip buzz. When you are working on the lip buzz it should be loose and relaxed. As I’ve worked with different teachers I learned that lip buzzes used to be too tight. It should be a loose, relaxed, and slow lip buzz. Work on doing scales and arpeggios with your lip buzz and try to extend them higher and lower. Down below is an example of a lip buzz scale that would work well. As you complete it just move the scale higher and higher through your range.
I know these tips will really help you in learning how to increase your vocal range. Make sure to check back regularly for more piano and vocal lessons for your musical adventure.
Linnea Loves Music
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