Expanding Your Vocal Range In Three Steps
In today’s blog I tell you all about expanding your vocal range. There are three main steps singers go through in that process, and they are available to everyone. The main thing is to not get impatient. Developing your voice is a process that takes time and dedication. Enjoy it!
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The 3 Steps To Expand Your Vocal Register Explained
Today, I’m talking about vocal range.
There are two parts to this question, vocal range and tessitura. They are not the same.
Your vocal range refers to the distance between the lowest note you can sing and the highest note you can sing.
Tessitura generally refers to the range of notes in which your voice sounds the best.
Expanding your vocal range has three distinct steps (and they take time!)
1.Discover and balance your mass-dominant register
If you are a complete beginner, the first thing is to build the foundations of your mass-dominant voice. To understand this business of the vocal range and the vocal tessitura, we need to get familiar with what the vocal registers are.
The main two vocal registers that you are going to be working with as a singer are the mass dominant register, also called ‘chest voice’, and the tension dominant register, also called ‘head voice’. I prefer to call it mass dominant and tension dominant registers because later on in the training when you are more advanced, you need to be very differentiated. The chest voice register and head voice register are going to be a little bit confusing then, hindering your vocal progress.
So for now, just know mass dominant is chest voice and tension dominant is head voice.
I’m going to be talking about mass dominant and tension dominant. So the first stage in your singing journey has to be to make sure that you balance and develop your mass dominant register.
It doesn’t have to be perfect, of course, but you need to look at things like: is your mass register too pushy? or, if it is too breathy?
So if you are speaking and you can hear some breath through your voice, that is a little bit too breathy, and you have to start your training by resolving that.
That can take a little while because sometimes it can be because you have a pathology. Otherwise, it can be just because you are too shy.
The same applies if your voice is too pushy. If you talk like this all the time, then it’s going to take you a little bit longer because you have more difficulty letting go of your voice, and that is what you need to get to that tension-dominant register.
If your voice is, generally functional (for example, if you are speaking and you don’t feel that there is an extreme amount of push or that there is no breath coming through), then that is what we’re gonna talk about today because fixing those issues can take a lot longer. But let’s say that you have a generally functional voice, then the next thing you’re gonna do to expand your vocal range is to unlock the head dominant register.
2. Discover and develop your tension dominant register (also called head voice)
So if you already have a functional speaking voice, then, expanding your range doesn’t have to take that long. Once you discover your tension dominant register, you will probably be unlocking more than one note (doesn’t mean those notes will be strong… hold on for step three!). This can take you just one or two lessons after your mass dominant register is functional enough, or it can take you a few months. It all depends on many factors, one of them being the amount of practice with awareness you put into that, as well as the regularity of your singing practice.
I actually have a resource for you today that is completely free. Find my Three Vocal Exercises To Expand Your Range which are designed for you to unlock your main two registers of the voice.
So go ahead and download it. You practice it every day. In no time, you’re going to be discovering those higher frequencies.
Now in the beginning, of course, when you are just exploring your vocal range, don’t worry about singing with complete strength and mastery throughout your whole range. That comes later!
The first thing you have to do is to discover those notes. Even if at the top, you don’t sound too strong, don’t worry about that because that is the first step.
3. Connect your two vocal registers… mix your voice!
Once you have discovered those different registers, which involve working with different muscles in the voice, then you can start working on strengthening them. And for that, what you’re going to be learning to do is to work in a much more differentiated way with your muscles. You’re going to learn how to mix your voice!
That is why I prefer to use the mass dominant and tension dominant rather than chest voice and head voice. Because when you are talking about tessitura (where your voice shines once you have developed your voice), you are talking about percentages of mass and tension rather than black and white ‘chest voice’ or ‘head voice’.
As you go higher in the register, the amount of mass decreases, and the amount of tension increases until your tension-dominant register takes over, and it does the majority of the work. By the way: tension in this context doesn’t mean strain. In this context, ‘tension’ means your vocal cords are being stretched. It doesn’t require you to tense your neck or anything like that, in fact, that does not help your voice at all!
Mixing your voice means that your voice goes from low to high in a connected manner.
The ability to mix and connect your voice is what gives you mastery over your vocal range and allows you to, later on, practice more ‘fancy’ vocal skills, and apply some vocal effects with ease and in a safe manner.
I help people to develop their voice and singing from a holistic approach. I teach vocal lessons in person in Auckland, NZ, and online. Also stay tuned for my new online singing programs!❤️
My greatest passion has always been the voice, music and energy arts.
My personal and artistic journey has led me to understand that the voice and the body are fully connected, and that includes not only the physical body but also the mental, emotional and spiritual body.
Through holistic vocal training you not only learn to become a great singer while taking care of your voice, but you also improve your mental and physical wellbeing❤️
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