Is this your experience? Trying to sing a song that you like but not being able to reach that reasonably high note? While every singer aspires to have a large vocal range, the reality of life is that not every singer can have the same large vocal ranges (especially those that can reach the lowest E and the highest D).

Different singers have varying vocal ranges hence the classifications of soprano, contralto, tenor, and bass. This is not to discourage us from giving up singing. In fact, the quality of your voice is not affected by your range of voice at all. There are great singers who may have a small vocal range but are still able to move the hearts of their listeners. Of course this then does not mean that we do not want to improve our vocal range, with a larger vocal range, we will be able to sing a greater variety of songs. Furthermore as singers we should always seek to improve various aspect of our singing ability.

While we may never be able to have vocal ranges of singers like Pavarotti (some of you may), there are still steps we can take to improve our singing range. In fact, I believe that many are not singing to the full potential of their vocal range. This article will outline several baby steps to help you improve your vocal range.

Don’t Push Your Voice

This first step is perhaps the simplest one to understand yet the hardest one to practice. This is probably the most basic, and if I may add, the most dangerous mistake a young singer can make. Does your throat hurt after choir practice or a karaoke session with friends? If it does you could have been straining your voice in trying to reach that high notes. Sometimes a singer may think that if he forces enough air out, he will be able to reach that high note. This is totally not true. In fact, when you push your voice, you risk straining your vocal cords. The vocal cords are made up of delicate tissue that can be damaged if you keep straining it while singing (sometimes the damage may be permanent). If you want to improve your vocal range the first thing you must do is to stop straining your voice.

Identify Your Unique Range of Voice

Everyone is born with a unique range of voice – while not as unique like our fingerprints, it is still unique. We would call this our natural range of voice. The problem with many aspiring singers is the failure to recognise their own unique range of voice. If you want to expand your vocal range, you first need to admit that this is the range that you have been endowed with and start working from their. The most common vocal ranges are the soprano, contralto, tenor, baritone and bass. There are some other special classifications of voices like mezzo-soprano or countertenor, which will not be discussed in this article. Let me now move on to show you how to identify your natural range. It would be good if you can now go to the piano or find any musical instruments to help you in this exercise (you must want to print this article out if you are going to the piano, unless you are going to carry the piano here). Please note that this exercise is just a guide and we are now talking about the natural range of voices. There may be some who can have a larger range and can easily sing, for example, both tenor and bass.

To identify your natural vocal range, first start by humming the middle C note. Next, slowly move down the scale of notes (this would be towards the left of middle C on the piano) – without pushing! – until you can no longer sing the low notes comfortably. Take note of the lowest note you can reach comfortably. Starting from middle C again, now work you way up the scale and until you are not able to sustain a note comfortably (or when you start screeching. But always remember: Don’t push and don’t strain your vocal cords). Take note of the highest note you can reach comfortably.

If you are a soprano, your range would be approximately from the A note below middle C (A3) to the G note 2 octaves (one octave is made up of eight notes) above middle C (G6). This would be a range of about 3 octaves.

If you have a Contralto’s range, your voice would range from the E note below middle C (E3) to the D note an octave above the middle C (D5).

If you are a tenor, you would range from the C note one octave below middle C (C3) to the C note one octave above the middle C (C5). This will be a range of about two octaves.

A baritone’s voice range would be between the A note one octave below the middle C (A2) to the A note above the middle C (A4).

The bass would have a vocal range of between the F note one octave below the middle C (F2) to the E note above the middle C (E4).

Take some time to find out your natural voice range. Good singers always their own voice. If you want to improve, you need to know your voice better – the strengths and weaknesses of your voice. You should start to know your voice better by finding out your own vocal range. This will help you have a realistic expectation in your journey to be a better singer.

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