Your Voice, And Singing Techniques

Well I'm a violinist, but when my voice was changing, during a few months, I had a rather good tenor voice, pulling off a good sound very naturally and doing plenty of singing in concerts. I loved it, but then I dropped a lot, and now my range is F2-E4, F4 on good days (with C4 as middle C). I'm unsure exactly of what voice it is: all I know is that I lost all my singing talent :) my voice is uglier than a nasty case of gangrene, and my high register, which was very good in my previous voice, sounds very dry and strained. I don't sing anymore, really, although YC member Wolf_88 sent me some pretty weird exercises :P they're fun but they don't seem to be helping. Maybe I just need patience.

So I was wondering what your singing experience is and if you have any singing tips for me to "have my glory days back" :P

I too used to be a (fairly good) tenor, then my voice broke, and now I'm a baritone, with not a great sounding voice :)

Ah well, just one of those things.

I could pass as a soprano with my stupid squeaky voice.

Although, I never really tested because I can't sing anyway.

Well, I've always found myself very good at hitting notes because I have a good ear, and I've always wanted to become better at singing, but my range isn't that wide and I don't know any good excersizes to extend it, and I'm pretty much a rookie when it comes to singing technique. So it would be real great if someone could give me some tips on what do to.

I asked about range and some other aspects of singing a while back, and got some great replies, I'll find the thread

I'm a Bass, a very low Bass

I am a baritone... I guess I have a fairly good range.

I'm also in 8th grade, my voice has mostly changed and settled out... I got first chair bass (only SATB) in Texas Region 5 All-Region Choir. So, I know I've some shot in high school.

Do you mean "tubin"(sp?) throat singing? where you sing a pitch and whistle at the same time? 'cause that poo poos cool...

Well I'm a violinist, but when my voice was changing, during a few months, I had a rather good tenor voice, pulling off a good sound very naturally and doing plenty of singing in concerts. I loved it, but then I dropped a lot, and now my range is F2-E4, F4 on good days (with C4 as middle C). I'm unsure exactly of what voice it is: all I know is that I lost all my singing talent :) my voice is uglier than a nasty case of gangrene, and my high register, which was very good in my previous voice, sounds very dry and strained. I don't sing anymore, really, although YC member Wolf_88 sent me some pretty weird exercises :thumbsup: they're fun but they don't seem to be helping. Maybe I just need patience.

So I was wondering what your singing experience is and if you have any singing tips for me to "have my glory days back" :(

Well at your age its normal to have such problems. These problems are common in both males and females but it can be much worse with males. At this point in your voice can be a completely different instument everyday or aon any given day for a while even with good technique. Much of the issue for you age group is that how you vocal chords reacted in certain registers of our voice change. One major issue would be the change in your passagio. The passagio is often called the "break" in the voice although many voice teachers shy away from having the student think in terms of "breaks" in the voice. Your point of passagio will depend on the voice type that you are. It usually varies by a note or two. But it is also not uncommon for an adult or mature voice to expereince change in voice type or change in the passagio.

Another issue is the thickening of the vocal chords during your teen years. Thickening sometimes can also occur randomly or later on in life. With the great change in range that you experienced it is certain that your point of passagio has changed and your chords have thickened some.

Basically, you have a whole new instrument on your hands. Don't worry about it too much. I'm sure you'll grow into it. I remember when I was a younger Bass-Baritone in highschool. The voice teacher at the time thought I could be a young Dramatic Baritone or a young Bass-Baritone. By the time I was a senior in college my voice changed to being a young Bass-Baritone/Dramtic Baritone to a possible young Basso. And my voice felt so heavy and clumsy it was so hard to deal with. I never had issues with my passagio but then it became such a huge issue. The voice is very interesting.

Well at your age its normal to have such problems. These problems are common in both males and females but it can be much worse with males. At this point in your voice can be a completely different instument everyday or aon any given day for a while even with good technique. Much of the issue for you age group is that how you vocal chords reacted in certain registers of our voice change. One major issue would be the change in your passagio. The passagio is often called the "break" in the voice although many voice teachers shy away from having the student think in terms of "breaks" in the voice. Your point of passagio will depend on the voice type that you are. It usually varies by a note or two. But it is also not uncommon for an adult or mature voice to expereince change in voice type or change in the passagio.

Another issue is the thickening of the vocal chords during your teen years. Thickening sometimes can also occur randomly or later on in life. With the great change in range that you experienced it is certain that your point of passagio has changed and your chords have thickened some.

Basically, you have a whole new instrument on your hands. Don't worry about it too much. I'm sure you'll grow into it. I remember when I was a younger Bass-Baritone in highschool. The voice teacher at the time thought I could be a young Dramatic Baritone or a young Bass-Baritone. By the time I was a senior in college my voice changed to being a young Bass-Baritone/Dramtic Baritone to a possible young Basso. And my voice felt so heavy and clumsy it was so hard to deal with. I never had issues with my passagio but then it became such a huge issue. The voice is very interesting.

Heh, being a dramatic baritone would be a dream come true :(

About four years ago I could sing Der Holle Rache and Sempre Libera flawlessly. Now, I can barely hit the E above middle C (after previously being able to hit a High C full voice at will). Improvement?

About four years ago I could sing Der Holle Rache and Sempre Libera flawlessly. Now, I can barely hit the E above middle C (after previously being able to hit a High C full voice at will). Improvement?

Wow still had that voice at 11?

Well I'm a violinist, but when my voice was changing, during a few months, I had a rather good tenor voice, pulling off a good sound very naturally and doing plenty of singing in concerts. I loved it, but then I dropped a lot, and now my range is F2-E4, F4 on good days (with C4 as middle C). I'm unsure exactly of what voice it is: all I know is that I lost all my singing talent :( my voice is uglier than a nasty case of gangrene, and my high register, which was very good in my previous voice, sounds very dry and strained. I don't sing anymore, really, although YC member Wolf_88 sent me some pretty weird exercises :P they're fun but they don't seem to be helping. Maybe I just need patience.

So I was wondering what your singing experience is and if you have any singing tips for me to "have my glory days back" :P

Your glory days will never be back. It sounds like you've become a bass-baritone, or just a very low baritone. However, you can do a bunch of vocal exercises to help your tone in that lower register.

I had trouble letting go of that too. I remember back before my voice fully changed, I sang tenor. My range was something from a low B to a high B, which was wonderful. I loved singing the tenor arias from Handel's Messiah. But I'm no longer able to sing those, and it took me awhile to realize that there is literature out there just as fun to sing for basses and baritones.

Your glory days will never be back. It sounds like you've become a bass-baritone, or just a very low baritone. However, you can do a bunch of vocal exercises to help your tone in that lower register.

Btw after better measuring, my range is actually Eb2 - F4. But high register is still strained.

Without warmup, mine is from C#2 up to slightly above middle C. About E4 is where it becomes strained. Though even D4 was giving me trouble in choir. I never sang much until long after I had settled into my mega-awesome basso-profundo. I have problems with control and tone, though.

Hey, I posted this at 4:33 pm!

I can finally say I've got a comfortable high G! This year of voice lessons has proved to be worthwhile, after all! :( I sing great and comfortable in a range of: about F below mid C to G above, and my usable range is from Bb (bottom bass clef) to A above mid c. Finally I can call myself a tenor! ;)

I can finally say I've got a comfortable high G! This year of voice lessons has proved to be worthwhile, after all! ;) I sing great and comfortable in a range of: about F below mid C to G above, and my usable range is from Bb (bottom bass clef) to A above mid c. Finally I can call myself a tenor! ;)

You bastard, after RE-measuring, I'm D2 - F4, although I can do Ab4 sounding like scraggy :)

I keep telling you, you obsess too much with range! Worry more about quality of voice, and range will sort itself out... not that you will ever hit high Cs, but you know what I mean!

I keep telling you, you obsess too much with range! Worry more about quality of voice, and range will sort itself out... not that you will ever hit high Cs, but you know what I mean!

A singing teacher told me I gotta pull out my eyeballs and lift my head as far as I can while dropping my jaw pratically to the floor if I want to go high :)

Yea, I've heard that too... raise your eyebrows and drop the jaw... it doesn't give you extra range though.. just helps using what you've got.

Yea, I've heard that too... raise your eyebrows and drop the jaw... it doesn't give you extra range though.. just helps using what you've got.

Of course. That's how I did the Prologue to loving Pagliacci :) I couldn't do the piano E4 though, only forte. The higher, the more air you need, thus the sound is generally more forte.

Because you're a bass ;)

....just kidding..... :)

Because you're a bass ;)

....just kidding..... :)

Yeah maybe, I go down to D2 (though it sounds like an old truck. I'm old crystal clear 'till E2.) But Ab4 is still easier than F4.