freedom_fri911

This is probably going to end up being a pretty stupid question, but I'm just curious.

I have noticed that after I go to the gym or after my dance class that I seem to have little to no trouble hitting notes that I usually kinda struggle with when I'm jamming out to my CDs in the car. I mean, after my workout session today, I was popping out B-flats and Bs, which is generally beyond my comfort range. I just wanted to know the science behind this phenomena. Maybe I should excersize more

Oh, and I also have a semi-off topic question: I have read that one is born with their vocal range and that you cannot "expand" your range, you can only become more comfortable in it. So if you can't full-voice a C in any way, shape or form, you never will be able to do so. Of course with the right breathing techniques you can unlock notes that you haven't been comfortable with, but if you're a baritone you'll probably never be a tenor. Am I correct in this understanding?

lorelei2702

Do you have a voice teacher? If not, here goes.....you can sing higher notes because you have your whole body working for you and you are not slumped in a car seat with a seatbelts, etc. The ability to phonate higher pitches can evolve if the technique is free. How those note match and how functional they are is a product of your technique, your age, your sound image, etc. Lots of singers think they are one voice type and grow up to be something else, sometimes because the voice matures in a way which allows them to satisfy the sounds of and sing in the range of a different Fach, and sometimes it is because they stop doing things which were getting in the way. You need a good voice teacher to really explore all of this.....and you need to grow older. Good luck. Lorelei

freedom_fri911

Thanks for the response. I do have a voice teacher. I know that you sing better and easier if you're standing upright, but like I said, I was just jamming out in the car and I could notice a great difference. Is it just that your muscles are more warm and relaxed that makes it so much easier?

OneSongGlory

Robert (are you Robert? I feel like you are),

What you said (regarding the being born with your range thing) is half-true, but you sort of mixed it up two ways; the timbre is debatably something that is set in stone once puberty is over, but range is certainly not. Once a baritone, always a baritone, but that doesn't mean that you can't discover new notes typically not in the baritone range. Timbre has so much to do with quality of voice, and very little to do with range, and that is nearly always what classifies a singer.

Hope that helped :-)

MomOfAPrincess

Georgia Brown of Brazil sings 8 octaves. I recently read about someone else (whose name escapes me) that started out singing at 3 octaves and changed trainers and now is known for singing 6 octaves.

deenierah

i was running a dance rehearsal tonight, and one of my boys out of nowhere hits the b he's been struggling with, after two hours of dancing and learning choreography. i definitely think doing something physical is helpful-- why, i don't know-- i'd hazard a guess that you're probably breathing more deeply and therefore can probably support your sound in a more relaxed way.

Mystious

this is interesting, when I was once at an audition couple weeks ago. We had dance audition b4 singing audition, I got pretty tired during the dance audition About 1 hour break later, I had my singing audition and the auditionee had me sing with the piano, I was able to sing up to B to Bb right below tenor High C, those notes are a bit over my top range because I am a High baritone.

srw

My S, a tenor, often exercizes as part of his warm up before singing, he says it really helps, he says it gets your circulation going which affects all parts of the body.

acsch

Re: singing high after working out, the same thing happens with me. When you exert yourself, you'll notice that you start breathing deeply and naturally by default. The main thing that holds me (and, I think, most people) back when singing is physical stress, but exercise tends to release that stress and free up the breath system, so if you try singing directly after exercising, you'll probably notice significantly better support, thus significantly better range.

Re: inability to expand your range, this is untrue, as far as I know. It's true that if you're a baritone, you're always going to be a baritone, but as OneSongGlory said, it's more about the timbre of your voice than your actual range. It's probably true that the most comfortable part of your voice will always be the baritone range, but that doesn't mean you won't be able to get some of those tenor notes. It's usually technique issues that prevent us from hitting higher notes, not natural restrictions. I'm a tenor, and while I don't remember what my range was when I started singing, it's definitely much wider now than it used to be. All in all, I'd say the fact that you were pumping out Bb's in the car is a pretty good sign that you have the potential to sing the high stuff.