[musictlk] struggling with high notes

Kaiti Shelton crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com
Tue Sep 16 04:13:47 UTC 2014


Here are some things my voice teacher has told me;

First, alto is just a choir part.  Really there aren't really female
altos, unless you're a contralto.  I was placed in the alto section in
choir for years because of my ear, and was shocked to learn towards
the end of high school and have it seconded by my voice teacher in
college last year that I'm a soprano.  Not even mezzo, a full-fledged
soprano.  I thought I couldn't get above 5th octave D, but in warm ups
with her I could pop out 6th octave Cs.  It's possible that you're
just not exercising your entire range, and therefore do not think part
of it exists.

Here are a few warm ups she used with me that have really helped me
get up into the higher notes.  Sirens are always good.  If you can, do
them at a piano so you can check out how high you can really go.  The
other warm up that has worked well for me is one she calls the
"jumping exercise."  It is in eighth notes except for the last note,
and has slurs between every 2 sets of notes.  So, it goes like this:
Beat 1.  C E (Say an E vowel for both).
Beat 2: E G (Say an E vowel for both).
Beat 3:  G C (Say an ah vowel for both).
Beat 4: C E (Say an ah vowel for both).
Beat 5: E C (Ah vowel for both).
Beat 6:  C G (Ah vowel for both).
Beat 7:  G E (Ah vowel for both).
Beat 8:  E C  (Ah vowel for both).
Longer note (usually 2 beats).  C on ah.
Ascend chromatically and then decend from the top chromatically to
exercise your full range.  The jumping exercise is good because you
focus less on where you're going and more on hitting those jumps
properly.  I had greater success in hitting my 5th octave Bs and Cs
with that exercise than I did with the standard 5 note ascending and
decending kind of exercises.



On 9/15/14, brother Timothy Clark via musictlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> this is a music talk list. doesn't matter if you are asking about a
> blindness related item or not. next, they need to stand. the entire quire.
> it's bad to rehearse and or sing sitting. it can be done but if you are
> going to do that, sit strait up with your hands by your sides. also, singing
> notes your voice can't do is a bad practice to get into and can actually
> damage your voice. i would be careful doing that.
> brotherTimothy Clark
>
>
>  http://www.timothyclarkministries.blogspot.com
>
> On Elul 20, 5774 AM, at 22:40, Kelsey Nicolay via musictlk
> <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>> I know this is not related to blindness, but I could use some advice.  I
>> am in a community choir and really enjoy it.  I've made a lot of good
>> friends.  However, in several of our pieces, the altos have to sing some
>> notes that a soprano would normally sing.  I sing second alto, so I am
>> struggling quite a bit.  When I say high notes, I mean notes in the fifth
>> octave.  We have several fifth octave D's and E's.  I try to sing the
>> notes, but it seems I just cannot get up there.  I cannot afford a voice
>> teacher right now except maybe one lesson a month.  I think I am breathing
>> correctly, but it's difficult to tell since we sit for 90 percent of
>> rehearsal.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to not struggle so
>> much on the high notes? Should I talk to the director and see if he will
>> allow me to sing tenor on those notes? I would appreciate any suggestions
>> anyone might have.
>> Thanks,
>> Kelsey Nicolay
>>
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-- 
Kaiti




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