[musictlk] struggling with high notes

[Marion Gwizdala]

Kelsey,

	You seem to be getting some really great advice and would like to
offer some, as well. I once thought I was a baritone; however, by pressing
the limits of my range I have extended it to a comfortable F#, sometimes a
G, and when I am really warmed-up in the middle of a performance and feeling
really relaxed and confident, I have even found a G# or A!

	This being said, think about the pipes on a pipe organ. The great
big bass pipes need a lot of air to fill them and sound their notes, so they
need a lot of flow, as well to produce the volume to be heard. The smaller
pipes need very little air to fill them and, because of their pitch, need
very little volume to be heard. 

	Someone suggested bending your knees when hitting the high notes.
This works well because most people do the opposite when hitting high notes
- they actually seem to try to stretch their bodies up to the note which
only serves to restrict the pipe, so to speak, make it more rigid and cause
either an inability to sing the note or poor timbre. Bending the knees
reverses the stretching action in the rest of the body. Lowering the chin
also does this, as when you raise your chin like you are reaching for the
note, you constrict the vocal chords, as well.

	Warm-ups are essential, especially when singing difficult or taxing
pieces. If your director does not do warm-ups, you may want to suggest them.
If still not, do them yourself. Warm-ups do just that - they warm the vocal
chords and make them more pliable for singing thus increasing the quality of
timbre and range.

	Someone else suggested sitting more straight. When I directed a
choir, the choir members sat; however, when we sang in prep rehearsals, we
sat on the edge of the chair with their feet flat on the floor so that the
body was straight, almost like standing. When we rehearsed the whole piece,
we would always stand!

	I hope this helped!

Fraternally yours,
Marion Gwizdala
"Marion & Martin" 

-----Original Message-----
From: musictlk [mailto:musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kelsey
Nicolay via musictlk
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2014 10:40 PM
To: musictlk at nfbnet.org
Subject: [musictlk] struggling with high notes

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

_______________________________________________
musictlk mailing list
musictlk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/musictlk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
musictlk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/musictlk_nfbnet.org/blind411%40verizon.net