08 Expanding Your Range Part 2
This lesson will build upon Part 1, adding new exercises and strategies to your vocal workout. We’ll talk about the different “gears” in the voice, and how we can shift gears smoothly and efficiently in order to find freedom in our high (and super-high!) range. Charmaine will take you through a high range vocal workout step-by-step, exercise by exercise, with both male and female demonstrations. This is also the second “Master Your Voice” Checkpoint! Learn more or submit your Checkpoint here.
See the lesson resources below to:
- download the lesson notes (in Downloads tab)
- download the vocal workout for offline use (in Downloads tab)
- watch the specific Vocal Exercise video demos mentioned in this lesson (in Related Videos tab)
This video includes bonus audio workouts designed specifically for this lesson. Get the full experience with an Access Pass. Sign up or login.
Congrats on finishing Part 1 of Master Your Voice! Feel free to spend a couple extra weeks on this workout, take a break for a week or two, or move onto Lesson 9 right away!
This is a pretty challenging workout ! I often struggle with tension when doing the nays but I find starting from the top note as you once suggested me really helps with that. I will keep on practising !
Totally! It’s a great strategy that works for so many exercises!
I really like the analogy of a manual transmission car changing gears. I drove a manual for a couple of years some time ago and loved the feel and sound of the gears changing up and down. So moving through the bridges makes sense to me when I think of it in that context
Totally! I learned on stick shift and loved it too!
I have been waiting for this workout because I’m fairly confident in my chest voice, but I really struggle with my high range. My old bad habit is to go strictly into a weak, breathy head voice. No power, and not always pretty. I feel like these exercises are helping me not only to overcome my fear/lack of self-confidence, but also slowly building up that high range.
“High notes aren’t harder, just different. Put the same energy into each note. When you feel like pushing, relax instead.” Charmaine’s words ring in my brain as I’m doing these.
My favorite is the 2-octave lip roll scales because I always surprise myself with how effortless and easy it is to get through both passagios doing this exercise.
Also the bending over while hitting the highest notes in my range really does help! I can’t really explain why it does, but it does lol!
Awesome, that’s great to hear that the 2-octave scale and the bending over trick are working well for you! Keep it up and your high range will absolutely improve!
My question for this video, out of curiosity: why did you have the NAY scale as a Double Long scale instead of the other kind of NAY scale in the Resonance workout?
Also, I am looking forward to focusing on these two workouts for the next two weeks!
Awesome, that’s great!
Hey! The double long scale is more advanced than the scale in the Resonance Workout—and it gives the voice two chances to practice getting to those high notes!
Any insight into getting squeaky on the tippety top of these high range exercises? I’m a natural mezzosoprano but have typically hung out in the lower half of my range for a variety of reasons. I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on how to properly use head voice and had even noticed myself incorporating the pharyngeal resonator in the past, even though I didn’t know whether it was best practice or cheating or whatever. Anyhow, all that’s to say I’m feeling pretty solid until I get to the few highest notes on these scales. I’m trying to relax and lighten up, but I find myself squeaking to stay on pitch. Too much tension? Or something wholly new and interesting?
If this helps provide any context, I noticed when first tackling these exercises that I was completely soundless at the very top where I’m now getting squeaky. I’d be going through the scale and then just air would come out. I have graduated from nothing to squeakiness. Could this be considered progress?
Hey Ashley! It’s hard to “diagnose” for sure without hearing you—BUT… it sounds to me like you’re on the right track. “Squeaky” is not a bad thing, unless it feels strained/tense/sore as you go to those notes… then that’s not what we want… and you should back off on those notes for sure. But… if those notes feel fine, then the “squeak” is just your voice’s new way of “finding” those notes… and if you keep doing the scales in a relaxed way, that will turn into less squeak, more tone!
I’ll take that diagnosis and doctor’s orders to stay relaxed. Thanks for the time, encouragement and expertise, Dr. Brown!
Haha sounds good! 🙂