Question:
I am entering high school. I desperately want leads in the plays. My voice is good, on the lower notes, but I am having the worst trouble on the high ones. I get to “la” on the scale, and any notes following come out as a squeaky whisper. Help!
Answer:
Learning how to bridge into the upper voice is a challenge for many singers, especially if they sing too loudly or work the throat muscles in an aggressive way on the low notes. If you are very serious about this, you need to develop proper breath support, vocal cord function and resonance balance that allows you to move seamlessly throughout your entire range and you will need a teacher to help you. Until you have one, here’s a little something you can play with: try making descending sirens, sliding slowly on the sound “ee” from your high voice down into the low part of your range without letting the sound get stronger. Keep it all as though you are singing high notes. Then try sliding back up without having a noticeable shift from bottom to top. Work for smoothness rather than for strength. Keep your posture tall with your ribs open and strong as you do this. And smile! Once you can do a smooth siren on an “ee” you can try other sounds. Try to sing melodies as though they are as smooth and connected as sirens, without any notes too strong or belted. Over time, the rest of the voice catches up to the low notes and you will have a different kind of strength that can be sustained. Again, this is a very complicated coordination that takes time, practice and a good teacher.