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Opening Up The High Notes (Singing Teachers)
Hi everyone,
I have a student (12 years old) who really struggles to get the high notes. She is very into her musical theatre style songs and we are currently working on Almost There from The Princess and the Frog (Grade 2 standard)
I will post a link of her singing so you can get an idea of what I mean: http://picosong.com/hqhB/
To be fair, when we recorded this she had the start of a cold coming on so it was a lot worse than from when I heard her last week but this is generally what I am battling with! She doesn’t say it hurts when she sings higher so I don’t think there is an underlying problem with her voice, but it’s like her voice just gives up on her when she tries to sing high.
I have been getting her to do slides/sirens which has expanded her voice into the head voice register, and getting her to sing louder than usual when doing scales with the piano just to try and open up the higher notes…but this is a consistent problem and nothing I suggest seems to work. She has been with me for about a year and I can hear an improvement – she passed her Grade 1 just before Christmas but we got by by not singing high songs!
What do you suggest I do?
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14 Replies
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Once she is in the high register after doing slides, can she sing up there? Have you suggested that she tries to sing in a mock opera voice with any song?
She sounds husky in the recording, probably due to the cold! She is just literally not flipping over into the head voice at all which HAS to be isolated like it’s a separate person! This is what I do anyway. So only sing that high ending part on its own, getting her to open her throat like a yawn. “Ooo” vowel sounds are great for this. Hope it helps!
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She can sing in the high register after doing the slides, but doesn’t stay up there for long (a note or two) as she will lose the strength and no sound will come out.
I’ll try getting her to sing in a mock opera voice, should that all be in the head voice though?
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Yes. I find it helps the singer stay in a pure, relaxed, open throat position! Or even loud “whooping”! But sustaining it. Record her and we can hear how she goes perhaps?
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Unless you’re talking mixed voice? I would still get a confident head voice first, before blending. If she can hold a good strong head voice, she should be ok with the “gear change” rather than straining.
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I haven’t started developing mixed voice with her yet, as you say she needs to build up her strength in the head voice first. I’ll see how it goes and I will try to record her again!
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