By Micayla Freehan

Topic 1: What is vocal range?

Vocal range is the highest and lowest pitches someone can sing. This definition is very broad though. Sometimes notes certain people can sing aren’t considered “musically useful”. When some men that sing in opera talk about their vocal range, they normally don’t include detail about their falsetto pitches. The types of vocal ranges are different for ladies and men. The types for woman are soprano, mezzo-soprano, and contralto (alto). The types for men are sopranist, countertenor (alto-tenor), tenor, baritone, bass-baritone, and basso. This is what vocal range is.

Topic 2: What are some exercises I can do to help improve my vocal range?

There are many exercises I can do to help improve my vocal range. One of them is you can practice scales (do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, and do). You start at the middle C and go up and down from there. This exercise tells you your highest pitch and lowest pitch, and you can work on it. Another exercise to improve my vocal range is singing octave and chord intervals. Opening your jaw and singing the vowels a-e-I-o-u is always a good exercise to do. Doing this exercise gives you fuller sound, and it can lead up to extending your vocal range. All the exercises we do in class also help. For example, the yawn sigh makes you reach up to your highest pitch you’re able to produce. These are exercises to help you improve your vocal range.

Topic 3: How do vocal warm-ups help improve your vocal range?

Vocal warm-ups help improve your vocal range because they get your body loose. It’s like stretching before you go run a mile, or something like that. Warm-ups get you ready to sing, and they build your vocal strength. They also build all parts of your technique. If warm-ups didn’t help your solo voice, we wouldn’t be doing them in class. This is how warm-ups help improve your vocal range.

Topic 4: What are other ways to improve my vocal range?

I’ve learned in class that posture plays a pretty big role in expanding your vocal range. If you stand up, with one knee bent, and one straight, and you’re slouched over, you will not sing as well as you could. If you stand up straight, with a tall back, with your legs shoulder width apart, and knees unlocked and straight, you’ll be able to sing much better than if you sang wit a sloppy posture. Other ways to improve my vocal range are singing songs with a large range of notes, and of course taking singing lessons. These are simple ways you can improve your vocal range.

My Sources:

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

http://www.tuneheads.com

http://www.singers.com

http://www.exploreyourvoiceshowpodcast.com/

past knowledge (things we learned in class)