Vocalist.org archive


From:  Karen Mercedes <dalila@R...>
Karen Mercedes <dalila@R...>
Date:  Mon Mar 19, 2001  5:57 pm
Subject:  Lost top notes (was: Contraltos or Altos?)


On Sat, 17 Mar 2001, Stephanie Franklin wrote:

> started lessons about 4 months ago, and since then I'd noticed some changes
> in my voice.
> It is more mellow and darker, however the one thing I am a bit mystified
> about is that I seem to have lost range.
> Is this normal?


This can happen, and should be a temporary condition, if your teacher is
focussing on aspects of your vocal production that involve having you
"beef up" your lower and middle registers while spending relatively little
time on your upper register. It could be that he/she has listened and
decided that your upper register is a "given", but that the lower
registers need the attention. You should, of course, express your concern
to your teacher, to see if this is the case, or whether, in fact, you
might be doing something not quite right and this might be causing a
tension (or some other problem) that is "robbing" you of high notes.

I know with my own vocal development, as I've become more and more
comfortable and consistent with using my full potential resonance all
through my range, that my very top notes - high C and B (2 above middle C)
do not come as easily as they did back when I used a more forward, heady
technique in my upper register. The result is that, for now, I have to
compromise between sounding my best, using my "true voice" with all its
richness and overtones, and being able to rely 100% on having a high C.
Given I'm a contralto (yes- it's true- I've become resigned), I think it's
a trade-off I'm willing to make; and at the same time, I'm now working to
find out how I can "recover" my "super upper register" notes while not
sacrificing my full resonance (at least within the limitations of
acoustical imperatives - it may be that, for my, high B and C have to be
"whistle" notes, and can never have the same richness as the high Bflat
and high A - i.e., it may simply be that this is the way my particular
voice is "designed").

So my advice is for you to ask your teacher whether "losing" your high
notes is a concern at this point in your vocal development, and if not,
see if he/she will give you an idea of the point at which you might start
working in a way that will help you "recover" them within the framework of
your improved technique.

KM
=====
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