Hi Everyone,

This part of the lesson today will be a little complicated. Ask questions
as we go and I’ll answer them as best I can. We’re not going to go into
too much detail, but will go over the basics you need to know

We will be determining the Fab 4, aka bass, tenor, mezza soprano, and
soprano voices. Defining the range and what you’re capable of singing
without straining or pushing your voice. Being able to pop up to highs
or lows within a song is different than being able carry those notes
throughout a song.

You’ll want a piece of paper and pen handy for this lesson!

First we’ll determine your range....

Sing along to these notes, finding the top and bottom note in your range.
Make note of the last note you are able to sing in the low range and
again in the high range. You’ll hear me indicate the note as its being
played. Write that note down. So sing along, singing a oooo sound.
Taking deep breaths. Watch your posture, sit up straight!

Make sure you are singing these notes without straining. Don’t let your
throat tighten, your neck stick out, and keep your head from moving to
different positions. This isn’t a competition, we all have a different
vocal range, some are big some are smaller!

These are not the technical terms for the notes, I did it this way to
simplify things for us to find out where we lie in our range.

Here we go. Write that low and high note down!

**Play note recording mp3. (My keyboard is off key and won’t stay on
pitch (go figure) so do not use these notes as actual) - The mp3s for this
lesson are in the step 2 mp3 file.

To determine where you fit , the classifications are

Bass
Baritone
Tenor
Contralto
Mezza Soprano or Alto
Soprano

I tend to fit into the mezza soprano area, my range tends to be about a
f+2 down to a b-2 which is about a 2 ½ octave range.

Now figure out where you fit in! Find your low and your high and see
the list below to find where your voice fits in.

For you bass’s, you’ll sing comfortably from a e+1 down to a e-2
Barritones - g+1 down to a g-1
Tenors - c+1 down to a c-1
Contralto - d+2 down to d-1
Mezza - a+2 down to a a-1
I fit just below the top end of a mezza at f+2, two notes below the usual
high note and really fit more into the contalto range on the low side,
being 2 notes below the low contralto and almost an octave below the
low mezza.
Soprano - d+3 down to g-1, sappranos are always expected to have a
strong high c (or c+3) and many can sing to an g or a above high c
Obviously a sopranos voice along with a tenors voice are stronger head
voices and the others sing better from their chest voice. We’ll go into
head vs chest voices a bit later and in another group session. But with
your head voice typically you’ll feel the vibrations from your voice in
your teeth and face area. Your chest voice, you’ll feel the vibrations in
your chest.
Any note about a f+3 or so is whats called a whistle tone, these are not
sung notes, they go up into a range thats more of a breathy whistle.

Examples of who’s who in the vocal ranges

Sopranos - Dolly Parton, Julie Andrews, Sara Brightman, Olivia Newton
John
Mezzas - KD Lang, Lorrie Morgan, Patsy Cline and Karen Carpenter
Tenors - include Paverati, Damingo, John Denver, Elton John and Stevie
Wonder
Bass’s - Tennesee Earnie Ford, and Barry White

Now you should know your range and where you fit into the fab 4.

We’re gonna do some work now on the keys to sing in and what best
suites your voice, however learning about key really goes more into
music theory.

You’ve all heard the term perfect pitch. It doesn’t mean what ya’ll think
it means. It doesn’t mean someone that sings on pitch alll the time! It
actually describes someone that is able to identify a note just from
hearing it. Most of us can not do this. However, determining the key of
a song, you need to be able to at least determine the initial note of a
song.

Finding the key of a song can be tricky, so we’ll take it slow. If you
don’t understand this, or find it complicated, don’t worry. Most karaoke
tracks do tell us the key they are played in. Knowing the key you sing in
is important if you are playing and singing live with a band. They need
to know what key to begin the song in.

We’re going to listen to a series of songs now. We’ll determine if they

begin and end with the same note. Hum along to the main note or
beginning note. You may be surprised how easy your brain picks up that
note. At the very least, you should be able to tell if the piece is
complete, beginning and ending with the same note, or if the song
sounds as if it should carry on further and isn’t finished.

**Play Thrill mp3

This first one, if you listen, the last cord is a f, which is the start of the
next 12 bar cycle and is indeed the home cord.. Beginning on f and
ending on f

**play Jupitor mp3

This example ends in the home note a b flat, and again is indeed the
same key.

**Play Fortuna mp3

This song doesn’t sound complete does it? The final cord is actually the
beginning of the next segment of the song and doesn’t actually end on
the initial key.

**Play Cello mp3

Again, this doesn’t end on the initial key... it begins on g flat and ends in
c carrying on to the next segmet of the song.

Now we know finding the key to a song is by determining the first note
in most cases, it is not the case in all music, but it is a good starting
point.

Now we can determine whats called your tessitura. Your comfortable

middle range, where you can sing for hours without feeling you’ve
pushed or strained your voice at all. The tessitura refers to where most
of the notes lie within a song. True definition is :
the general range of a melody or voice part; specifically : the part of the register in which most of
the tones of a melody or voice part lie
You’ve determined your range. Now we need to find your middle range
or tessitura.

We’ll go through the notes you’re able to sing, and put those together.
These examples will be the most common for bass, tenor, mezza and
soprano voice ranges.

**play the bass key, tenor key, mezza key, or soprano key mp3
depending on which you determined yourself to be

You should be able to hear and feel which note you are most
comfortable singing.. This is your best KEY.

Bass - lower c to mid c

tenor - f below mid c to f above
alto/mezza - middle c to upper c
soprano - f above mid c to f above that, so f1 to f2
using the standard notes, abcdef and g, each of these recordings starts
with the note listed here.
My best key d or e

You should find most of your favorites, lie within your ‘range’ and some
right into your favorite key!

Go through some of your karaoke files and look at the key they are
played in. Find 3 of your absolute favorite tracks you sing most
comfortably. Are these in your range?

One of my favorites is Fly’s On The Butter, being in “a” flat. Which is

lower than my perfect key, but still within my range.
Another favorite of mine, My Strongest Weakness is in the key of “b”
flat, again, lower than my usual.
Here For The Party, another I love to sing, is in the key of “d”.
90% of your karaoke tracks if you look at the graphic file as it begins
will tell you the key it is played in.

Most voices mature in their 20's and carry strongly until their 60s. Some
maturing in their 30's!

Maintaining your voice, voice longevity and comfort all go together,

don’t push it if you want your voice to last!

Some dangers of pushing and straining your voice, we’ve all heard of
nodules and pollips.
Nodules are formed by repeated stress on your vocal folds. They form
bumps on your vocal folds and as they worsen, they become hardened.
They can become worse which are known as pollups. These are caused
by other irritants, such as smoke and other chemicals.. Those of us that
are smokers, have to be very careful not to strain our voices!

Keeping hydrated is very important! Singing is very dehydrating, so

make sure to drink enough! Room temprature water is the best to drink!

In closing, your posture, your breathing, relaxing your throat, keeping

your tongue forward, which sounds kinda funny but is very important -
don’t let your tongue fall back into your throat when singing. These are
the keys to maximizing your vocal performance.

Expanding your range is not that important to most, so many songs will
fit your current range. When you work on expanding your range, you
need to begin slowly, keep in mind you do not want to over do your
voice. If you want to expand your range, do it with some caution. This
takes time to do! Go Slowly.

The most common and easiest way to expand your vocal range is
practice. By pushing your voice just one note higher than your comfort
range and slowly working on that until you find it comfortable. Use
your practice scales to try to reach just one set higher for a week or two,
see how much more comfortable it becomes. Our vocal folds can only
budge so far, so don’t over do it.

Thanks Everyone!