Will I ever be able to sing higher?

Question

So, I sing to myself a lot, and one thing that really frustrates me is that I cannot even reliably hit a middle C. (I'm male.) This is basically unacceptable to me even for ordinary shower-singing. Now after I'm a little warmed up, the highest note I've ever convinced myself I actually got was an Eb4. Now I see a lot of websites saying that you can damage your voice permanently (scary!) by straining too much. I think I might be doing this, since typically it hurts a little after any amount of time around middle C. Is there any way to determine if my voice is already damaged? One thing: if I'm ever able to reach, say, D4, it's only if I have a lot of breath and sing it loudly; it'll never come out if I try it soft.

When I search "how to sing higher" the most common advice is to 1) avoid falsetto and 2) avoid straining. That's like teaching someone to jump higher by telling them to 1) avoid cheats, like trampolines and 2) avoid jumping harder than you normally would; just jump naturally. Well, gee, I don't think I'll get any higher then! Any help?

Answer 1

Simple advice is to take singing lessons. We here cannot know what you're doing and what you're doing wrong just by reading. You have to have a professional coaching you how to use your body in another way than you do now.

Answer 2

As Thomas Bryla said in another answer, there's really no substitute for working with someone who can hear what you're doing and observe your posture while you're doing it. But here are some things I have learned from years of casual choral singing as a low female voice trying to do better (I usually sing tenor):

1. Breath support makes a big difference. If you're feeling that straining in your throat, then you're not supporting the notes and you'll hurt yourself. When you breathe in you should feel your diaphragm expand; as you sing you should feel it deflate. This is hard to teach in writing.

2. Practice rising scales: start on a note, sing 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 on open vowels, then take the starting note up half a step and do it again. (You can do the reverse going down too, to work on lower range.) It's easier to approach the extremes of your range gradually and gently. Once you're warmed up on that you can take in thirds. (In both cases, make sure each note is crisp -- no slurring the pitch.) Exercises are boring compared to singing the songs you like, but over time they'll get you there. I've finally managed to smooth out an awkward break in my range doing this, and I can now produce a D5 if I have to (though I'm not happy about it; I'm really not comfortable much above B4).

3. When it hurts, stop for a while. Don't wait for it to get bad.

Answer 3

You can definitely enhance your range a little with tuition. However, professional singers, like the rest of us, sing with what nature gave them. That's why there are some men who have the most wonderful rich, pure voices very low down. Singing high is just not important compared to singing well without strain, and a teacher can help you do both. You can always sing your favourite songs on a starting note of your choice if unaccompanied, or sing down an octave or harmonise if accompanied. Again, you might like some musicianship training for this to make it easier. If you've not yet done so, how about looking up the ranges used for bass, tenor etc to see where you fall in the spectrum. You are not alone!

Answer 4

It sounds like you are a bass. I'm a tenor. I can sing higher than you, but I bet you can sing way lower than me.

Some men are born to sing bass, some to sing baritone, and some to sing tenor. It's determined by your physiology, and that you cannot change.

Get some singing lessons from a professional voice teacher and learn what your natural range is, and how to work with the range you've got.

If you're a bass, then look for some songs to sing that were written for a bass and not for a tenor.

Answer 5

I've been training for about 4 years. So I've developed my voice to give myself a solid range. I'm a 21yo male, if it matters. Like said above, you could just be a bass singer. An untrained bass would struggle with Eb4 as a trained bass' limit is generally around an E4-F4. Now you didn't state an age.... But I was 17 when I started singing and I found notes higher than a middle C tricky back then too. But I enjoyed singing and kept working at it, just because I wanted to. With the vocal training I've had, by definition, I'm a bass-baritone. (like most men) I have a chest voice range spanning from roughly F2-G#4. G#4 being raised from the same limit of the OP. It's very true that you have to build your voice. You don't just have one.... Singing is a way of life. It's what I've noticed over the past 4 years. The only way to develop your voice is to treat it like a job. Now to the advanced stuff... Everyone has a chest voice range and a falsetto range. But not many people know that you can actually combine the two together and use them at the same time to form a 'mixed' voice. It's very difficult to master. I'm in the process of it myself. But it virtually eliminates 'vocal range' and voice categories like baritone and Tenor. It's very elusive and difficult to master, but it's how the rock band singers sing their songs. But for anyone struggling with limited range, is why I posted here. Research the 'mixed' voice. There are tutorials on Youtube but it's taken me about 6 months to actually work out how to use it myself (illusive). I said I'm a baritone but can easily hit a Tenor high C using this technique. I just need to actually get good at it, and work on the technique and tone of notes once so illusive to me and make sure I'm doing it correctly. Go to Youtube and listen to "Roy Kahn". I don't think there's a better master of the mixed voice, personally.