Improve Vocal Range Through Effective Practising

Believe it or not, your vocal range isn’t fixed. Though many people believe that singing is something you are born with, the truth is that singing is a highly malleable skill. You can improve your singing - and your vocal range - simply by practising and working hard at it. Results might not come right away, but over time, you’ll notice yourself becoming a more effective singer.

But before you think about improving your vocal range, we should first establish a definition for the phrase.

Vocal range: (Source: Wikipedia) Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate.

In other words, your vocal range is essentially how high or low you can go.

This is very important in the world of vocalists. In essence, your vocal range determines the kind of singer you are. "The Three Tenors," for example, were known as the Three Tenors because they had a very specific vocal range as compared to basses or sopranos.

But even in the confines of that vocal range, you’ll find there’s plenty of space for complexity. Luciano Pavarotti was famous for being able to hit particularly difficult high notes.

How can you replicate those results? Well, we can’t guarantee that you’ll sound like Luciano Pavarotti, but we can tell you that expanding your vocal range is entirely possible. Here are a few tips to keep in mind.

Tip #1: Employ falsetto to instantly expand your range. A "falsetto" voice is a shift upwards that allows you to smoothly hit notes at a higher pitch than you could have otherwise hit. If you’ve listening to a song and suddenly a singer’s voice becomes light, airy, and higher in pitch, there’s a good chance you’re listening to them employ falsetto.

The falsetto is just under the "whistle" in terms of reaching the highest notes, so practising a falsetto voice is a good way to ensure that you can increase your vocal range.

Tip #2: Use the piano technique. In order to help you discover your pitch, it’s not a bad idea to sit down at a piano and try and sing as many notes as you can in a normal singing voice. This will help you evaluate at which range your voice sounds most natural, as well as identify some of your "weak spots" that you might want to improve upon.

For example, if you notice that the lower notes come natural, you might realize that you have a lower register and this is where you’re most comfortable. However, if you want to go higher, you can always practice the notes themselves by trying to hum or sing in tune with the piano.

One quick note: it’s important that you have a properly-tuned piano for this. It will help you make sure you’re maintaining proper pitch as you’re practising.

Building up a wider vocal range can really help you become a better singer. Even if you can singe E Flat beautifully, you aren’t much of a singer if you can’t sing another note. Range is one of the marks of an effective, developed singer. The more you try, the better you’ll do. Give it a whirl!