[Someday]

Hi I have a question for all sopranos out there (and singers in general). I'm pretty untrained (took lessons for about a year, had to take a year off from them, just started back). I have a VERY limited chest voice.. no range at all. I know my voice teacher and I can work on it, but even she acknowledges that it's just not natural for me.. every note I can hit in my chest with the exception of the lowest 1-2 I can hit in my head voice. We're going to work on making my head voice better so I can use it and make it sound more powerful than just pretty. My forte is slow, pretty ballads =P

I'm just curious-- with practice/time, do you think it will be possible for me to get my head voice strong enough that I will be able to work around the fact that I don't have much of a chest voice? While my dream roles are more along the lines of Christine in POTO, I'd love to play Kim in Miss Saigon someday..which requires a belt that I just don't have. I can't do the end of Room 317 (if you know the part I'm talking about) for example, in my head voice..

I know this is kind of a stupid post..but I'm wondering if I will ever be able to work to where I want to be, when I honestly believe I'm not physically capable of extending the range of my chest voice.. I guess I just don't know if it's physically possible for someone's head voice to sound like a belty chest voice?

thanks

[jazzygirlsings]

You just need more training...

Honestly, there are very few things you can't accomplish with your voice once you put your mind (and training) to the test. So keep training. It may not happen overnight, but it WILL happen.

In fact, doing more in your lower register will help to give your upper register a rounder, warmer, more pleasant sound...

I would honestly say that the biggest obstacle you will need to hurdle so you can sing in a certain way is seriously having confidence in whether or not you can do it...

[Someday]

Thanks, I have another question for you. My voice teacher has produced a lot of really good voices and I trust her completely, but she can't be with me when I practice. Her method is to make me warm up tapes with different exercises, and then giving me tapes with songs to practice. To work on my chest voice she tries to pick ones that don't go too high, but my two options when I'm practicing are to hit the notes in my head voice easily or to try my best to belt them, and I'll admit, end up straining. It's weird, but I can hit the note right below it without trouble, but taking it the next step is very difficult. I've always been scared of damaging my voice.. but I don't know how to get better without trying to hit the notes? will just singing the ones that are comfortable for me and working on my head voice eventually lengthen my lower range without directly trying to hit higher notes? sorry if I'm not making myself clear

[jazzygirlsings]

[happyguava]

By the same token - do you think that if someone is a really good belter as a teen, this will be lost when her voice matures? Not because of incorrect technique or vocal strain or anything, just because of the changing voice?

[metaphor17]

[Aimee]

In my experience young sopranos often have very power little in chest voice. o However as you mature that will change and once you can belt you can belt BUT belting can damage your head/legit voice if not done properly.

I'd say, unless you need to, stay away from it until your voice has fully matured. Learn good technique in head voice and when you get older learn to belt then.

[jazzygirlsings]