small in small

GeorgeM

I'm a skinny (not so thin but..) and therefore i have a low range and smaller sound. I wonder if i was kinda bigger guy, would i have a bigger voice or not?

ragnar

Ronnie James Dio, may he rest in peace, was a skinny short guy (5' 4" (1.63 m)) yet possessed one of the most powerful voices in rock history, so your statement "I'm skinny and therefore I have a low range and smaller sound" is a big misconception.

GeorgeM

probably he was  training hard. i have very distinguished Larynx with a bigger adams apple . i don't think that skinny people have a naturally high range

highmtn

I'm not that big... and I'm pretty thin, as well.  Some folks that come to hear my band refer to me as the "Little Guy with the Biggest Voice".  I can sound pretty big on something like a Garth Brooks tune.

On the other hand, I have the highest range in our band.  I sing the Stevie Wonder tunes and the high belting rockers, as well.

On the Righteous Brothers tune You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin', I sing the low Bill Medley parts on the verses and then in the bridge buildup, I sing the Bobby Hatfield high-end belting-wailing parts.

Before I started studying voice, I had a pretty lackluster voice with a limited range.  Now I can exercise from almost the bottom end of an 88-key piano to just under the top 2 octaves. You wouldn't want to listen to me sing a song at the extreme ends of that range, but I have a LOT of useable notes in there. Everything of quality that I can do with my voice comes from studying Ken's methods.

If you exercise your voice diligently and stretch it  gently in all directions, up, down, and all tones, you can extend your range from where it presently is. 

Bob

mkeymont

To quote Humpty Hump: "look at me, I'm skinny. it never stopped me from gettin' busy..." Sorry, I couldn't resist...

Adam164

highmtn said:

Before I started studying voice, I had a pretty lackluster voice with a limited range.  Now I can exercise from almost the bottom end of an 88-key piano to just under the top 2 octaves.

If you exercise your voice diligently and stretch it  gently in all directions, up, down, and all tones, you can extend your range from where it presently is. 

Bob

Bob,

I hope it's OK to dig up this very old post. I found it in a search. Two questions:
1) When (at what age) did you start working on your voice?

2) I definitely understand how to stretch the voice up in range, and I can 'feel' the stretch, but I still haven't figured out the mechanics of expanding the range downwards. (I'm on Volume 3.) Ken talks about dropping the larynx down and holding back the air, but I don't get that 'stretchy' feeling of accomplishment like I do at the top of chest range. Is there a way to describe how to know / how to feel when you're pushing the voice lower in the correct way for making real progress?

Cheers,
Adam

Wigs

@highmtn

highmtn

Managing the air becomes a very delicate balance as you progressively loosen the vocal cords to get lower notes.
It's kind of the opposite from tensioning the abdomen for high notes. Instead, the focus is on preventing wobble in the voice, as at low frequencies, it's really easy to hear any wavering whatsoever in the voice. The velocity of the air is lower, because the cords are loose, and the cord closure can't be very close, because of the low velocity air. You still depend on support, but it's a gentle, even support, as opposed to a more highly compressed support that you would use on higher range singing.

Concentrate on evenness of the air as you attempt lower and lower notes. Consistency is essential.

Dropping the larynx creates a longer vocal tract, and that makes the resonance deeper. The fundamental tone still has to come from the precise control of tension on the cords.

Pay attention to what begins to happen as you sing lower and lower. Try to maintain brightness, as it becomes harder and harder to discern pitch and, like tuning the low string on a bass guitar, there is very little difference in cord tension, the lower you go.

I decided to learn to sing for real at about age 55, after having been in bands as a drummer since age 14. I was relegated to background vocals, and was not capable of singing lead, and only light background vocals, buried in the mix. I wasted several years on SLS-based courses and other nonsense programs. Years later I stumbled upon Ken's program. Instantly I knew that I had found the way to unlock the capabilities of my voice, slowly but surely.

Adam164

Thank you for the thorough reply. That is very helpful.