Am I able to cover this song?
artolink
Member Posts: 8
Hi everyone, I start by saying that i'm italian so forgive me if my english is bad haha. I'm a Low-Baritone (lowest chest note E2, highest chest note F4 (not controlled and with strain, so I can't go upper than that) and with head voice i go up until F#5). Recently i saw this cover made by Ken youtube.com/watch?v=3NeYhGz8iu0&t=0s (and by the way it's PERFECT, congratulations ken), so I tried to cover it but it's obviously out of my range, but then I realized that Ken is a baritone too.. so what I am wondering is: was Ken using head voice with a lot of distortion? Mixed/belt voice? Or just pure chest voice? second question: Is it possible for me, with a lot of training of course, to hit those raspy notes like Ken does? The highest note in the song is C5 i guess, so I need to gain 4 semitones (chest), is that possible? Thanks in advance to anyone who will answer me! Bye!
Comments
Ken is in fact a high baritone, but he has stretched his chest voice up far beyond C5. That is a process that takes some time doing strength-training exercises and gently stretching the voice all the way.
So, Yes, it IS possible for baritones to sing higher notes than baritones are "supposed" to be able to sing. Ken teaches you how to do it in his course.
It's not a fast process. It takes a lot of work over a period of time, but it can be done. You can do it with a mix or with pure chest, once you have built the range and stamina to do so.
All the Best!
Bob
recommend me some exercises for the warm up? I don't like the sirens exercises because they involve head voice too, and they are more useful to learn to connect your chest register with your head register.. i'm lookin' for some good chest warm up exercises, you know any?
Initially, for me, those notes above G4 were impossible. Like a brick wall. All I could do was strain above that barrier. But I realized that I used to strain the same way above E4.
So I worked on reducing the amount of chest tone I was trying to take upstairs with me. I worked on supporting more, so much more that I could reduce the pressure I was using to very controlled and regulated amounts, instead of just giving it "more". I learned to give it "just enough and no more" pressure, and the same with the girth. So instead of brutal, straining A4, I worked on a less agressive version of it, and that was much easier. Kind of like dipping your toe in the water instead of jumping in... Your body can start making adjustments and adaptations like that, much more easily than blasting or oversinging.
So you work out a LOT on gently introducing your voice to singing like that. Not straining, only stretching, and did I say gently? Your support is your cushion and your shock absorber. Let your gut do ALL the heavy lifting, so your throat can be carried aloft by your full body's strength.
Then you just add a song or two that goes up to A4. Later maybe a song that has some Bb's. They will be "iffy" the first few times, because that will be the "top" of your present range. You should be working out on scales that at least go up to Bb before attempting songs that go to G# or A.
So after a few months of this, you'll be doing scales up to C5 or Eb5, however far you have the patience to keep doing hard work. That will give you the space you need to actually perform C5 or C#5 or however far you have worked up a margin of safety net above your performance notes.
Initially after achieving this, you will only be able to venture up to B4 once or twice a night in a performance, and you'll be sweating bullets about it. Later on it will be no big deal, because you will have confidence from actually being able to consistently do it.
This all takes time and immense patience with yourself. It's about growth. Ken's exercises are great voice-builders, and his instructions give you the path to get there. You have to do all the work.
There are a lot of ways to go wrong if you don't have good guidance... That's what we do in the student areas of the forums...
You'll know about how many times you want to sing those notes in a given performance. The audience will get tired of listening to you if all you do is sing your highest notes all the time. Some of the most beautiful notes lie in the E4 to G#4 range, so you'll want to use the full spectrum of your voice. But the longer you train on those notes that are possibly beyond your present range, the more familiar they will become to you, and it's mostly a matter of strength and endurance training that allows you to sing up there without wearing out. Support is always the means to the end of high-stamina singing.
Bob
After I finished singing i had a bit of pain in my chest that lasted about 1/2 days, nothing too serious, but it felt like the pain in your muscles when you finish a workout.. after the pain went away i tried singing again and i was able to hit notes like G4 more reliably (normally my highest controlled note is E4 or F4). The question is: is that the correct way to stretch out your chest muscles? again, i wasn't shouting and i was singing with good breath support and with my diaphragm. (bad english i know)
It's impossible to say what caused your pain from the information you've provided, but you need to look back over what you had been doing and try to avoid things that may be causing you pain. We work at extending our range slowly and carefully, because notes don't appear instantly. They grow. That takes time.