The definition of 'singing outside of your range'

bentk

Hi all,

I had been thinking about people that are told not to sing out of their range. Some people try to emulate their favourite singers, but just can not manage the range as well as they hoped.

My question is: when are you singing out of you range?
If you can hit all the notes in your scales from a certain song, can you still sing 'out of your range' in that same song?

It might sound a little strange if I put it this way, but I think you know what i mean

All the best,

Ben

highmtn

I think that means don't reach beyond your grasp. In other words if you can't land a note, and instead strain or fall short, maybe you should rethink whether you should attempt that note.

When we strain or reach for notes that we can't sing well, we sometimes try to use force to attain it. The note may fall apart. We can hurt ourselves trying to reach for notes that are beyond our comfortable range.

As our voice grows, our range can grow, too. So a note that used to be "outside" of our range may now (or eventually) be a note that is in our range.

When we stretch our chest voice, we are trying to grow and reach notes that may be outside of our range. That's why we reach gently, so as not to strain. If we strain for those notes, we give ourselves setbacks. If, instead, we reach and stretch, but don't strain, we tell our voice that we want to strengthen that area and grow in that direction, and eventually that's exactly what happens... as long as we don't force the notes. Like touching your toes. You stretch gently until you get there. Forcing can hurt your hamstrings. Stretching gets you there, eventually. Stretching the voice takes a long time.

bentk

So if you are able to sustain the notes it should be within your range?
I sing songs that are in my chest stretch scale range, but some are of course harder as they reach the limits. But if i support well etc. i can sustain them for a decent amount of time.

I was just curious about this, as i do not want to damage anything without my knowledge of it.

Thanks for the informative answer @highmtn

Dan_NZ

@highmtn the stretching to touch toes is an awesome analogy. I've really lightened up and not tried to push too hard.

highmtn

@Dan_NZ

That will get you where you want to go much more quickly than straining. You do need to stretch, but gently and responsibly. No stretch, no growth. Too much stretch and strain, you're going backwards.